On the road again. (Charles)

Jack adjusted his bag and silently wondered if he should don the armor now sense he had a free moment. It would be a good walk before they got to Peneicia and to put it to good use might not be a bad idea. Though that would take a few moments and they really didn't have the time to stop while he put on his costume... Wait... Costume?...

Jack shook his head at the thought and tryed to reassure himself that it was indeed more then just a costume, that it was still his symbol and his creed... Yet the reactions of the people in Standeson were still burned into his mind. The good he did just as a cop did seem to out way the good he could do as this vigilanty... Gah... To much to think about right now.

"Charles! You should try giving Mae a call now. We go plenty of time before we hit the next Island so we should be fine. Besides, I'd like to hear what she's got going on over in Malarus." Jack couldn't help the shit eating grin that was soon plastered on his face "Besides. I'm sure you're worried about her to."

"..." Charles didn't speak for a while as they walked. He was still overcome by the fact Jack seemed ready to use that gun... It didn't make sense to him, really, it didn't... It was like this vision of Jack he had all this time had been just an illusion... Though maybe he was judt being selfish... People changed over time, while he stayed the same...more or less. He recalled all the upgrades Jack installed into him...

One foot after another, his walk was mechanical, and not only because he was a robot. It was the way he felt, on the edge... Because of what could happen... Because of Jack. Speaking of Jack... "O-oh, Mae, right! And don't say that out loud!" He added, flustered by Jack's words. Was it still Jack though..? "A-all right, I'll call her." He raised his nose and turned away from Jack, feigning a resentmental pout as he put a hand to his right ear and connected to the grid.

On the other end, Mae's phone would ring, and if she were to open it, she'd be greeted by a familiar voice, apparently shouting at someone, clearly flustered out of his pants. Yes, because Charles hadn't finished what he was telling Jack, and he also hadn't realized Mae had already answered at that point. "A-and I'll prove to you I'm not worried about her! I'm worried about the citizens across the islands! It's not like I've fantasized about her soft, silky, beautiful hair every day since I last met her! You're not makinf any sense, why would you even say that!?" He shouted at Jack and... unintentionally... at Mae as well.

Mae was sitting together with the rest of the children at the Orphanage when the call from Charles came... "Excuse me... I have to take this call." She said to her co-workers and the kids before she headed into the staff room, which at this point was empty. To think that reception would be this good even in times like these was astounding. She didn't answer for a couple of seconds, looking at the display for a while... wondering whether she should be picking up or not. What could he want with her now...? After everything that had happened with Sharaku earlier that day, she... honestly didn't feel like talking with him of all people now. But she had no choice. She eventually picked up, and was greeted with Charles yelling loudly, causing her to flinch at the sudden burst of noise.

...And he was talking about her... great. He didn't seem to be aware that Mae had picked up, and so she just listened to what he had to say before speaking up... what he said... it was flattering for sure, but at the same time, it left her confused and anxious as well. She could tell by his tone of voice that he had done exactly what he said he hadn't... which made this all the more confusing to her. Hadn't he told Mae that she should let go...? He had been the one to end their relationship, not her... and yet here he was, babbling openly about how he had fantazised of her... Sure, he tried to deny it, but... just hearing his flustered self babble on about the things he apparently hadn't done just... told her the opposite.

She wouldn't make herself known until he had finished speaking. "Um... Charles...?" She said in an unsure tone, being quite confused about his actions... Was he just playing around with her emotions? Did he find this sort of thing fun? And the timing of this could not have been worse, given her current state of mind after the meeting with Sharaku and Hiro. How would this go?

Now... Jack was never one to be smooth with the ladies. The only relationship he really ever had at any length was his short fling with Quinn but that was ill fated from the start. That makes him rather bad at relationships and proper relationship etiquette. THAT SAID... He couldn't help but inwardly cringe a little at Charles's little outburst. For you see, what he lacked in relationship knowledge, he made up for in an almost supernatural sense of comedic timing... And if the universe worked even slightly like he thought it did, then Mae had picked up the phone at the right time just to hear him declare his very thinly veiled proclamation of love.

