by Grimm, DRAX, thedoctor and The Eurostar
Grimm's room:
"Someone's knocking at the door."
"Hmm?"
"Someone's at the... never mind." She got up, throwing on one of his old shirts, and went over to get the door. She opened it slowly. "Yes?"
Danny Hearn's eyes went wide. "Uh, I'm sorry, I thought this was Grimm's..."
"Danny! Hang on a sec!" Danny was relieved, though still confused, to hear Grimm's voice from inside. The door shut briefly, and Grimm soon exited wearing his jacket and usual clothing. The girl followed soon after, kissing Grimm on the cheek before leaving. Danny stared at Grimm's face.
"You, uh, you, your face... that girl, Grimm..."
"Long story, Daniel. Maybe I'll tell you on the way to Italy. Now, how are we gonna get there?"
Drake Marshall walked down down the street leading to the Fish Factory, whistling happily to himself. "Oh, yeah, chicks definitely dig the cane."
It was nice of them to make you breakfast.
"Sure was, but not as nice as when they... well, you know."
I'm not sure if I do, Drake.
"Right, right. It's probably a human thing that dragons just wouldn't understand."
Is this the way back?
"Y'know what? I have no idea. I was a little drunk last night, and it's still less than a day since we got here. You wanna fly us back?"
Well, yeah.
"Good, I'd probably just get us lost."
Drake changed places with Drax. "Ahhh, that's better." Drax took off into the air. "There's one thing I still don't get."
What's that?
"Why would you choose two women who look exactly the same?"
Trust me: it's another human thing.
"Humans are very strange. There it is." Drax landed gently at the temporary headquarters. "I think I'm really going to like it here."
Why's that?
Drax smiled. "It smells like fish. "
Right, it's the humans who are strange.
Danny lightly rapped on Kit Piper's office door. "Danny," Kit said when he looked up from the mounds of paperwork covering his desk, "shouldn't you guys be getting ready for your trip? Your plane leaves in a few hours."
"Well," the man from the future began, "you see, Kit, there's a few... little problems that I don't think we took into account that Grimm just pointed out to me."
"Really? What's that?"
"How are we going to get into Italy?"
"Well, by plane, of course. That's why I bought the tickets."
"No. That's not what I meant. I know how we're going to GET there, but how are we going to get INTO the country. Chance is legally dead in this dimension. Grimm claims to be also. I haven't even been born yet. And God only knows who's looking for the Eurostar, which makes getting Ed in, Raptor or not, hard as hell."
"Oh." Kit sank into his seat. "I see your point." He began to nervously bite his nails.
The window of Kit's office was open, so Edulcore Cicciotto flew right in and saw Danny inside. He took a few cards from his pocket. "Here are the passports, Kit. My friend at the dock has done a good job, I believe."
Kit stopped biting his nails. "Good. I was worried you wouldn't be back in time."
"False passports?" wondered Danny. "But that's illegal!"
"Just like sneaking inside a protected part of a museum," Edulcore said.
"Uh... right," replied Danny.
Kit raised his eyes from the passports. "All we have to do is replace the photos, and they'll be perfect. Quantos can help us with that. Your plane is a tourist charter, and you'll mingle with European tourists returning from their vacations on the island. There's a strong chance that nobody will check you at the Galileo Galilei Airport in Pisa. And with Chance among you, that probability is virtually a certainty..."
"Okay, I'll go to put my civvies on," said a gleeful Edulcore, wondering if civvies was a real word. Who knew? Who cared? In a few hours, he would finally be able to speak Italian to other Italians after more than a year in exile from his country.
"...as several European countries continue to have problems with the terrorist organization called the Left Hand..."
"Hey, Shirl, whatcha doin'?" Mick Harrison said, walking into Shirley Francis' temporary office.
"Oh, just watching a little TV, honey. Not much to do with business like it's been lately."
"Back to you, Bill."
"Thanks, Chuck, and may I say that's a nice tie you're wearing."
"Did he just compliment that guy's tie?" Mick asked. "And why are they looking at each other like that?"
Click!
"...four women, one man with four arms. It's the hottest new reality show this year! It's Metadate! Only on Meta Television..."
Mick tried to suppress a snicker. "Hey, maybe we should get Danny on there..."
Grimm walked into the temporary meeting room, only to be greeted by gasps from Kit, Chance, and Ed. "So, is it an improvement?" he asked as he flashed them a human smile.
"'Bout time you took that damn mask off!" Dirk Bell said, strolling into the room. "Now put it back on, you ugly bastich." He continued walking straight past the other team members. "So, we leavin' or what?"