Its a fine hot summer day and everyone at Mew's house is sweating like crazy. Well, everyone except Mew that is.

Joe Dark demands proper air conditioning but Mew doesn't know how to fix it. Thus, Joe Dark prepares to kill him before he dies from dehydration.

However Mew saves the situation by offering a trip to the beach, getting Alura on-board by mentioning "ice cream" to get her curiosity going.

And why stop with just the four of them? Mew calls up Kairi and winds up getting her, Shina AND Auris on-board, though Kairi's far more reluctant compared to the others.

Then Mew calls Lunis on the moon and ends up convincing her, Riku and Solaris to come along as well.

...Just as planned.

Mew thinks back to a day ago when he contacted Solaris in private and had him manipulate the sun's rays on his place and Sancturia on a dare.

In actuality, Mew wanted to get the girls in swimsuits and played dirty to get them to the beach. Now he's prepared to indulge in paradise until Joe Dark brings up the harsh truth...They need to BUY bathing gear.

...One call back to the moon later, a shopping trip is arranged for both parties.

They meet up in front of a mall with Lunis and Solaris' normal attire drawing lots of eyes.

Mew offers to buy their clothes with his handy-dandy debit card, figuring some of them might want a new wardrobe.

Mew teaches the likes of Lunis and Alura how to shop for clothes upon which they split up and try to figure out what they want.

Lunis ends up doing the worst possible decision though in asking Mew to pick out her swimsuit, with him preying on her obvious crush on Riku to make her go along with it.

Then he directs his attention towards Maria, Alura and Joe Dark, helping Maria pick out something innocent and tasteful. What, he's not that much of a creep.

Meanwhile Solaris is shredding through tons of swimwear because of his muscles, accidentally turning on the employee helping him out.

Alura, Lunis and Maria head into the fitting rooms to try on their choices. Alura doesn't know what to do or what even qualifies as fitting.

She starts developing a sense of envy when she starts peeking in on Lunis stripping bare to put her swimsuit on.

Up in Sancturia, however, Kairi and Shina have recruited Gabriel to join them on their trip to the beach and are now off shopping for swimsuits.

Kairi's suspecting that Mew's pulled some sort of foul play with the weather, but Shina thinks she's being paranoid.

Shina then tries to pick out swimsuits for the both of them only for Kairi to object bluntly, for she is an adult and can pick out her own clothes.

Shina respects that decision but REALLY wants to have one last go at picking clothes out for her, so makes a bargain. If she gets to pick out her swimsuit, then Kairi can do the same for her.

...Exactly as planned.

Kairi hoped she'd do that cause she knows Shina will just pick out something nice and cute, leaving Kairi to humble her by picking out something skimpy that'll embarrass her.

They go their separate ways with the promise to return home and put on each other's swimsuits before heading out.

When they arrive back, Shina receives hers first and is almost ashamed of her sister for picking out what she did.

Her tears disarm Kairi's guard and leave her vulnerable to what's apparently a positively scandalous swimsuit that Shina picked out for her.

Having faked her tears, Shina forces her sister to live up to her promise, with Auris tag-teaming Kairi to force her to not be a liar.

Kairi hates them both as she's dragged kicking and screaming into wearing the swimsuit.

Finally everyone heads to the beach, with the boys meeting up together to get dressed while the girls do the same on their own.

The boys are mostly in swim trunks with no real difference between them. Mew's not afraid of any competition from them since Joe Dark's practically a skeleton, Solaris is a dick, and Riku's only really got eyes for one girl.

Thus he'll be able to truly appreciate all that the ladies have to offer. They waltz out to the beach, with Mew fully prepared to embrace paradise.

After the men get some time to enjoy the sun and fresh sea breeze, the ladies start to walk out one by one.

Lunis is the first on display, her swimsuit emphasizing her long legs and supple curves.

Mew, of course, is delighted to bear witness to such beauty. Riku, meanwhile, finds his jaw dropped, complimenting Lunis on how good she looks.

