Hawaii!

Chapter Fifty-Two:

"I can't believe we're actually in Hawaii!" Homare said excitedly as she looked around the small airport. There was a warm breeze blowing in through the sliding glass doors that smelled of sea water.

"Hawaii and Japan may share an ocean, but Hawaii definitely got a better deal," Jade said as she moved her sunglasses to the top of her head.

"I know we haven't seen much yet, but Hawaii is very beautiful," Lettuce said an hour later, once they had finished clearing customs and gathered their luggage.

"I can definitely understand why it's called 'paradise'," Tart said as he glanced around.

"How are we going to know if we're on the right island?" Zakuro asked Ryou. "The same one as whatever element is here?"

"We are currently on the largest of the Hawaiian islands, Hawai'i," Ryou answered. "It is made up of five volcanoes. The oldest is extinct, one is dormant and the other three are active. According to the data readouts, one of these volcanoes holds an element, or they each hold different pieces of the element."

"So, what, we basically go volcano hopping around the island?" Kish said, leaning over the seat to look at Ryou.

"Pretty much," Ryou said. "There are two within the same national park, so that will save a bit of time and energy."

"So, what exactly was your computer searching for?" Ichigo asked. "Magical lava or something?"

"Actually, there are some properties of Mew Aqua that are similar to many things on this island. The lava under this island just happens to be one of them," Keiichiro explained. "However, it will take about twenty-four hours for the computers to search once we set up the radar."

"So, what do we do until the computers finish?" Rōzu asked.

"Well," Ryou said with a grin. "We are in Hawaii. I imagine there will be something to keep us occupied."

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Mint's eyes widened as the stared at the small blue bird before her.

"Fly, little blue bird!" The bird commanded.

"I can't fly!" Mint insisted, though the flapping wings on her back said otherwise.

"FLY!" The bird ordered in a screech.

"I CAN'T!" Mint screeched back, gasping when she realized that her voice sounded much like the bird's squawk. She felt her feet leave the ground and she struggled so hard to get back down, but her efforts just made her rise higher.

"STOP IT!" She yelled. "I CAN'T FLY!"

"You will soar, little bird, once you realize that you are what is holding you back from your destiny," The bird said calmly before taking flight, circling Mint, going higher and higher in the air.

She could only watch in horror as the bird disappeared in the air above her, leaving her alone in the air as it became harder to breathe, so much that it felt like she was underwater.

She was going to drown in the sky.

"Mint? Mint Onee-Chan? Wake up, na no da!"

Mint squeezed her eyes shut before reluctantly opening them to see Pudding kneeling on the bed beside her.

"Get up, Mint Onee-Chan, na no da!" Pudding said, bouncing the bed some. "We've been trying to get you up for ten minutes, na no da. Breakfast time, na no da!"

"Breakfast?" Mint said, rubbing her eyes as she sat up. Then she remembered. She was in a hotel, in the large, luxurious suite she was sharing with Ichigo, Lettuce, Jade, Homare and Rirī.

"You get her up?" Jade asked, dressed in a short skirt and bikini top, sunglasses perched on top of her head.

"Yep!" Pudding said as she climbed off the bed. She tossed Mint's swimsuit and sundress at her. "Hurry up and get ready, na no da. We're going to the beach after breakfast, na no da!"

"Anyone else feel weird going to the beach when there's an element that could be found? And that Mylo's already got a head start?" Ichigo said as she poked her head out of the bathroom, where she was tying her hair up into a ponytail.

"We've got to wait so that Ryou's computer has time to work it's magic," Mint said as she sat up and stretched. "If that means we have a pin-pointed location while Mylo has to go everywhere on the island looking for this element, then by all means I don't mind killing time at the beach."

Ichigo paused as she combed her bangs to the side with her fingers.

"I just can't help but feel we're running out of time." She said.

Mint frowned. She had been feeling the same way, but for reasons she couldn't understand.

"Why do you say that?" Lettuce asked in concern.

"We're still missing three elements. And the Summer Solstice is approaching very quickly," Ichigo said. "And Pie's got to solve that riddle before then. And, I feel like it's important that we have all the elements by then. Very important."

"We'll find them, Ichigo," Zakuro said as she entered the room along with Rin, Rōzu and Homare, the latter of whom let the three other girls into the suite.

"Yeah, nothing can stop the Tokyo Defenders, na no da!" Pudding exclaimed.

Ichigo smiled, though she couldn't still feel uneasy.

The girls met the boys downstairs in the hotel's lobby for breakfast. While the others were distracted with breakfast, Ichigo and Lettuce quickly grabbed Ryou and Keiichiro.

