Chp.16: Breakdown

Hey, just to let you know, when I wrote 'Moonbay' in the last chapter in the breakfast scene, I meant 'Reese'. I think I just started missing her there. My mistake… Sorry. ^-^'

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"Hey, let's play tag!"

"I hate you, Van!!!!"

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"Make it stop!"

"I've always wanted to find a girl that I really like who really cares about me. Then, I'd live out my life with her. You know, like dad wanted to do with mom."

"I hate you, Van, I'll kill you!!!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!"

"Van, I found this cool place! Let's go!"

"I miss mom…Do you?"

Van rose up from a bed in shock. He panted heavily as sweat ran down his body. He looked around. He was in the infirmiry. He had a bandage around his head and left eye, around his stomach and right shoulder, all around his lower right arm, a bandage on his left shoulder, a gauze on his right cheek and left part of his chest, and random places on his legs and such. He was wearing nothing but his boxers, and his hair was a mess.

He looked over next to his bed. Fiona lay asleep with her head on a side table. She was wearing her orange dress. Her hair was messy, and it looked like she had been crying recently. He reached out to her and put his hand on her head. "F-Fiona?" He said.

Fiona rose up and looked at him. "Van," She muttered.

"Fiona," He whispered as he took her in his arms. They both sat there crying and not knowing why. Van shook slightly in her arms, feeling a bit unstable. "I'm so stupid, Fiona… I couldn't do it… I just couldn't do it…"

"Shhh, Van, it's okay… Everything's gonna be okay," Fiona cooed reassuringly.

"I don't understand it… How can I not hate someone who despises me so much…? How can I just sit there and let him hurt me, let him---hurt you…. Fiona… I can't hurt him, and I don't know why."

"Van, you still love him… He's still your brother…."

"I wish he wasn't… Then I wouldn't feel so bad… Fiona… How long have I been out for?"

"Three weeks…" She whispered. "It's amazing that you didn't break anything."

"I have hard bones… I remember this one time when I fell out of tree, and Han carried me back to the house while I was unconsious. I woke up an hour without even a bruise…."

"Oh, Van…" She whispered and rocked him back and forth like a child.

~~~~~~~~~

Irvine lay on his bed throwing darts at the ceiling. "Dammit… Dammit all," He scoffed. "I shouldn't care so much… Moonbay was the foolish one, going off with him… I shouldn't miss either of them…" He stared up at the ceiling. "…but I do… I miss them both…"

Reese walked past his door and looked in. "Hey, Irvine?"

"What?" He said coldly.

"Don't worry… We'll get them back…" She said.

He rose up. "Hey, you were-" but she was gone. He sighed. "God, I hope so…"

~~~~~~~~~~

Thomas sat across from his brother, playing chess, and losing miserably. He sighed every two minutes.

"Thomas… what is your problem?" Karl said placing a piece farther on the board. "Checkmate."

"I don't have a problem," Thomas said.

"I cheated through this entire game," Karl said.

"I don't care… You'd beat me anyways," Thomas said.

"Is it about the green-haired girl that you wouldn't quit staring at when she first showed up?"

"WHAT?! N-no! No! Never! I wasn't--I mean I- I have something I gotta do!" Thomas bolted out of the room.

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Earlier…

Emerald landed at the base, and Crescent collapsed onto the floor. Moonbay and Jubilee, who had been talking in the hangar, ran over to her.

"Oh my gosh, Crescent! Are you alright?" Jubilee asked in worry.

"I got my ass kicked…yeah, I'm great…"

"What happened?! Did you see Irvine? Is he alright?! Where're the others? What happened to them? What happened to Irvine?" Moonbay said quickly.

"You talk too much… I don't know what happened elsewhere… All I know is that Raven beat me, and that blonde guy punched him in the jaw."

"What?! Thomas punched Raven in the jaw?!!" Moonbay stared at Crescent to make sure it wasn't a lie. "He really punched him in the jaw?!?!"

"Yeah… The moron was protecting me… not that I need protection," She said pulling herself to her feet. She collapsed to her knees once more. Jubilee and Moonbay began to help her up, when the hangar opened. Han and Silverwolf's zoids came marching in, Silverwolf's in bad condition, Han's in great shape. Of course, it was a different story inside the cockpit. Silverwolf looked pretty proud of himself as the mark on his head glowed ever brightly. Han, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck, sitting in his seat yelling at himself and spazzing out with every small noise there was.

Moonbay didn't even attempt to go near Silverwolf. She was still angry at him… Wait, the mark on his head was… glowing? Crescent and Jubilee's didn't do that. He also had his endless eyes, but they used to be blue! She remembered now! He used to have blue eyes! Something had happened to him… sometimes he was himself, sometimes he wasn't.

Jubilee attempted to help Han, but he just shoved away. He walked off. A door slammed. Jubilee sighed and looked at her feet. Crescent managed to, with help from Emerald, leave off to her room as well. Silverwolf walked off also, still smirking.

"Moonbay… I wish I knew what was going on…" Jubilee said.

"Yeah, me too…" She answered.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Thomas and Raven still weren't on speaking terms. No matter how much everyone tried, they would not speak to each other.

"The moron stood up for the enemy, Reese," Raven said.

"I know, Raven, you told me. He did have a point, though… I mean, you had won… Why were you about to beat her?"

"Because she deserved it!" Raven yelled.

"Hey! Just because you think she deserved it doesn't make it so! Raven, had you beat her, you would have been no better than Van's brother!"

"Shut up, Reese!" Raven yelled.

"Fine, I'm just saying the truth. You know Han beat Van mercilessly," Reese said.

"I know… I didn't beat her… Thomas punched me. Okay? Look, nothing. I did nothing…"

"Okay…" Reese whispered.