Orso Fiction 018

Orso Fiction 018- Lunch Date (Part 1 of 2)
The morning after the battle with Guerino, Alex Carroll rolled out of bed. He had spent the night in the base, as he was finding himself doing more and more often recently. There was just too much going on to let himself relax at home. He checked his phone, and found a text from an unknown number. He opened it, and murmured the words aloud.

“This is Zeke. I’d like to meet you for lunch at Panera at 12. Bring one friend who won’t make a scene.”

He exhaled, and put his phone down on his bed. It was 7, now. He had about 5 hours to decide…but somehow, he already knew his answer.

All that was left was to find that friend.

---

Liz Howard entered her office and sat down to write a bit. She sighed, thinking about how everyone was so on-edge these days. There was only so much a newsletter could do to inform the family. Zach or Katie would know how to fix this tension, but they were both gone, and she couldn’t reach them. She checked her phone, and saw a message from Cara Lundgren. She opened it, and murmured the words aloud.

“I need your help. We’re going to wrestle some information out of the Varia.”

She reread it, sure she had misunderstood. She sighed, when she realized she hadn’t. Well, it was better than writing about the mysterious disappearance of the chicken wings that was clearly Nick Seese’s fault.

---

Olivia Webb, at her own desk, received the same text as Liz. She grinned, excited to finally be doing something exciting. She stood quickly, prepared some things, and walked out, ready to meet Cara at the base’s pool.

---

Bradley got out of the water, after completing his thousandth lap. It was a nice way to start his day, a quick thousand laps of the Olympic sized pool. He began to towel himself off when he saw the three girls standing in the entrance.

“Hey there!”, he said cheerfully. “How are you guys?”

“Sit down, Brad. We need to talk.”, Cara said. Bradley did, a little confused.

“What’s this about?”

“I heard that there’s a new threat. I was eavesdropping in on that Varia meeting, when you declared the Seven Skulls top-secret.”

“Oh…I see. And what of it?”

“Well, we want the entire base to know. We’re all part of this.”

“That’s true, but I’m doing what Zach would have done, right now. There’s no way he would let the rest of the family worry about them.”

“That’s a nice thought, but it doesn’t really protect us.”, Olivia said. “We all need to know what’s going on. Cara told the two of us a few details, but give us everything you’ve learned.”

Bradley sighed. He hated to admit it, but the three were right.

“Fine. Well, as you know…The Guardians are out training with the Arcobaleno, to prepare for the Apostles’ attack on the base next year. In the meantime, we’re trying to gather these metals, called Arcoferro. We’ve enlisted a group of metalsmith brothers, the Ferraro, to help us, thanks to their father. They’ll be able to turn the Arcoferro into weapons for the Guardians. However, there are two new groups out to get us. The Seven Roses, led by the Ferraros’ aunt Sonia, and the Seven Skulls, armed by the Ferraros’ uncle Osvaldo. For whatever reason, the Roses want the metals, and the Skulls want to destroy the family. Is that enough?”

“That will do.”, Cara said.

“Good thinking, Cara.”, Liz said happily. “I’ll be able to put that in the newsletter, so everyone can read it! Of course that’s why you wanted me to come!”

“We have a newsletter?”, Cara asked, turning to Olivia, who shrugged. “Weird, I had no idea.”

Liz began to pout, turning to Bradley.

“Tell me YOU read The Bear Claw!”, Liz said. Bradley laughed heartily and patted her on the head.

“Of course I do!”, Bradley said. “No, wait, that’s the other thing. No, I don’t read it.”

Liz made a noise like a small animal in pain, and crossed her arms.

“Anyway, thanks, Brad. We’re out of here, now.”, Cara said.

---

Matt had no reason to expect this day being anything but ordinary. He was feeling quite proud of himself for learning how to operate his phone, and had half a mind to call someone and invite them to lunch. Maybe Panera. Suddenly, he got a call. Rolling up his sleeves and making a proud expression, like he knew what he was doing, he answered.

“Hello, sir or madam.”, he said in a tone of voice usually reserved for people who have actually done something impressive.

“Matt, you should know it’s me. You know you have caller ID.”, came Kelly Graff’s voice.

“Right. Yes, I did know that.”, Matt lied. “How are you?”

“Just fine. Hey, I figured we’d head to Panera, I haven’t hung out with you in forever.”

“Hey, that was lucky. I was just thinking about-“, Matt said, before Kelly hung up. “Jerk.”

---

Cara kicked the door to Nick’s office in, startling him a bit. She, Olivia, and Cara all walked in. Nick raised an eyebrow, and checked the thermostat.

“Can I help you?”, he asked.

“You’ve kicked a lot of ass, right?”, Cara replied.

“What, today? A little, not a lot.”, Nick said casually.

