Water Park Excitement
It was a hot day for the Smash Champs, especially since a heat wave was active for the week. Jag was in the training hall with Spike and Al sparring 2-vs-1. They had been at for half an hour, and only Al and Jag were sweating the most. Spike was sweating less than the two combined or individually.
"Is it hot hot hot to you guys or is it me?"
"It ain't just you Furball, your friend looks like a sprinkler too."
"Oh yeah Kitty? You don't look so cool yourself."
Al duplicated himself so Jag had three opponents.
"3 against 1, I like these odds."
The trio charged towards Jag who simply stayed calm and used his skills to take out the duplicate (which wasn't wearing the hat like Al was) and then tossed Spike into the real Al.
"Why you-" Al sneered and created magic extensions of his claws. He took a slash and cut Jag's leg, slowing him down some.
"Gah!" He looked at the tear in his legwear and saw some blood in the slash holes. "Aw hell!" He cursed to himself.
"Gotcha now." Spike said and laid a barrage of punches into his gut. He then did a headbutt and used his strength to lift Jag into the air. Al gathered up his energy and blasted Jag back up in the air again. When he came down, the hyena and crocodile both gave him a good uppercut. When he landed, at first he didn't get back up.
"Not so tough now are you?"
"(laughs) That was too easy. He's gone down now."
But then, Jag started to slowly get back up.
"Huh?"
"What the-"
Jag stood up and got back into a fighting stance.
"Nothing's easy with me fighting."
In the kitchen, King was making lunch for the team and Ember was helping too. Sort of.
"Hey Ember, could you pass the knives my way?"
No response.
"Ember?" He said and turned to see her lying her head down on the table.
"Ember!"
Still nothing. So then, he filled a cup with water and dumped it on her. It startled her enough to wake her up.
"King?"
"You said you wanted to help me make lunch, but i've been doing all the work so far."
"So you're not the least bit hot right now, not even a little?"
"It's always hot when I cook here. Si no puedes tomar el calor, mantenerse fuera de la cocina."
"Yeah, but today's different. The day Sensei Wu gives us the day off, it had to be during a heat wave. He'll be lucky if he doesn't get cooked from this heat."
"Oy. Eres muy Senora atrevida."
"Ugh."
She joined in the cooking and helped make lunch for everyone in the dojo. Once it was finally finished...
"Hey guys, lunch is ready."
"Thanks. We worked up an appetite." Jag said. "I'll go wake up the big guy."
Jag went to Teddy and saw that he was passed out. He put his hand on Teddy's forehead and even though he had red bandages wrapped around his hand, his hand felt the burning heat Teddy gave off. It also stirred Teddy up, and he opened his eyes.
"(groans)"
"Hey Ted, come on wake up."
"Not... sleepy."
"Yeah, you could've fooled me. Come on, up and at 'em."
Jag pulled on one of his arms and lifted Teddy. He then put Teddy's around his neck and lifted the polar bear onto his feet.
"Jag... please... it's too... hot."
"Too hot for lunch, big guy?"
"Huh?"
"You heard me, lunch is waiting for you."
"Why didn't you say so?"
"Thought you didn't want to."
Even though he was burning up, Teddy put whatever energy he had into walking to the kitchen with Jag supporting him. Eventually, they got there and the others were halfway finished with their meals. Jag and Teddy's plates were untouched.
"What took you two so long?"
"Enjoying this heat Scales, cause we sure aren't." Jag said settling Teddy into his chair.
"Got any water? Big guy is really burning up."
Ember put her hand on his forehead and felt the heat.
"We'll need a big one." She said and grabbed a pitcher of water. She pulled Teddy to the sink, and tilted his head back.
"What are you doing?"
"Cooling you off." She said and dumped the pitcher of cold water on his face.
"Aah!"
"(laughs) Big boy got splashed."
"Yeesh, that's really cold, but i needed that. Thanks."
"Happy to help." She said and left the kitchen, but not before saying something.
"We need to do something to cool down." She then left.
The boys ate their meals and stayed in the kitchen to talk about their plans for the day off.
"Foxy lady is right, we need to cool off or we'll cook to death."
