Chapter 8
Preparing to Party
Later on in the semester, during noon, one of the university's staff members was printing off copies of the upcoming psych exam. After the aforementioned staff member finished printing the copies, he took the copy sheet off the copier and put it in a nearby trashcan.
Several hours later, Skip slipped into the room and took out the copy sheet while substituting it with another, then taking his leave. A few more hours later, a janitor came in, emptied the trashcan into the large basket he was towing, then exited the room. The janitor went into a storage closet and emptied the large basket into one of the trash bins in the closet then he left.
Later at night, Steiner and Cinna broke into the closet and were digging around for the copy sheet. Steiner dove into one of the trash bins while Cinna examined the papers while holding a small flashlight in his mouth. They anxiously dug through the trash. After a minute of looking, Steiner excitedly erupted from beneath the trash while holding a copy sheet. Cinna excitedly examined the copy sheet.
"That's it," Cinna said. He helped Steiner out of the trash bin. The two covered their tracks and ran out of the building and back to the Delta Vista.(Don't judge the Deltas on attempting to steal the copy sheet. They're desperate to keep their frat going). In a room in the Omega castle, Skip and Kuja were looking at a security screen which was connected to a hidden camera that Kuja had slipped into the closet a few weeks back. They watched Steiner and Cinna cover their tracks and run out.
"Fine work, Skip. Fine work," Kuja said with an evil grin on his face.
The next day, all the Deltas, some other students and a few of the Omegas were in one of the classrooms and were focusing on their test papers. The Deltas occasionally flashed smug grins at each other, thinking they had the test in the bag. Blank, however, kept looking over his shoulder at Ruby. Doug, who finally recovered from being dragged across the field, Kuja and Skip all looked over at the Deltas, the three of them had evil grins on their faces.
"Morons," the three of them thought. After class let out, the Deltas all returned to the ship. Baku went over to another frat house to speak with some of its members, there was another frat that looked out for the Deltas, it was run by moogles. Blank and Marcus sat down on the couch in one of the ship's large rooms where several of the other Deltas were hanging out.
"Eh, she broke our date," Marcus said to Blank.
"Washing her hair?" Blank asked.
"Dead mother," Marcus said.
"Sheesh, the early death excuse shouldn't work anymore. We have phoenix downs for a reason. I heard they were able to use one to revive Luna when they got her out of Garland's office," Blank said with annoyance. Baku came running in through the front door, his goggles askew and sweat dripping from his head and facial hair, he looked very distraught.
"We're in trouble! I just checked with the moogles at the Jewish House, and they said that every one of our answers on the psych test were wrong!" Baku said as he wiped sweat from his forehead.
"Every single one?" Blank asked with a look of sheer disbelief on his face.
"Those idiots must have stolen the wrong fucking exam!" Marcus said while indicating Steiner and Cinna, both of whom were looking at each other with looks of confusion. Just then, Dean Garland came strutting into the room.
"Oh, man. Look what just creeped in," Marcus said under his breath as he and the other Deltas quickly hid their beer bottles, but not before Dean Garland saw the bottles.
"Well, well, well. Looks like somebody forgot that there's a rule against alcoholic beverages in fraternities on probation," Dean Garland said while looking around at the Deltas.
"What a complete tool," Marcus muttered.
"What was that, Stratton?" Dean Garland demanded as he sharply turned toward Marcus.
Marcus then said, "I said, what a shame that a few bad apples have to go and spoil a good time for everyone by breaking the rules."
"Put a cork in it, Stratton. Or so help me, you will be out of this college like shit through a Flan," Dean Garland said coldly. This was more than enough to make Marcus shut up.
"Now have any of you boys seen your grade point average yet?" Dean Garland asked. After a few seconds, Baku stood up and said,
"I have, sir. I know it's a little below par-."
Dean Garland rudely cut him off and said in a sharp tone, "It's more than a little below par, Mr. Hoomeer. It stinks!" Baku was stunned.
"It's the lowest on my campus. It's the lowest in Alexandria history!" Dean Garland said sharply.
"Uh, well sir, we're hoping that our midterm grades will help our average," Baku spoke up.
"Ha!" Blank said.
"Laugh now, because you nimrods have been on double secret probation since the beginning of this semester," Dean Garland said.
"Double secret probation?" Marcus muttered, trying to hold back his laugh.
"And that means that one more slipup, so much as one more small mistake, and this little fraternity of yours has had it at Alexandria University," Dean Garland said coldly before departing.
"Well, that was pleasant, nice of him to drop by," Blank said.
"We've gotta do something. He's serious this time, I think he knows about the exams," Baku said, looking distraught again.
"He's right," Blank said to Marcus.
"You're right, we gotta do something," Marcus said to Baku.
"Absolutely. You know what we gotta do?" Blank asked Marcus.
"Toga disco rave," Marcus and Blank said in unison.
"We're on double secret probation, whatever that is. We can't afford to hold a toga disco rave," Baku said.
"Are you guys up for a toga rave?" Marcus asked everyone.
"Toga! Toga!" Steiner yelled.
"I think they like the idea, Hoom," Marcus said.
"Otter, please don't do this," Baku pleaded.
"I got news for ya, Baku. Dean Garland's gonna nail us no matter what we do. So we might as well try to have a good time," Marcus said to Baku, then he turned to the others and started chanting, "Toga! Toga! Toga! Toga!" Steiner got up and joined in, and soon, so did the others.