"Did you get it?" Ichigo asked in a low voice.

Ryou nodded.

"Six bottles of sunblock." He said. "The sales lady thought we were crazy."

"Will it really work?" Lettuce asked worriedly, glancing over at Pie who was currently occupied with helping Rōzu put bacon on her plate.

"It should," Keiichiro said with a nod. "If nothing else, it should at least lessen the chance of sunburn."

"And it's up in your room?" Ichigo said. The two men nodded.

"We'll corner them after breakfast," Ryou said.

The Cyniclons were quite oblivious as to why their human friends were acting edgy and awkward during the meal.

However, they quickly figured out why as soon as they went back upstairs to grab their towels and other things for the day on the shore.

"Why are we all going into Ryou and Keiichiro's room?" Rōzu asked, clearly confused as she bounced onto the bed.

Ryou quickly closed and locked the door, though he knew that wouldn't do much.

"What is it?" Tart asked, brow furrowing in confusion.

"You guys know we love you, right?" Ichigo said.

"Yeah…" Kish said, a little concerned about where this was going.

"And the last thing we want is for you guys to get hurt or anything like that," Masaya said.

"Uh huh," Rirī said nervously.

"And that includes," Ryou said as he withdrew one of the bottles of sunblock. "Making sure you don't get sunburnt."

"You little fiends!" Rin hissed as suddenly Keiichiro grabbed her by the waist.

It took twenty minutes and lots of squirming, yelling, and patience, but finally there were six grumpy Cyniclons covered in sunblock.

"I truly feel as if this was uncalled for," Pie said blandly, but irritation still clearly in his tone. And despite his clear indignation, he was still the only one who had been the easiest to handle, though perhaps that was due to the fact that Ichigo and Jade both knew well enough to shove a wide-eyed Lettuce in front of him to make him behave.

"I hate you all," Rirī snarled as she rubbed at her face, trying to get the sunblock off to no avail.

"Sunblock feels so gross!" Rōzu complained. "It makes your skin feel all sticky and yuck!"

"Hey, better sticky and yuck than red and hurting," Mint said. She and the rest of the humans were mostly covered in the sunblock as well.

"You guys are so white, you'd burn the second you stepped out of the shadows," Shinji said.

"Trust me, you'll thank us later," Zakuro said as she tried to get a glob of sunblock out of her hair.

"Now let's go have fun, na no da!" Pudding said, trying to make the mood fun again.

The promise of the beach did, indeed, work wonders on everyone's moral.

"It has been way too long since I've last been to the beach," Jade said as they walked down the beach, trying to find a good spot.

"We can build sandcastles, and surf, and play volleyball, and find seashells, and—" Pudding said, bouncing with every step.

Suddenly, Lettuce's eyes widened and she grabbed hold of Pie's arm tightly, tugging on him.

"What is it?" Pie asked, looking at her. Lettuce lifted a finger and pointed.

Just as, opposite the Tokyo Defenders, Bell was adamantly pulling on Jalapeno's arm and pointing with wide eyes.

The two groups stopped only a few paces away from the other, none having realized before then who was walking up the beach opposite them.

There was an extremely awkward silence, mostly at the fact that none of them had noticed what should have been quite obvious. It was clear to the Tokyo Defenders that their enemies were ready for a day at the beach as well.

"So, um, you found Topaz's note," Zen said at last.

"Yeah. And we're still trying to clean up the mess," Mint said dryly.

"Sorry about that," Topaz said with a unapologetic grin.

"So, um, I guess why you're here is because…" Cayenne said.

"Waiting for the computers to tell you where it is?" Ryou finished.

"Unfortunately, yes." Chile said with a nod.

No one was quite sure what to do, then Rirī sighed and stepped forward.

"Look, we're all over-worked, stressed and in desperate need for a vacation. There's plenty of beach here for us all. So, temporary truce?"

"Consider it done," Mylo said.

"Great!" Kish said.

"So…" Pepper said. "Later."

However, before they could walk away, Ichigo quickly said,

"Hey!"

They turned to her curiously as Ichigo dug a bottle of sunblock out of her bag and tossed it, Jalapeno catching the bottle and arching an eyebrow at it curiously.

"It's called sunblock. And, trust me, you'll thank me later," Ichigo said.

With that, the two groups separated.

"Well. That was weird." Mint said after a pause.

"Weirder than seeing your teacher at the grocery store weird," Jade said in agreement.

"Maybe not that weird, but definitely weird." Masaya said.

"Come on, let's go play!" Rōzu said.

With that, they dispersed.