"Charles... Buddy, pal, old friend O mine. You know I love you like a brother, and it is because of this deep brotherly connection that I must inform you..." Jack's boyish smile returned in full force as he pointed to Charles's hand and held back a laugh "I think she probably heard all that... Let The Pink Ranger know I said hi heh."

Charles froze as he heard Mae's voice speak to him through the speaker... Jack's words passed him by... 'Thanks,' he thought to himself. 'Thank you, Jack, right on time...'

His eyes widened and he was sure he'd heard something snap inside him as an electrical burst passed through his limbs and spine, all the way to his brain, frying it immediately. "M-Mae?" The words left his lips meekly... His eyes wide open, he stared into the future with a smile on his face befitting a man who had just been broken to his core... "Y-you didn't hear that, did you..? B-b-because none of it is true! You're like... I'm happy for you!" The android stopped making sense even to himself as he stuttered and tripped over his own words. His voice was obviously distressed, anyone could hear in it that he wasn't faking it. And Mae should've known him well enough to know that he wouldn't dare hurt her intentionally... Even if he did sort of do it when he ditched her and then broke up with her and now fell in love with her again...............oh god... He wanted to tear off his terminal along with whatever else it was connected to in his head, throw it into Jack's hands so he could take the call and run off like a little girl... Him, a full, grown-up robot! S-silly! But he couldn't, his feet wouldn't budge... Only his twitching grin made it apparent that he was still functional...

"J-Jack says hi..."

Well... it was about time he came to his senses at least, and actually talked to her. And it would seem that he had also taken note (albeit a bit too late on his part), that Mae had in fact been listening the whole time. Oh, geez... what should she do with him...?

After a moment of contemplation, she replied to his nervous question rather meekly in return. "I... did... hear all that..." Now this confused her even further. "...Have you... been fantasizing about... me?" That did sound quite surreal now that she actually asked it out loud. Hopefully he didn't take this the wrong way. She didn't have any problems with it per se... but this timing on everything was just awful. If he did indeed still harbour feelings towards her, he would have to be the one to take the first step, because Mae sure wouldn't. If he really wanted her, he would have to show it to her... "A-Anyway! Say hi to Jack from me, would you? Also... What's on your mind? Why did you call?" Was it just to speak with her? Or was there something else that he wanted with this?

Jack chooses to remain silent and simply observe his friend lose his mind... No way in HELL is he gunna get involved in this. Though if Charles looked to him for support Jack would flash his trademark smile and give two thumbs up.... Ya know... For encouragement!

... Plus this was perfect blackmail stuff for latter... Who's getting the top bunk now Robot Boy?! AHAHAHAHA!

S-she really did hear everything!!! Oh my circuit, what was he to do now? And she was asking questions now! How to answer? Lie? Tell the truth? What if she wouldn't like the truth? He looked up to Jack in desperation...only to see his partner raising his thumbs up at him... W-what was that supposed to be now? Help me, don't just stand there!!!!!!

"I-I mean..." He gulped metaphorically. This was too hard... He couldn't relax when talking to her... He was bound to make some mistakes... How to talk to her? What to say!? "Khh..." Static would buzz through Mae's speaker as Charles gritted his teeth. This wasn't right... He couldn't lie to her! He had to say it! She deserved it! The moment was now! He wanted to hear her voice, and hear her voice he did! Now it was time for his voice to be heard... By Mae!!! He felt it coming... The avalanche of emotions! There was no stopping it now! Mae, you better brace yourself! "N-no! I won't lie to you! I did fantasize about you!!! About your beautiful hair and about you tearing eyes... About your perfect, petite stature and about the way how you have to practically climb up on me to give me a kiss!!! I fantasized about your clothes and what I'd most like to see you wearing! But I couldn't decide, because you always looked so stunning no matter what you wore!!! And no matter how you felt, your kindness would always shine through, even if you yourself didn't always know what was the right thing to do! I fantasized about your voice and how you liked to sing! And that time when you were staying at my place and I tried to cook! I fantasized that all of it was happening again! That you were my girl! That you wanted to be with me still even if I was stupid enough to push you away! You aren't weak, I realize that! And we can and must be together! Otherwise, I don't know what I'll do!!! I'll probably love you just the same, and love you to the end of time! A-and I swear I'll short-circuit if anything ever happened to you, even if you wouldn't like it that way, because I'm weak and I love you just so very much! MAE!!!!!!!" The phone call suddenly stopped as Charles put his finger onto his ear-piece. A few moment were completely devoid of sound and movement. Charles was staring straight ahead and seemed to be lost for words. No, lost for the whole world!!! Because, it this frantic moment of maniacality, he had opened his heart and soul and finally, after all this time, felt free, like he could fly!!! Not only that, but Mae was fine! His eyes would gleam as he raised his head, only to smile at Jack, as widely as he could. He really looked stupid as he did so, but he didn't care. This was it, he could go fight now for Azores, with more passion than ever! Passion granted to him by his passionfruit, Mae herself!