"Toga! Toga! Toga! Toga! Toga! Toga! Toga! Toga! Toga! Toga!" the others chanted. Eventually, Baku caved and joined in on the chanting. Later on, Blank was at the Laundromat, and he was talking to Ruby about the toga rave.
"No, Ruby, it's not going to be an orgy. It's just a toga rave," Blank said as he put a pair of underpants on his head.
"Honestly, Blank, in six months you're going to graduate, and tomorrow night, you're gonna wrap yourself up in a bed sheet and pour alcohol all over your head," Ruby said as she pulled the underpants off of Blank's head, "It's cute, but I think I'll pass this time."
"You want me to go alone?" Blank asked.
"Sugar pie, I don't want you to go at all," Ruby responded.
"It's a frat party. I'm in the frat. How could I miss it?" Blank asked.
"I'll write a note. I'll say that you're too well to attend," Ruby answered.
"That's real funny," Blank said flatly. Back outside the Delta Vista, some of the guys were taking a good look at Vivi's new sweet ride, it was a sleek, black hover-car, it looked like an oval-shaped flying saucer of some sorts, and it was roughly bigger than a minivan.
"Whoo! Hoo-Ha! Where'd Vivi get the rings?" Blank asked, very impressed.
"From his brother. He's letting Vivi use it for the next week or two. Vivi's also bringing his girlfriend to the party," Marcus answered.
"Flounder, I am appointing you pledge representative to the social committee," Marcus said to Vivi.
"Gee, Otter, thanks," Vivi said with a smile on his innocent-little-boy face.
"What do I need to do?" Vivi quickly asked.
"It means you have to drive us to the Food King," Marcus said as he, Blank and Zidane piled into the hover-car. Vivi quickly got in and the four drove off. At the Food King, Marcus was tossing food over his head. Vivi was struggling to catch it all.
"Otter, please stop it," Vivi said to Marcus. Marcus still kept tossing food over his shoulder. Zidane and Blank were over by the frozen foods. Blank quickly started tucking in Zidane's sweater.
"What are you doing, man?" Zidane asked.
"I'm fixing your sweater. There you go," Blank said as he finished tucking in Zidane's sweater. Blank then started grabbing food out of the freezers and stuffing it into Zidane's sweater.
"Now stick with me and keep your sweater closed," Blank said.
"Hey, I could get in trouble," Zidane said. "That's why you need to keep your sweater closed," Blank pointed out. Both of them then walked elsewhere. Marcus was in the veggie section, he walked up to a very strange girl. She looked like a strange cat-human hybrid, she had red whisker stripes on her cheeks, her ears were those of a cat, she had a furry brown tail like the Genomes did, but hers was very bushy on the end. Aside from that, she looked completely human, her skin was light peach, she had big teal-colored eyes, long shoulder-length poufy messy dark-purple hair, some of which was tied into a pair of long wavy ponytails, she was dressed in a purple sweater with a light-blue top underneath, a peach-colored skirt, and white boots, she also wore a small blue scarf and was about as tall as Marcus. She was looking through the veggies and then she pulled out a cucumber.
"Mine's bigger than that," Marcus said to the girl while chuckling.
"Hmm?" the girl asked Marcus.
"My cucumber. It's bigger," Marcus answered as he held up a cucumber, which was bigger than the one the girl was holding. The girl giggled at Marcus.
"Veggies can be very sensuous, don't you think?" Marcus asked with a smile. The girl shook her head.
"Mm-mm. Vegetables are sensual. Only people are sensuous," the girl responded.
"Either way, I'm sure you get my point. By the way, my name's Marcus Stratton," Marcus said.
"Marcus. That's a nice name. I'm Mihoshi Garland," the girl replied while keeping her big, anime-like eyes fixed on Marcus.
"Really? We have a Dean Garland at Alexandria University," Marcus said.
"Quite a coincidence. I have a foster father named Dean Garland who works at Alexandria University," Mihoshi said, not taking her eyes off Marcus. Blank and Zidane were walking through a checkout lane.
"Nothing for me today, thanks," Blank said to a girl who had neck-length black hair and was wearing a bright orange jumper, white pants, a blue shirt and a Falcon Claw pendant. Zidane followed Blank, but the girl grabbed him by his arm.
"Uh, it seems like you gained a few pounds since you came in," the girl said to Zidane. "It's just a prank. I'm pledging a fraternity," Zidane quietly explained.
"Don't worry, sweetheart, I won't tell a soul," the girl said. Marcus was still talking to Mihoshi, who still had not taken her eyes off him.
"So, we're having a little party at the Delta Chi Tantalus ship tonight, and you are certainly invited, Mihoshi," Marcus said.
"Well, I'll see if I can attend," Mihoshi answered with a smile on her face. Zidane was still conversing with the girl, who had introduced herself as Garnet.
"So, anyway, if you're not busy tonight, would you like to go to a frat party?" Zidane asked.
"Will I be home by 12:00?" Garnet asked.
"Sure," Zidane answered.
"My mother would kill me if she knew I was going to attend a fraternity house party. Could I perhaps meet you there?" Garnet asked.
"Sure, that's perfect," Zidane said happily with a smile. Zidane, Vivi and Marcus followed Blank back out to the hover-car with their party supplies in tow.
Author's Note: for those of you who don't understand the "where'd Vivi get the rings" line. It's similar to referring to a car as a set of wheels, except instead of wheels, the hover-cars use glossair rings, which are the spinning rings that are seen on most of the airships in Final Fantasy XII.