They spent the next several hours swimming, building sand-castles, collecting shells and just generally enjoying themselves. Sometime in the afternoon, they met where they had laid out their blankets and towels to eat lunch and get something to drink.

"Ah!" Pudding said contently as she laid on her back. "There's nothing like drinking lemonade on the beach, na no da."

"Hawaiian beach tops Japanese beach any day of the year," Jade said as she brushed her wet hair out of her eyes with a grin.

Suddenly, Lettuce turned her head towards the ocean with a frown.

"Lettuce? Everything alright?" Rin asked as she studied her.

"Did you hear that?" She asked in a soft voice.

"Hear what?" Keiichiro asked.

"I… I heard someone call my name," She said. "But they called me 'Mew Lettuce'."

Her eyes suddenly went wide and she gasped as she jumped to her feet, running off towards the incoming waves.

"Lettuce!" Ichigo called as she and the others quickly ran to catch up. "What's—?"

However, she soon saw what Lettuce was running to.

In the low water of the incoming tide, getting closer and closer to the sandy beach, was a dolphin.

Lettuce knelt beside the dolphin and gently stroked it's head.

"Don't worry," She told the dolphin reassuringly. "We'll get you back in deeper water."

The dolphin made clicking noises as the rest of the Tokyo Defenders approached. Lettuce's brow furrowed.

"You tried to beach yourself. To talk to me?" She said.

"You can understand what he's saying?" Masaya asked.

The dolphin clicked indignantly.

"She," Lettuce translated. "And yes. Apparently I can."

"Uh, sorry," Masaya said to the dolphin, who seemed to nod in forgiveness.

The dolphin continued to make clicking noises.

"She says she heard about us finding the Mew Aqua from other sea creatures. And she and other members of her pod have been looking for me since then," Lettuce said, still looking very confused. "Because they know where to find the Fire of the Ancients."

"The Ancients?" Kish repeated.

"She says that time has made the humans and Cyniclons forget about the Ancients, but not the animals," Lettuce translated as the dolphin 'spoke' again. "The Ancients left three gifts that could only be found once humans and Cyniclons abandoned their prejudices against each other and united as one."

"The other three elements!" Rōzu said excitedly.

The dolphin bobbed her head in the water before speaking again.

"She says that the Fire of the Ancients is on this island," Lettuce said. "The volcano it is located in is revered and continuously makes its presence known."

"Kīlauea," Ryou said instantly. "It's the most active volcano on Hawai'i, and in Hawaiian mythology it's the home of Pele, the goddess of fire."

The dolphin spoke again.

"She says that there's an entrance in the jungle near Kīlauea that will lead to a series of tunnels that goes inside the volcano," Lettuce translated. "It's safe for the most part, though there are a few tunnels we have to be careful in, and that the jungle birds will help us find the entrance."

"Then I believe we know where to go," Pie said with a nod. He glanced down at the dolphin. "But perhaps first we should get you back into deeper water."

The dolphin made another noise which Lettuce translated as,

"She says that would be greatly appreciated." Lettuce then paused and asked the dolphin, "What is your name?"

The dolphin clicked excitedly.

"Nai`a," Lettuce repeated. "Well, thank you, Nai`a, for telling us where to go and helping us."

Nai`a splashed her tail happily for a moment, then allowed Pie and Ryou to lift her and swim out with her. When they got back to the shore, they found the others packing up their beach things.

"So much for a vacation," Mint said with a sigh.

"At least we now know where the fire element is," Zakuro said as she tossed Ryou his towel. "We can grab it and come right back here."

"Then let's go get changed and head out, na no da!" Pudding said excitedly.

Mylo watched as the Tokyo Defenders headed back towards their hotel, barely even remembering where he was until he got hit on the side of the head with a beach-ball.

"Mylo-Kun," Bell whined as Pepper chased after the ball. "You were supposed to hit it back."

"I got distracted," Mylo stated simply, truly having forgotten that he was playing with the twins and Topaz. However, it was easy to forget that when the game was less hitting the ball back and forth with the others and more running after the ball after a missed hit or a hit sending the ball too high. In fact, the ball colliding with his head was the first time Mylo had touched the ball so far, the three girls each wanting to try and get the ball going again, always having to re-start within seconds.

"With what?" Topaz asked.

"Uh oh," Zen said as he got his wet bangs out of his eyes as he grabbed a towel, tossing one to Chile as well. "I know that look."

"What look?" Pepper asked, waddling slightly as the beach-ball in her arms was just about as big as her.

"The look that says our vacation just got cut short," Cayenne said irritably as he looked up from his book.

"Their computer found it first?" Chile said in surprise, pausing in drying his hair. "But ours has been searching longer."