He would speak no more for now. It was Jack's turn to be amazed by him, otherwise, he wouldn't be content!

Mae stood there in silence for a while, as Charles explained himself... Oh boy... Had he kept all this bottled up inside him for all this time? It was a lot to swallow, and perhaps a bit of it was borderline creepy for someone else, Mae was never one to deny someone a second chance... even though it might've been the correct call in a situation like this, she just... didn't have it in her to truly say no. Of course, he couldn't see her face right now... which was perhaps for the better, since it was positively glowing red. I mean... how else are you supposed to react to something like this? Had he been a bit more tactful, perhaps her reaction would've been different, and she would've maybe given him a more straight answer... but she was so overwhelmed by all this that... well...

"C-Charles...! I..." She began... but before she could continue on with her speech, the call ended abruptly... Okay... Now what? She stood there, alone, and quite frankly stunned by what she just heard. She couldn't even utter as much as a word for several minutes as her brain tried to process the tide of words that the android had thrown at her. And perhaps that was necessary for her to come to the conclusion that he...


She'd remain in the kitchen for several minutes all alone, repeating his words inside her thoughts again and again... was this even real? She wasn't dreaming, right? At no point in her life had someone openly admitted on having such thoughts... such fantasies about her... and for good reason. That was just something you kept to yourself. But with Charles, being the naive, and curious robot that he was, had blurted all that out, and to much suprise, it... worked, for once. She actually considered things... Maybe not having come to a definitve yes or no just yet, but the fact that she was considering it was a big step in the right direction for the android... And perhaps this was what she needed to get over what had happened with Sharaku...

Jack's eyed his partner with a neutral expression. His eyes would be unreadable as he watched Charles pour his heart and soul out to Mae over the phone. He would instead be hanging off every word. Every proclamation of intent, every loving  gesture, every admittal of fault... It was all so... so.. SO... "BURNING!" Jack's guttural and heroic shout echoed and boomed through the tunnels as his heroic soul lit ablaze in a way that he had not felt sense the climactic battle with the primordial two years ago! His blazing heart threatened to burst forth from his chest and light the world on fire!

"Charles! You're blazing passions have lit a roaring inferno deep within my proud chest! I know that where ever she is, our Pink Ranger feels her righteous spirit is calling out to yours! shush... shhhh... Can you feel it?..." Jack quited both himself and Charles to listen to the deafening silence. They stood for a moment before Jack broke any semblance of peace "Because I can FEEL IT! AHAHAHA!" Without missing a beat he threw an arm over Charles' shoulders and pointed heroic into the distance.

"Now come Gold Ranger! Lets push forward, and let our passions guide us!" Without a second thought, or a first thought about having completely forgot the reason they called Mae in the first place, Jack charged on ahead and through the tunnels.

It was all so overwhelming... Mae, and now Jack!!! Oh how good he felt!!! There was nothing that could happen that could ruin the feeling! And even with Jack, pointing into the distance... Charles could almost really feel Mae's 'righteous spirit' calling out to his! And burning up inside!!! Burning with passion, burning with love, burning with Azores!!! That said, he was still pretty stunned by his own outburst. But it was okay, he was happy.

"Y-yes! Yes I can feel it!" He began, frantically, maniacally, lovingly ~~~ "We'll save Azores! We can do it now!"

And with that, he followed Jack Rannells through the tannells, his heart and mind eased at last, and new fire burning up inside of his soul! A golden flame, one that cannot be put out just that easily!