Naturally though Solaris goes full big brother mode and demands to know who allowed her to wear that skimpy thing. When the blame goes right to Mew, he gives what amounts to a half-truth, which holds Solaris back from killing him for now.

Alura "appears" next, and by appear I mean she's been shyly hiding behind Joe Dark unheard this entire time.

Her swimsuit is pretty bold for her but she doesn't really get that. Its not necessarily bad but given Mew's high standards she's lucky to be awarded points for trying.

Fortunately Joe Dark manages to muster up a compliment by his own standards that makes her happy.

Then comes the Auroras, starting with Shina, who is wearing a swimsuit that shows off her body well enough while also being cute.

Mew salutes to Alex for managing to get her before focusing on Kairi being dragged out on full display by Shina.

Despite a bit of pudginess to her frame Kairi didn't look bad at all in the swimsuit. She's super flustered over being forced to show herself off in front of Mew but she also winds up taking his compliments with little more than the expected Tsundere "I-Idiot..."

Then comes Auris, whose swimsuit is bound to destroy Mew's mind for good aaaaaaaaaand she's decked in a diving suit and coat.

She passes Mew by and taunts him for trying to pull the wool under her eyes. Mew sighs, realizing he at least got three out of four in swimsuits.

Suddenly there's a grand fireworks display, announcing the arrival of the Planetary Aurians, whom Gabriel invited to join in on the fun.

The likes of Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune and Priscilla number their ranks.

Mew and Saturn immediately butt heads over who can liven up the party the most, with Kairi exasperated over what can even BE done at a beach.

Everyone goes their separate ways, with the pros laying out beach towels and some toys to play with while the newcomers just sort of start waddling around trying to figure out what the do.

Riku's dragged along by Lunis to the shoreline while Alura demands Joe Dark go find her this "ice cream" Mew hyped up.

Fortunately they find the hut selling it quickly, only to be troubled by the presence of one-hundred different flavors.

Mew and Mars are nearby, having an avocado and cappuccino flavored ice cream each. Joe Dark calls them both insane and tries to find something normal for Alura.

Alura is lured in by the raspberry flavor and so him and her get a cone each and move on their merry way.

Mew and Mars, meanwhile, discuss the merits of different ingredients on hot dogs, with Mew denying the blasphemy that is putting a pickle on one.

They wind up finding out that Jupiter has set up a volleyball court and is demanding opponents to face her. Mew thinks it'd be a fun time if him and Mars faced her together. Mars is reluctant to go along but Mew's confidence helps bring him around a bit.

On the way to the court the two accidentally bump into Kairi, who is struggling to move due to how much bounce her swimsuit's giving her.

Auris, donning a snorkel and swim goggles, tells Kairi to go play with the others, only for Kairi to fire back at how easy it is for her to say given her lack of shame.

Auris plays it cool and points Kairi towards Shina working on building a sandcastle.

Kairi is happy to help, proceeding to walk on over and kick down one of Shina's towers in a fit of childishness.

Shina admonishes her and Kairi's about ready to really vent when Maria pops in, wondering why mama ruined her Auntie's castle.

Kairi is forced to play along with Shina to rebuild the castle before she winds up giving Maria the wrong idea. Though with a whisper, Kairi vows to Shina that this isn't over.

Meanwhile Riku and Lunis are picking up shells on the shoreline. Lunis comments on having never been to a beach before, remarking how Genestasia had deadly oceans with terrifying creatures so very few people bothered to go near them.

Riku invites her to see what the waters have to offer as well. Though she can't swim, Riku remedies that by having them travel underwater with an air bubble.

Auris joins with in her diving suit, and for the next few minutes the three of them go exploring what the sea has to offer.

Kairi and Shina continue to work on a sandcastle, with Gabriel coming up to critique their work.

He finds their craftmanship poor and plans to show them what its like to put effort forward in their work.

Shina makes a competition out of this and rallies Kairi to show him their sisterly teamwork.

