Thomas was grumbling when he looked at himself in the mirror. 'How the hell did I get dragged into this? I should be going on a date with Fiona, not Ashley. I don't care if Fiona's pregnant. I still want her,' he grumbled to himself as he looked at the civilian clothes he was wearing. He was used to wearing his normal guardian force clothes.
He remembered Fiona walking up to him the day before and he immediately became flustered. He didn't know how it happened but he ended up being put in a double date with Van going with Fiona and him going with Ashley.
Thomas sighed and walked out of his room. He needed to head to the command room first to find Van. Apparently he had a meeting with Crougar and Zack before he could leave so Thomas needed to see if he was done. He was also requested to be there so he needed to hurry.
He walked into the room and Crougar turned to look at him. He gave him a questioning look about the clothes but Thomas just waved it off and walked forward to see the two guys glaring at each other.
Now that everyone's here, we might want to get started since it appears that you two of other plans," Crougar said indicating the way both Van and Thomas were dressed. Something that wasn't appropriate for a military establishment. "We need to see if we can get to the bottom of the attacks that took place not too long ago," Crougar stated bringing up a screen.
Zack stepped forward and typed a few things into the computer. A picture was brought up that made him growl. It was the guy that ended up sending him to the hospital a few weeks prior. "Based on intelligence brought by reliable sources, we have come to the conclusion that the one known as Ryan is the one that's leading this rebellion against the guardian force," Zack stated as information about the man popped up on the screen.
"I'm not so sure about your conclusion," Van said rubbing his chin in thought. "I had a run-in with this man and I can say that he's more like a general to the armies. Even generals' follow orders from a superior no matter how high their rank is," Van said trying to remember any sort of thing to help him in his own conclusion from their previous encounter.
"I'm not so sure of that. This information came from a reliable source so don't think of questioning it. Many of the higher ups agree with the statement so you might want to keep your unreliable comments to yourself," Zack sneered although no one noticed him sweating a little.
"That was uncalled for Lieutenant," Crougar said turning towards Zack sternly. "We need to view all sides of the argument before we can come to any conclusions in the matter," Crougar said turning back to Van. "Please continue Van," he said and Van just nodded.
"Something that he said during my run-in with him makes me think that he really is just following orders just like the rest of them. 'I wouldn't mind killing you both now but I don't think he would concur with it so I won't.' he was hoping for us to attack him so he had an excuse to hurt us. It appeared that he was under direct orders to at least take Fiona in alive at the least," Van said having a headache from remembering that day.
"Oh please," Zack grumbled crossing his arms over his chest. "That could mean just about anything. Like he was just doing a favor to one of his subordinates," he said glaring at Van wondering just how much Van actually knew.
"Fat chance of that. He doesn't seem to care about his subordinates. He's easily killed them because of weaknesses in them. Being merciful to an enemy doesn't seem to be his style and he would've killed the person. He did it in me first encounter with him. He killed a guy just for being caught," Van said reading over the contents on the screen.
Zack looked like he was going to retort with something but Crougar just raised his hand to silence him. "I believe that Van may be right in that he is actually following the orders of someone above him. However I will not leave the other option open either. That'll be enough for now. Dismissed," he said and everyone saluted to him before leaving.
Zack scowled at Van before walking out of the room. He didn't need anyone to know of that. That was why he never fought them directly before. He didn't need them to know that he was in charge of everything that had been going on. 'I need to get rid of him and quickly. But it's common knowledge we hate each other so if something unknown was to happen. They may actually look to me about it. What can I do?' he asked himself before a grin spread across his face. "Perfect," he said with a laugh.
Thomas was still grumbling about the injustice of Van being the one to be going with Fiona by the time they met up with the girls an hour later. "Oh get over it Thomas. Do you honestly think I'd let Fiona go with some other guy when she's carrying my child?" Van asked glaring at Thomas.
"Not much honor getting a woman pregnant outside of marriage. Not to mention that it takes her off the market for better guys," Thomas grumbled not thinking that Van would be able to hear. Unfortunately for him, Van did hear it and smacked Thomas upside the head hard. "Damn it! That hurt!" Thomas yelled clutching his head.
Van just smiled and said nothing. He then saw Fiona and walked quicker to see her. "Hey Fiona," he said wrapping his arms around her waist and kissed her on the lips quickly. "Ready to go?" he asked looking from Fiona to Ashley seeing the both of them nod their head.
As the four of them walked towards and awaiting vehicle, the came across what was clearly and angry looking Zack. Just the look in his eyes as he glared towards Van made everyone shiver. None more than Fiona when she saw his lustful eyes glance towards her.