"We always get there last," Mylo said, glancing briefly over his shoulder. "But this time, we're going to get the element first."

"How?" Bell asked as she floated over to Mylo's side, looking up at him.

He smirked down at her.

"We're going to get there at the same time they do. We're going to follow them."

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For a trek through a jungle, it wasn't so bad of a journey. Even Mint couldn't complain too much.

Well. It wasn't that bad unless you were Zakuro Fujiwara.

Because Zakuro was pretty smart. She knew what jungles meant. Jungles meant bugs.

Big, huge, scary bugs.

She did her best to hide her edginess, but her eyes were wide as they darted around as if she expected to see a bug come charging at her.

She glanced from one side to the next as she continued to walk forward. So far, so good. No bugs at all.

And then it happened.

A spider, just mind its own business, started to make a web.

And dropped down on its silk right in front of Zakuro's face.

Everyone leapt a foot in the air at Zakuro's sudden blood-curdling scream and immediately turned to see that Zakuro had jumped onto a truly unflappable Pie, throwing her legs around his torso and her arms around his neck and seemed to almost be trying to get onto his shoulders, her ears and tail out with the fur standing on end.

"Um, Zakuro," Pie said calmly. "Can I help you?"

"Just keep being the tallest thing between me and the bugs!" Zakuro said.

"Zakuro doesn't do bugs," Ichigo said in explanation.

"Kind of figured that out," Shinji said with a nod.

"Wouldn't it be more likely that the higher you are, the easier it is for the bugs to drop down onto you?" Jade said with a small frown.

Immediately, Zakuro leapt off of Pie.

"I really don't think there's really a safe place from bugs in the jungle," Lettuce said softly, hoping Zakuro wouldn't hear. Unfortunately Zakuro's wolf ears heard her loud and clear.

A bird squawked from above.

"He says there aren't any bugs once you get to the entrance," Mint translated. "And that he and the other birds will be happy to eat any bugs that offend you."

"Good," Zakuro said, rubbing her arms as she glanced around warily.

"Come on, we can't be too far," Rirī said.

"It's supposed to be right through here," Mint said, pointing towards an opening in the tree-line.

Sure enough, they were soon standing in front of a cave. There was moss growing around the outside, which Kish brushed away to reveal strange symbols. He frowned.

"Are these Hawaiian?" He asked.

"I don't think so," Ryou said.

"I wonder what they mean," Rōzu said.

"Probably something obvious like, 'Home of volcano goddess, solicitors will have their hair set on fire'," Shinji said.

"Well, I'm not sure I really believe there's a goddess living in this volcano or not, but I hope she doesn't think we're here to sell her insurance," Ichigo said.

Pudding stared fixated on the symbols.

"Beware the power that flows through these hollowed veins. Power reserved for both the self-less and brave. For the most dangerous and mightiest fire flows within."

"Uh, Pudding?"

Pudding blinked and looked at Jade, who was arching a brow.

"How do you know what that says?" Jade asked.

Pudding blinked again and thought for a second, looking at her confused and stunned teammates.

"Pudding has no idea, na no da," She said.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm at the point of just assuming that things like this are a good sign and to move forward," Kish said.

"Even when 'moving forward' means walking right into a volcano?" Rirī asked, arching a brow.

"Eh. Could always be worse," Kish said with a shrug as he started to walk through the entrance.

"Is it bad that I've stopped wondering what constitutes as 'worse'?" Mint asked with a sigh as she followed.

"I get the feeling we'll know it when we see it," Rin commented.

"A volcano?" Pepper said, brow furrowing. "Really?"

"Well, we are looking for fire, right?" Zen said.

"I really don't like the look of that cave, Mylo," Topaz said with a small frown.

"The element that's in there will protect it, don't worry," Mylo told her reassuringly, but even he wasn't too sure.

"Yeah, but what happens when we take it out?" Cayenne asked.

Before anyone could respond to that, they saw that Bell and Pepper—eager to get the element and go back to playing on the beach—had already started following the Tokyo Defenders.

"Oh no," Chile groaned.

"Really, you two?" Cayenne growled.

"Well, we've got to go in there now," Mylo said with a frown.

Inside the tunnels leading to the volcano, Rin frowned and touched the wall before retracting her hand like it'd been burnt.

"What's wrong?" Masaya asked, noticing Rin had stopped walking completely.

"This stone…" She said. "I know what it is."

"Isn't it just your ordinary volcanic rock?" Jade asked.

"No," Pie said with a grimace as he too realized what it was. "Stones of this nature, when refined and shaped, make Restrictors."

