So this is a really short chapter, but I hope you still enjoy it.
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Chapter 26: Watermelon Zoo
After a long day of training, it was nice have a sunset that warmed up the whole sky. Keith smiled as the final rays hit his face. They were so warm and bright. Garrison might be a wasteland, but the sunsets were beautiful.
Especially from the top of Coran's building. All was at peace. At least was until Keith felt something sticky wack him across the face. He peered through the sun rays, (shouldn't he be wearing sunglasses?) and realized it was Coran. The middle-aged man was chewing on some watermelon, and had spit seeds right onto Keith's face. Keith sent him a dirty look.
Coran felt eyes on him, and looked over to his nephew. He had the decency to look sorry. "My bad." he said, handed Keith a small cloth. Keith wiped his face. "Thanks." he said sarcastically.
The boy wiped his face off. "Where'd you get the watermelon from?" Keith asked.
Coran smiled. "It was on sale at the farmer's market. Want some?"
Keith wasn't a big fan of watermelon, but it was really hot out. The two sat there for several minutes, munching on watermelon and spitting out the seeds. They made games out of it.
See how far you can spit, see how many seeds you can spit, see what tricks you can spit... the list goes on.
Finally, when the sun had long been down, the two fell right asleep on their rusty lawn chairs.
...
Keith felt something cold and wet smack his face. It was course, and smelled fresh, almost like a leaf.
He opened his eyes, but all he saw was green. Keith pushed the vine out of his face.
Wait a second... vine?
Keith didn't remember falling asleep in the woods. He quickly sat up, and looked at the roof top. It was covered in vines. They stretched across the roof, and down the side of the building. The whole shop looked like a potted plant. Where did these come from? he wondered.
"What happened?!" Coran cried out. He walked up Keith. "What's going on?" he asked him. Keith just shrugged.
"I'm sure the others will know." Keith said, pulling out his phone.
...
Blue trudged through the thick plants. "That's something you don't see everyday."
Hunk picked up a large watermelon from the mess. But it wasn't a normal watermelon; it was shaped like a giraffe. "How did Keith grow these?" he asked.
"Krolia had to power to summon plant life in times of need." Shiro observed. "Looks like Keith's gained another one of her powers."
"But Krolia's plants moved. These things aren't doing anything." Blue said, running a hand over the back of an elephant.
"But at least I made them. I didn't think my spit would be able to do anything after I lost my healing powers." Keith said, as held held up a small watermelon. It was about the size of a newborn cat, but it was shaped like a dragon. A four headed dragon. It kind of looked like the Ultra-Dragon from Ninjago. Keith was going to keep it.
"What exactly are we going to do with all these?" Coran asked.
Blue tisked. "Keith, why don't you go sell the watermelons down by the pier, and we'll help Coran clear away the vines?"
Keith nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
...
It took about thirty minutes to get all the watermelons in the truck and unload them out by the pier. Then after spending another half hour setting up a stand, Keith was left alone with his creations. At first glance, they looked like normal, everyday watermelon animals, but Keith realized that he had seen all of these animals, whether in real life or on TV.
His favorite was the Ultra-Dragon, but there was a two-inch version of Cosmo, a two-foot lion pride, several rat-sized hippos, and plenty more. All of them were completely watermelon, and had little seeds in the place of eyes.
Keith was almost sad to sell them, but it's not like he could eat all of them, and no point in wasting them.
"Hey Keith!" Ezor said, startling the poor boy. He turned to give her an angry glare. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Sorry." she snapped. "Just wanted to buy a watermelon."
Keith nearly face-palmed, realizing that he had just been standing there, like an idiot, admiring his creations.
"Right, sorry. Which one?" he asked.
"How much for a hippo?" Ezor asked, staring at one of the small animals.
"Uh... $5?" Keith offered. Ezor gave him a puzzled look. "Just $5?"
Keith nodded. "Alright." She handed him a five, and left with a watermelon. After that, the rest of them sold pretty quickly. Mr. Iverson bought the elephant, Shay bought a monkey, someone bought the rest of the hippos... even Bob a spider.
Soon, Keith was all alone with his dragon. "Alright Ultra, let's pack up and head home." he instructed, counting the cash he had made.
"You're packing up?" Plaxum suddenly appeared. She looked curious. One of the customers at the fry stand had shown off a watermelon scorpion Keith had grown, and she had wanted one.
"Yeah. We're all sold out." Keith said ruefully. "Maybe next time."
Plaxum frowned, and turned to leave, but she paused suddenly. The preteen cocked her head. "What about that one?" She asked, pointing at the dragon.
Keith looked at his watermelon. "You mean Ultra?"
Plaxum's eyes widened. "Like from Ninjago?"
Keith smiled. Sometimes, he forgot that she loved the show more than him. "Yeah, but he's not for sale."
But before Keith could blink, Plaxum had swiped the watermelon, and taken off sprinting. Keith blinked, confused, before anger seared his features. "PLAXUM!" he screamed.
He dashed after her, mad as a hornets' nest. "Plax, give me my dragon back!" he ordered. Either because she didn't hear him or she didn't care, probably the latter, Plaxum didn't stop.
Keith chased after her. But, unfortunately, she was always way too fast for him, and he couldn't catch up. He didn't need to though. Ultra began to twitch, and he wiggled his wings. A second later, he flapped them, and flew right out of Plax's arms. He flew back to Keith, and landed in his arms.
Keith smiled, relieved, before he realized that a watermelon had come to life and flew. "You're alive?" the kids asked simultaneously. The little dragon chipped in response.
"Awesome." Plaxum smiled, and scratched under one of the dragon's chins. "If this little guy is alive, who knows which one of the others is." she observed.
Keith paled. "Oh no."
...
Keith wasn't sure why he was storming into people's houses to get some watermelons back, especially since they all probably had knives to cut the fruits with. But after two hours, he and Plaxum managed to buy all the watermelons back and get them to his house.
"So what are you going to do with them?" she asked.
Keith shrugged. "Maybe I'll just keep them here."
"Nope! Not doing that!" Shiro protested. He had just come into the house, leaves in his hair and covered in scratches from cleaning.
Plaxum raised a brow. "What happened to you?"
Shiro smiled. "I was clearing away some overgrown vines," Keith turned pink at the mention of his creations, "when my scissors broke. I need new ones." He walked into the kitchen and pulled a pair out of the drawers. "Keith, we both know you can't eat all of the watermelons before they go bad."
"This isn't about eating them. They're alive!" Keith explained.
"And there's nowhere to put them!" Plaxum backed up.
Shiro tapped his chin for a moment. "I think I might have a place."
...
"Welcome to Mask Island!" Shiro said happily. All the watermelons scrambled off the warp pad, happy to be on the jungle-covered island.
Keith smiled as they made themselves at home. Ultra chirped from his shoulder. "Do you want to stay here?" he asked the melon. All four of his heads nodded. Keith smiled.
"Keep an eye on them for me." he ordered. The dragon chirped again, before taking off after the others.
...
If you want to know a fun fact about this chapter, I had originally planned to make all the watermelons lions, but I then I bindged Ninjago while writing this, so the whole Watermelon Zoo was just a ploy to bring in Ultra. :D