"Really, hadn't noticed. But i know where we're going." Jag said
"Really?" King asked
"Yeah, a water park on the other side of town. The bus can take us there for our day off."
"What are we waiting for? Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Spike said and hurried out the kitchen. The others prepared themselves, Jag grabbed Ember and told her about the trip, and everyone left for the city. When they got into the city, they hitched a bus ride to the nearest bus stop and walked to the water park.
"Whoa."
"Awesome."
"Now this is how you beat the heat." Jag said
The water park was a lot bigger than it looked. Massive pools for relaxing, water slides, water games and a big playground with water everywhere for little kids. Humans of all ages and humanoid animals were playing and splashing and shouting in joy. Before they could play, they changed into swimming clothes provided by the staff. The boys changed into swimming trunks and Ember had a bathing suit.
"This is gonna fun!" Teddy shouted and grabbed Jag and King and went to the water slides. Ember went to one of the pools, grabbed a floatie, some sunglasses and hit the water. She floated on the water and just went into relaxation mode full force.
"(sighs) This is the life."
She took some water, threw it up and it came down on her face.
"Just what the doctor ordered."
Jag, King, and Teddy had gotten in line for the water slide. The line they were in was for a big slide that required a raft. 2 people was the minimum requirement, and 4 was the maximum.
"This is gonna be awesome!" Jag cheered
"Can't wait."
5 minutes later, they got their turn and the raft came up. They got into the water, sat in different corners of the raft, and the staff person pushed them off into the tunnel. It started out slow, and when it got a little darker, they sped up.
"Typical, they always start slow and then build up speed until you feel a big-"
Right before he said the word, they went down a drop and went really fast.
"Drop!"
Next thing the boys knew, they did a couple zigzags, and then they did a loop.
As for Spike and Al, the hyena and wolf were in a water balloon fight with other people and animals; kids, teens, and adults. It was Red Team vs Blue Team and the game was about to start.
"3... 2... 1.. (whistle blown)"
Both teams grabbed water balloons from their sides and threw them at will. Every person or animal hit earned the opposite team a point. There were also targets in the middle of the field, so hitting one of those earns 3 points. Both teams had 5 minutes to get the most points and win the game.
"Take this!"
"You're about to get wet!"
"Here's a gift for ya!"
"Missed me!"
"Nice try!"
Just then, the raft King, Teddy, and Jag was riding on, came by the water field. The raft made a big splash, getting everyone on both sides good and wet.
"How was that?" Jag shouted as they left. The end of the water slide led the trio into a big pool, one that was the same size, and next to the pool Ember was in. This one however, had a side path for floating down.
"You guys want to go again or taking a relaxing stroll down this stream?"
"Let's go again, that ride was so much fun."
"Sí, enjoyment like that is worth the wait."
The jaguar, polar bear, and gorilla got out of the raft, grabbed it, and took it as they got back in line for another turn.
"(giggles) They sure are having fun." Ember laughed as she kept floating in the pool. Then, someone splashed her.
"Aah! Who did that?"
"I did."
Ember turned and saw a buff leopard with his back against the edge of the pool, and with a big smile on his face.
"What? Can't handle a little water?" He said
"Wanna bet?"
She had her hand in the water behind her so the leopard wouldn't see it coming. She then splashed the leopard, who didn't even seem fazed.
"One word: Refreshing."
"You didn't even flinch."
"I don't scare that easily. You're gonna have to come at me."
Ember felt he was challenging her so she went into the water, swam under the surface and grabbed the leopard's legs.
"Alright then."
He dived underwater as well and fooled around with Ember. Eventually, she had to get some air and the leopard followed her. When she got to the surface and got her breath, the leopard popped up behind her and got close to her.
'Gotcha' She thought and she splashed him in the face. He had his eyes closed and he was smiling a big smile.
"Gotcha!"
She then felt him grab her.
"And i got you."
"No you don't." She said and pulled him underwater with her. They had a little game of chase and this time, the leopard went for some air first.
"(gasps for air) You sure don't disappoint."
"No, i don't." She said and brushed her fur back so she could see, but something felt off.
"Wait, where is it?"
"Where's what?"
"I had a tulip as a hair ornament and i almost never take it off."