"That guy really gives me the creeps," Van muttered watching as the guy walked away from them. "I don't think I need to say this but please stay away from him Fiona. Something doesn't feel right about him," Van said clutching Fiona closer to him. That incident in that battle was still very much on Van's mind. He didn't trust the guy any farther than he could throw him.
Fiona didn't really know what to say but she still nodded her head anyways. She had the same instinctive feelings about that guy as Van. She just knew he was the one that caused Van to be in that zoids accident.
"Come on," Van said leading them to a special car that the guardian force had available for their members to use when they had a day off. 'Must know that we wouldn't want to be stuck in here when we could be out enjoying ourselves,' Van thought as they all got in with him being the driver.
Zack didn't like the fact that Fiona was out with Van at that moment. However, it also gave him a chance to do a few things that needed to be done since many people were just coming and going that day. He could just leave the place without drawing too much attention to himself.
He went and grabbed his zoid and raced out of the hanger in a completely different direction that Van and the others went. The zoid ran for about fifteen minutes before it came to a stop and Zack jumped out of the cockpit.
He now stood by a large mound of rocks. He walked up to the side of it and moved some fake rocks out of the way revealing a small control panel. He type in the code and a small door opened and he walked into it. It was nothing but a small room with several computers in it.
Ryan saw Zack enter the room and he stood up. "Why are you back? Van is still alive," he said wondering why Zack hasn't yet taken care of their mortal enemy. 'Wasn't that the main reason that he decided to infiltrate the guardian force?' he asked himself as the two of them took a seat.
"My idea is not to just kill Van Flyheight for now. My plan is to turn everyone that he fights for against him. His strength only comes from his friends. Separate him from them, and he'll fall easily. To just kill him may raise some suspicions about me and I can't afford that right now," Zack said grabbing a cup a coffee.
Ryan scowled at the idea. "But we need to get rid of him now. He's the only one that stands between us and our ultimate goal!" Ryan said angrily as he stood up and slammed his fists down upon the table.
Zack just sat there calmly as if he suspected this sort of anger from the man. "Calm down and sit down," he said and watched as Ryan obediently responded to it. "My goal now is to take over the guardian force from the inside. Then from there, the Republic and the Empire. Not even Van would be able to stand a chance against me if I can manage that. Not to mention we'll have no one to stand against us if all the governments are gone," he said and saw the smug look on Ryan's face.
"I take back my statement. Van could be useful alive if you're to do this. Putting yourself on their good graces after turning them against him will make you look like a saint to them. Then taking out the criminal Van would make you move up the ranks little by little," he said as he listened intently.
"However, we have a bit of a problem right now. Van Flyheight has raised the suspicion that there is someone else in charge of my army. Since they know about you, I've tried to make them think you're in charge. Van has made it look like the truth. I need you to do something about it since it was you that raised the suspicion in the first place," he said glaring at Ryan.
Ryan smirked as he leaned back in his seat and crossed his hands in front of his chest. "I think I can handle that. Just tell me what you want me to do," he said as his grin only increased as the plan was explained to him.
Van and Fiona happily sat across from each other making lovey-dovey faces at each other. The sight of it just made Thomas want to throw up but he tried to hold it in the best he could. He hated to see that Fiona was happy with someone other than him. It made him so angry that he didn't even talk to the woman that was supposed to be his date.
Ashley looked a little jealous at the amount of attention Thomas was giving to Fiona. "So Thomas. You said you made an A.I. program once. I'd like to hear about it," she said knowing that flattering him about stuff like that would help her get his attention.
Thomas perked up at the mention of while both Van and Fiona just rolled their eyes being prepared for a very long discussion about stuff that neither really understood. It was like he talked in a foreign language when he spoke about his precious Beak system.
"Well I'm really glad that you asked me about it. You see…" he said before going into a long discussion about how he originally thought up Beak up until he finally finished it and installed it into his dibison. He then went into a thorough analysis of it and all its abilities.
Van and Fiona had nearly fallen asleep after his thirty minute speech. Ashley didn't think it would be so long but she was interested in what he had to say about it. "That's neat. Maybe you should think about summarizing it in the future though," she said pointing to the nearly sleeping Van and Fiona.
Van and Fiona jumped up a bit at the mention of them. "Is it over yet?" Van asked with a yawn and was playfully swatted on the shoulder by Fiona. He then saw her stick out her tongue at him. "Put that away before I do it for you," he said with a smirk.