“Zach already stole that line from Friends, it’s even lamer when you do it.”, Cara said bluntly. “We’re going to go give the Skulls a visit.”

“The Seven Skulls?”, Nick asked.

“Oh, right. You wouldn’t know about them.”, Cara began to say.

“No, no, I do. I already talked to Matt about them.”

“Wow. Our Varia REALLY doesn’t understand the meaning of ‘top-secret’.”, Olivia snarked. Nick shrugged.

“You say you want to pay them a visit?”, Nick said. “I suppose I should give HIM a ring…”

---

Michael Kreinar was busy at the training grounds when he received the call.

“Nick Seese. How can I help you?”, he answered.

“Mike, we’ve been requested to appear in a fantastic little number called ‘Kicking the ass of the Seven Skulls for a bit’”, Nick said.

“Ah, you mean the group Adrien told me about?”, Mike said, fighting off the tenth practice robot with one arm. “Sounds like fun. I’ll be at the front door in three minutes.”

---

Nick sighed.

“Well, that’ll be our fifth. Shall we involve anyone else?”, he asked the girls.

“Won’t be necessary. We’re only after some intel, after all.”, Cara said. “Don’t want to make this mission too much of an event. It’s a shame, though…I called Alex, but he never answered me. I haven’t been able to find him the whole day…”

“I see.”, Nick said. He looked away and thought to himself. “It’s all on you, then, Kelly…I won’t be able to come after all…”

---

“Now, will you explain why you charged into my office?”, Brittney Drummey asked.

“Because I’m hiding from Cara Lundgren.”, Alex said.

“And why are you hiding from Cara?”

“Because she’s trying to get me to go fight the Seven Skulls with her.”

“Oh, you mean that group Hayley told me about?”, Brittney asked. “And why aren’t you excited about that?”

“Because what I WANT to go to is much more exciting. And there’s no way Cara would let me go.”

“Interesting. What is that?”

“I’m…going to go talk to Zeke.”

“You’re WHAT?!”

“I’m going to go talk to Zeke. I’m meeting him at Panera. He said he wanted to talk to me.”

“Why the hell would you do that?!”, Brittney shouted at him. “He’s the ENEMY, Alex!”

“Yeah. And so he has all the information we need to beat him.”

“He’s also, at risk of repeating myself, the ENEMY. What possible reason would he have to talk to you?”

“To get me to join him, of course.”

“And you’re going to go along with that?”

“As long as it takes to get me my information, yes.”

“You’re an idiot. You’re playing with fire, here.”

“Which is why I’m bringing you with me, to be the angel on my shoulder to make sure I don’t do anything stupid.”

“Oh, I’m a little late for that, I see. But I’ll come. Moron.”

“I appreciate it.”

---

“Alex, why are we hiding? The door is RIGHT there.”, Brittney said.

“Shh…We need to wait a moment…”, Alex said. They watched as Mike Kreinar, Nick Seese, Cara Lundgren, Liz Howard, and Olivia Webb all walked toward the door. Suddenly, they were stopped by Tori Walls.

“See? That’s why.”, Alex said. “All week, she’s been stalking groups to go do something exciting. LITERALLY, all week, she’s done this. I’m not sure when she sleeps. Better them than us, I suppose. Let’s go.”

The two snuck out after the larger group.

---

“I appreciate the invitation, and all…”, Matt said. “But you seem…kind of on-edge.”

“Oh, do I?”, Kelly said, trying to look surprised. “Nonsense. You’re imagining things.”

“No, like, you have your entire body covered in coats and hats. You can barely tell it’s you under there.”

“That’s crazy talk.”, Kelly said. “Speaking of, though, wear this hat.”

She crammed a ridiculously colored beanie over his head.

“It’s HOT in here, Kelly. What’s the point of all this clothingage?”

“We’re…spying.”, Kelly admitted. “Nick told me he heard Alex mention meeting Zeke here.”

“Meeting Zeke?”, Matt asked incredulously. “My memory isn’t the best, but isn’t he the BAD GUY?”

“Oh, I’m not really so awful.”, Zeke said from behind them. They looked up, in a panic, at his smiling face. “I really only invited Alex and his little friend…But ah well. Two more won’t bother me much. Shall Micaiah and I get a bigger table? Or, did I hear you say you were spying…”

“Y-y-you’re Zeke…”, Matt stammered.

“Yes. Yes I am. Well? Will you join us?”, Zeke asked.

“No. We’re fine here.”, Kelly said, drawing determination she didn’t know she had.

“Ah well. Well, anyway, I got you some scones.”, Zeke said cheerfully, placing two of the pastries on their table. “These things are delicious today, nice and hot. Well, have a great day, you two!”

As he walked off, Matt turned to Kelly.

“I didn’t just imagine that, did I?”, Matt asked.