A short time later Shina and Kairi have finished a rather nice looking castle while Gabriel only has a tall cube of sand to show.

However, drawing the sword that he actually brought with him to the beach, he winds up perfectly cutting the cube into the shape of the Pyramid of the Neo Drive.

Clearly the sisters are defeated, but it turned out to be a fun time for them and that's all that matters. Kairi's even willing to forgive Shina, and the two take a picture to remember this moment by.

The flash of which winds up temporarily blinding Joe Dark, who is finishing up his ice cream with Alura.

He mocks them for playing like children, with Shina stating how its never too late to building sandcastles. Pushed into a corner, Joe Dark grumbles at them to put some damn clothes on and continues with Alura.

Alura really, really likes ice cream and wants more, but Joe Dark doesn't want her to get a stomachache.

Maria then wanders up and tugs Joe Dark's trunks, complaining about sore red feet. Joe Dark gives her a piggyback ride back to the towels to help her out, but in doing so allows Maria to stick her tongue out at Alura.

Thus, Alura learns what its like to be jealous.

Mew and Mars have finally approached Jupiter about playing a game, and she's totally fine playin given Mars is basically a handicap for Mew.

However, Saturn cannot allow this mismatch to stand and decides to join Jupiter's team to make it an interesting 2 v 2.

Jupiter lays the stake out that whoever loses has to rub the winner's backs.

Mew and Seth get to work mounting a defensive against Jupiter and Saturn's powerful setups and spikes.

It escalates quickly to all parties involved using their powers to avoid losing points, but in the process winds up sending the ball hurtling towards Priscilla and Neptune sunbathing nearby.

Priscilla, however, snags the ball out of the air and decides, with her wife's blessing of good luck of course, to join the game in place of Mew.

Priscilla is excited to play, as against the likes of her foes she can play with no restraint at all.

Mew decides to go rest under the umbrellas for a bit and finds Joe Dark struggling to help apply lotion on Maria's feet.

Mew picks out the lotion from Auris' bags and applies it to Maria's skin to help her rest easy for a bit.

Maria's been having fun and wants to come back someday.

Neptune pokes her head in from the side and compliments Mew on his handling on Maria so far, as she needs the sort of positive influence he provides.

She's considered having a child of her own before but with her and Priscilla its sort of...complicated.

Maria's stomach then starts growling so Mew decides to go take her to the hot dog stand for nourishment.

They have a run in with Solaris, whose grumbling about not finding anything to do. Mew tells him to keep looking cause there's bound to be something for him. He just warns him not to go crazy if he gets into a competition.

Meanwhile Joe Dark is pestered by Alura, who quietly requests the same piggyback ride Maria received. When Alura has to lie about her feet being sore, instead Joe Dark winds up rubbing her feet with lotion, which makes her happy.

The trio of Lunis, Riku and Auris come out of the water, with Auris choosing to take one of Lunis' sand dollars with a plan in mind on how to use it.

She gathers everyone she can over to the towels, including the volleyball group, whom Priscilla has smoked with ease.

Auris wants to play a game of hide and seek with the sand dollar, with the prize at stake being a very, very rare piece of food that she'll cook personally.

That fact that Gabriel is interested gets a few more people signed up than expected, with eight participants in total: Lunis, Riku, Kairi, Alura, Mars, Jupiter, Gabriel and Joe Dark.

Neptune then uses her magic to pick out four pairs for everyone to be divided up into: Lunis and Joe Dark, Mars and Jupiter, Kairi and Alura, and Gabriel and Riku.

There's some objections from the likes of Joe Dark and Jupiter along with disappointment from Lunis and Alura, but there's no redos allowed.

The four pairs wait for Auris to hide the sand dollar.

Solaris continues to scour the beach for some manner of fun but simply finds all the happiness to be crazy.

He's suddenly made aware of a boisterous woman with a rather firm, muscular build challenging people to arm wrestling.