Fiona just seemed to grin a little more at him and just stuck it out farther at him. No sooner had she done that, than his lips came crushing against her. Their tongues battled for dominance. It seemed to weird to Fiona that they were making out in a public place but she didn't seem to care right then.
"Oh please. Spare me the drama," Thomas and Ashley said in unison as they rolled their eyes at the same time. They then looked at each other and both of them burst out in laughter at how the were doing the exact same things.
"Oh come on. If you had a lovely pregnant girlfriend like I do. Then you'd be making the best of it as we are," Van said to Thomas but then he heard a squeal coming from Ashley that made him cover his ears.
"Oh my god! You're pregnant Fiona?" she asked excitedly and squealed even more when she saw Fiona just nod her head looking slightly embarrassed with how much attention they were all getting right then. "Oh I love babies! They're just so cute. I can't wait to have one of my own someday," she said dreamily as she stared off into space.
Thomas suddenly felt embarrassed at the thought of it but he had no idea why. "Oh please. I kind of wish that she wasn't," Thomas muttered a little grumpily as he leaned his head upon his hand in annoyance.
"Oh don't be like that! The thought of a baby is great!" she said turning towards Fiona and started to pelt question after question towards Fiona. "How far along are you? Do you know if it's a boy or a girl? You said that she was only you're girlfriend. Are the two of you planning to get married?" she asked far too quickly for either of them to be able to get an answer out.
Van felt a little flustered at her last question. He'd been so happy at the thought of the child and being with Fiona that he didn't even think about marriage. He loved the idea of it. However, even though they were having a child, he just thought it was too early in their relationship. He wanted both Fiona and him to have a little more time together before he did that. He knew that he'd probably ask her soon though.
Fiona too felt flustered at the mention of marriage. "Even though we've known each other for a while. We've only been together for a short time. It's still a little early but maybe someday," she said with a smile which Van gratefully gave her in return since he had the exact same thoughts. 'Then again, if he was to ask me now, I'd probably say yes,' she thought with a smile.
Ashley groaned in disappointment. Weddings were so fun to go to. That is if she would even be invited to it. "Most would try to marry their pregnant girlfriend as soon a possible. This is different," she said but they just shrugged.
"Most think that the two of them are married as it is," Thomas muttered reluctantly. It was something that he had been trying to convince himself is wrong but even he knew that it was the truth. The two of them were always together which made people think that they actually were married.
Van suddenly stood up and held out a hand for Fiona. "I'm going for a walk. Do you want to come along?" he asked her and then felt her place her hand in his as he lifted her out of her seat. They then left the restaurant leaving the other two still seated in the booth.
Ashley looked towards Thomas as he watched the happy couple walk away hand in hand. He had a look of sorrow on his face. "Did you love her?" Ashley just had to ask although she didn't really want to hear the answer.
Thomas looked at her and just nodded his head. "I have ever since I first met her. I've been captivated by her looks, her personality, everything that there is about her. I always hated how she always gave Van her undivided attention even if I was trying to talk to her," Thomas said slamming his fist down on the table rather angrily.
Ashley looked at him for a second but then smiled. "You know the saying; there're plenty of other fish in the sea. Why stick with something you can't have. You'll just waste your life away if you continue to pursue her," Ashley said in a wise tone as she leaned back in her seat.
"You think I don't know that. I think what's worse is that I lost her to Van. I've always considered that he was my biggest rival. Just like Karl, I could never seem to beat him in everything. Now he beats me again by taking Fiona," Thomas said not realizing how much his words were hurting Ashley.
Ashley suddenly put on a brighter face and stood up. "Come on. You need to forget about it and move," she said grabbing his hand and pulling him so that he stood up as well. "There are plenty of other people so don't sulk over one when someone like you can probably easily get another," she said dragging him towards the door, She was determined to make him forget about his crush on Fiona.
"Hey! Hold on! You're about to tear off my hand!" Thomas yelled but she either didn't hear him or she didn't want to listen to what he said. He then ran up to her so that she wouldn't have to tear off his hand in the process. He was surprised. He'd never met anyone as happy as her. It was strange but kind of pleasant.
"Come on. I'm going to make you have so much fun that you won't even remember those feelings of yours. I say that you just need to have a little fun," she said with a smile before she pulled him once again racing down the streets.
Thomas eventually just gave in and allowed himself to be dragged along. 'What the hell! I have nothing better to do. Maybe she's right too. I just need to forget about it," he thought before finally smiling and rushing to keep up with her.