“No. That was definitely the evil clone of our boss, declaring that he likes scones.”, Kelly said, after a deal of thought.

“What the hell did I get into…”, Matt murmured.

---

“Now, how did you expect to catch them?”, Tori asked. “You can’t expect that they’re still hanging around Home Depot, anymore. Not after we caught them.”

“We were going to…figure something out. Once we got there.”, Cara admitted, kicking herself for not realizing that earlier.

“Well, I’ve got the solution, here.”, Tori said, releasing Alice from her box. “Alice, can you sniff out the meanies from last night?”

The rabbit nodded, and sniffed once, then began hopping along.

“Rabbits have fantastic senses of smell. Ricky’s dog, Hunter, is just as good as little Alice is.”, Tori boasted.

“Now, Tori, I haven’t seen much of what’s been going on recently.”, Mike said. “Tell me, what are these guys like?”

“Well, we met two of them. Their Thunder is…strong. And their Sun is strong too. And fast…But the scary part, was his weapon…It was in him, and it turned him into a birdman…”

“A birdman…”, Mike said. “Interesting.”

“Definitely doesn’t sound like a boring fight…”, Nick said, chuckling.

“These two…They’re getting way too excited about this…”, Olivia said.

“Boys, boys…”, Liz said. “Let’s let Tori talk…”

“Well, that’s all, really. Unless-Oh, Alice has found them!”

Alice had come to a stop by the abandoned movie theater.

“Oh, come on…They just don’t give up, Placido…”, came a voice from atop the building.

“No, but that’s not an issue with us guarding the base. There’s only six of them. Not an issue for two of us at all, Baldovino.”, came another.

They looked up to see a tan man with curly brown hair and a very pale man with long grey hair.

“Hey, ‘cido.”, the tan one said. “That rabbit…Isn’t that what Guer said hit him something nasty?”

“He was very unwilling to admit a rabbit did him any damage, but yes. I believe that is the same one.”, Placido said. “Why have you come to find us?”

“Why? To beat you up, of course.”, Cara said boldly. Baldovino laughed.

“Kids these days, am I right, ‘cido?”, he said. “Didn’t you learn from last time? You can’t beat us, especially not with such small numbers.”

“Baldovino, must we taunt them? We doubled our guard because of how badly Guerino failed to maintain our image last night.”

“ ’cido, you just don’t get it. We HAVE to be the tough guys.”

“I feel no obligation to the task.”

“ ‘ciiiiido. You’re no fun. I swear, Valerio is more outgoing than you are.”, Baldovino said, jumping to the ground. “One, two, three, four, five, six of you…I’ll take you all on.”

---

“Alex, excellent to see you…”, Zeke said, offering a hand to Alex. “Oh, don’t be afraid of it. It only hurt Zach because I’m his better half. And you’ve brought your friend. You would be…”

“I’m Brittney.”, Brittney answered quickly, already uncomfortable. She, Alex, Zeke, and Micaiah, sat around a table filled with bagels and scones.

“So what brings me here today?”, Alex asked. Zeke laughed, as he began to heap raspberry cream cheese on a blueberry bagel.

“I suppose you being curious as to what I have to offer you, brings you here, friend.”, Zeke said. “But, I actually do have one offer in mind…”

---

Tori was sent flying, hitting, and cracking, one of the pillars holding the theater up. Baldovino laughed, dusting off his knuckles.

“See? One hit, you guys go flying. Guerino’s just stupid, is all.”, he said. “Placido, you sit tight. I don’t want you interfering like Valerio did for Guer.”

“Just don’t get killed.”, Placido said, bored.

---

“I’ve heard tell of a group causing you a little bit of a problem.”, Zeke said.

---

With one kick, Baldovino sent Olivia and Liz flying, then one more punch sent Cara to the ground.

“What a load of crap! We didn’t need Osvaldo’s help for these losers at all!”, he laughed.

---

“I think they were called the Seven Skulls?”, Zeke said. “I’d like to offer you some help in getting rid of them.”

“You want to help us?”, Alex asked.

“Call it a favor. An alliance. Something. But yeah, we’ll help you with the pest extermination. Truth be told, I don’t like how they have the nerve to try to topple my inferior half’s organization without him around. Even I have the decency to set a date with him.”

“You’ll take care of the Seven Skulls?”

“Maybe even the Seven Roses, if you say please.”, Zeke said, finishing heaping cream cheese on the bagel, and closing the halves. “These Arcoferro metals sound like a lot of fun. I do want to see Zach get a lot better…”

“You’re unusually generous today.”, Alex said.

“Well, I’m just getting into the holiday spirit, I suppose…”, Zeke said, biting into his bagel. He closed his eyes, enjoying the taste immensely. “Yummy…”

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