"Which means that we can't teleport or use our powers while we're in here," Rin said. "It'd be a miracle if we could transform at all."

"You know, this is all starting to sound really, really, really unsafe," Lettuce commented nervously.

"I agree with Lettuce," Ryou said with a frown. "Despite that we really need this element, there has to be a way that's safer. Some of this foundation doesn't look sturdy, and since this is an active volcano, we could be just one eruption away from being trapped in here."

"As much as I hate using teleporting as a hasty retreat, a cave-in would definitely be the thing to use it for," Kish said as they turned around. "But even then, it's not a guarantee. Too many have died from collapses in places like this because of not being able to teleport fast enough, usually getting struck on the head before they can even really move."

"If that doesn't kill instantly, the rest of the rocks do," Rirī said grimly.

"And another good reason to get out of here," Homare said with a shudder.

However, as they turned the bend, Rōzu walked smack dab into Bell, both girls instantly recoiling with squeals.

"Bell? Pepper?" Ichigo said in surprise as Pepper hauled Bell to her feet. "What are you two doing here?"

"Following you guys. Duh." Pepper said nonchalantly.

"Yeah, do you have the element already?" Bell asked as she dusted herself off.

"No, we don't," Tart said with a frown. "You can't teleport out of here, and it looks like the tunnel could collapse at any second."

"Well, that's good to know," Zen said dryly as he and the other finally caught up with the twins.

"There's got to be another way to get to it, though," Keiichiro said.

Cayenne turned to Mylo with a frown.

"I am not going to risk life and limb for an element," He said almost warningly.

"Nor am I," Mylo said in agreement, though he was also grimacing. This was supposed to be easy…

"Great, so, now that we have all agreed on that, let's get out of here," Zakuro said.

However, Pudding's head instantly jerked so that she looked back to where they had come from, her eyes wide. She sucked in a breath and took off running.

"Pudding! Where are you going?" Mint called after her. Pudding didn't respond, could only hear Heicha's voice echoing down the tunnels, calling for her. What was going on? There was no way Heicha could be there… She was at home in Tokyo, she had to be.

So why was she hearing her baby sister's voice saying "Onee-Chan" echoing down the tunnels?

Pudding skidded to a stop at seeing multiple tunnels emerging in various directions. She was now standing in the center of a large circle, staring at the different options of tunnels to go down. Which one was the voice coming from? And… why did it stop?

It was only then that she noticed that Chile was right beside her, his green eyes darting back and forth, looking at all the tunnels along with Pudding.

"What is it?" Tart asked as he and the others came to the mouth of the tunnel.

"It sounded like Heicha, na no da." Pudding whispered. "But… but it wasn't…"

Suddenly, from beneath their feet came a deep, rumbling sound.

"What's happening?" Topaz exclaimed in fear.

"It's the volcano," Ryou said urgently. "We need to go, now!"

It was only then that Pudding felt her blood run cold. She didn't even notice, but it was getting structurally weaker and weaker as she went down the tunnels. She was now at the weakest point.

And there was no way either Pudding or Chile could make it back to their companions in time.

She heard Tart yell "PUDDING!" and felt herself be pulled aside, right before large stones could fall where she had been standing before. She was pulled inside a tunnel and closed her eyes, hands over her ears while waiting for the noise to die.

"We need to get out of this tunnel, now," Cayenne yelled over the noise, grabbing hold of a scared Bell.

"No!" Pepper screamed, eyes wide and starting to tear up, resisting as Jalapeno started to drag her away. "Chile, Chile's still over there! We have to get him, we need to save him!"

Jalapeno quickly pulled her close and got to her level only long enough to look her in the eye.

"There will be no one to save Chile if at first we do not save ourselves." He told her. Pepper bit her lip, but nodded. The Tokyo Defenders reluctantly had to listen to the advice as well, knowing it was also true for Pudding as well. Painfully, they retreated down the tunnels as they crumbled behind them, Pie having grabbed hold of Tart to ensure that he was not left behind in his struggle to get to Pudding.

The ground became still again. The entrance to the tunnels was sealed off by rocks barely a moment after Pie and Tart crossed the border.

Pudding opened her eyes.

"No!" She breathed.

There was a large pile of rocks blocking the entrance to the tunnel.

She was trapped.

But… not alone.

Shakily, she turned and looked over at the red haired Cyniclon boy who was rising to his feet.

Pudding felt her heart lodge in her throat.

She was defenseless and on her own, trapped in the tunnel with Chile.


Uh oh, Pudding's trapped with Chile! What will happen next?

Nai`a literally means 'Dolphin' in Hawaiian. So yes, I named the dolphin 'Dolphin'.