Ember looked around and so did the leopard. Then, he saw a flower floating in the water and grabbed it.
"Is that it?"
"Yes, that's it."
The leopard grabbed it and put it in her hair.
"Thanks. I couldn't live without it."
"No problem."
"I didn't catch your name, BTW."
"Well, I never said it, but the name's Zack."
"Ember."
"Pretty name. You know, you look amazing, even while soaking wet."
Zack lifted a finger and stroked her fur, but Ember wasn't easy to seduce.
"Oh yeah? Well news flash, I'm not that easy to flirt with."
She grabbed his hand and pulled it off of her.
"I like the challenge."
Jag could see Ember and Zack from where he was in the line and he felt something in his chest. He felt like his chest was tightening up.
'What is this feeling? I've never felt like this before.' He thought.
He felt different every time he looked at Ember. His heart would speed up, he would feel as if he been struck by Cupid's arrow.
"Jag? Jag!"
He was brought out of his thoughts by King.
"The line's moving, vamos."
He took another at Ember and Zack before moving ahead in the line. It was obvious to everybody even Jag and Ember that they had feelings for each other, but they didn't want to admit it.
"Googly eyes at Ember again?" Teddy asked. Jag blushed a little.
"No, that's not the case."
King and Teddy looked at each other as they knew better.
"You can't deny it Jag. It's love that you're feeling." King argued
"Yeah, doesn't bother us that you like her." He said and put his arm around Jag's neck.
"What makes you think it's that simple?"
"Oh come on Jag. You two spend at least an hour one-on-one training early, you laugh at her jokes." He said. He then leaned in close to Jag's ears.
"There was one time in the forest at night, i saw you two stargazing together." Teddy whispered
Hearing that last one really made Jag blush.
"Don't worry, i won't tell anyone."
The more he hears it, the harder he tries to deny it. But deep inside, he knew it was the truth.
As for Spike and Al, their game had ended and Al's team had won:
Blue Team: 32 pts
Red Team: 30 pts
"No fair! No fair!"
"All's fair in love and war, my furry friend." He said and splashed a water balloon behind Spike's head.
"Oh really?" He said in a sneaky tone and pulled out two balloons. He then splashed both of them on both sides of Al's head.
The Smash Champs stayed at the water park until closing time. When it closed, everyone changed back into their clothes and left. The Smash Champs were in the forest walking back to the dojo in the night.
"Feels like i have water in my ear." Ember said
"Yeah, well i still feel like a wet rag." Teddy spoke
"That was fun, totally fun. We should go back tomorrow." Spike said. He still had a bit of energy from the water balloon fight.
"We'll make plans for another day, but now we should get some shut-eye."
As soon they came in through the doors, something tripped up everybody.
"Oof!"
"What the-?"
"Hate it when he does that."
"That's just a little taste of tomorrow's training." Sensei Wu said. He hopped up on his walking stick, perfectly balanced. "Enjoyed splashing around and getting wet?"
"Yeah, since we'd been burning up out here earlier today."
"How come you're not sweating so much?" Ember asked
"I made sure to cool off, how i managed that, it's secret."
Everyone shared looks of disbelief and went to bed.
With Jag and Ember...
"Secret my tail." Jag said. "Odds are he took a dip at the water park without us noticing."
"Maybe, but did you see how he wasn't even sweating? He was probably there as long as us."
"Maybe. So, who was the hot stud you were with?"
"What hot stud?"
"You know who."
"You mean Zack?"
"So you know him?"
"Today was the first time I ever met him. I didn't know him at all before today."
"Really?"
"Why the sudden interest? You want to say something to me?" She said with an adoring face. Jag blushed when she made it.
"Uhhh, no! That's not what i'm getting at."
"(giggles) Sure you do." She laughed and turned to face the window.
Teddy and King...
"You think Jag and Ember make a good couple?"
"Heart wants what the heart wants amigo. They can't it deny for much longer."
"Yeah, those two are meant for each other."
Spike and Al...
"What a day. What a fun day."
"Yeah, but next time we're sneaking out for a day at the water park. Furface won't stop us, you with me?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
They shared a high five and everyone called it a night.
Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed the story and please review.