Finally finding something he likes, Solaris rolls on up to her and is ready to challenge her. But the woman shows no fear and dares him to beat her.

Rattling him with taunts and the like, the woman manages to slam his arm down with little effort, even though he was holding back.

Solaris demands a rematch but continues to lose despite incrementally increasing his power with each attempt.

His failures catch Mew's eye, who has a laugh at his expense while eating a hot dog.

Solaris pulls away, getting called a coward by the woman.

Solaris is confused as to how a human, let alone a girl, could be so strong. Mew says he needs to stop underestimating humans

Maria's already scarfed down one hot dog and demands another. Mew obliges her request and gives Solaris a fair warning again to go easy on the woman.

Solaris returns to the woman and plans to prove he's the strongest. She laughs, ready to break his arm and then his balls.

As all this has been happening Auris has managed to sneak the sand dollar into one of Mew's pockets, and returned to begin the game.

The team of Riku and Gabriel stay behind, with Gabriel wanting to practice the aesop of "slow and steady wins the race" which Riku figures is wise right now.

The team of Mars and Jupiter struggle to work together, with Mars bringing up the incident that caused them to split up this tensely.

Turns out his Drive had caused some troubles that led to Saturn nearly sleeping with him and Jupiter saw that.

But that's not what bugs Jupiter the most, and she'd just rather not discuss it.

Lunis and Joe Dark have trouble because her body is keeping him from thinking straight. Lunis is starting to suspect that maybe this wasn't the right thing to wear.

To help Joe Dark be at ease she tries to find a similar interest between them. Turns out they both like reading, with them lamenting Mew's disdain towards books.

They both agree that maybe they should try and make a trip to the library in the near future.

As they chat Alura is glaring at them from far, continuing to develop a sense of jealousy as she looks at Lunis' "chest spheres".

Kairi is angry because men keep staring at her and its uncomfortable.

Alura wonders how she becomes like Kairi, with Kairi interpreting that that to mean personality wise and wonders if Mew's been saying nice things about her.

Kairi recognizes the struggle Alura's been having getting adjusted to Earth life and tells her not to be afraid to ask others for help.

The groups keep trying to hunt for the sand dollar, with the one holding it completely unaware he has it until Maria catches a peek of it poking out of his trunks.

The sand dollar comes with a simple note from Auris: "Run bitch, run".

And upon finishing that note, Mew looks up just in time for Jupiter to announce that he has the sand dollar to all the other players.

Mew grits his teeth and wonders what he got dragged into NOW.

Mew quickly puts Maria on his shoulders and makes a run for it, avoiding Jupiter's pursuit with a little dust toss from Maria.

Mars catches up with his speed but gets pulled down by Joe Dark using a portal to grab his leg.

Lunis then speeds up and nearly snags the sand dollar before Mew distracts her by lying about Solaris getting in trouble.

Maria's having a lot of fun so Mew decides to extend the game for a bit. Jupiter blitzes through the sand to take him down and Mew has to leap over her, then has to watch Joe Dark fail pitifully at diving at him from out of a portal.

Wondering what the HELL's got them being so liberal with his powers, Mew then ducks under one of Kairi's staff swings and bolts the other way with her in pursuit.

The discussion about her swimsuit comes up quickly, leading to Mew playing innocent about his plot while teasing her about what Shina did.

It eventually comes to Kairi's attention that she only agreed to wear the swimsuit and could've covered herself up the entire time, causing her to introduce Maria to the word "Fuck", which she immediately repeats.

Maria starts groaning from a stomachache though, so Mew's forced to set her down and give her a makeshift alka-seltzer to help her settle down.

...Which allows Kairi to shamelessly snag the sand dollar out of Mew's pocket and make a run for it.

Mew's ashamed but just goes along with her whims for now.

Mars attacks Kairi with a sand tornado to disorient her and allowing Jupiter to snag her prize and make a run for it.

But then the sand starts to rise in her path to create a giant monster, though that winds up being an illusion Alura created to grab the dollar.

Kairi begs Alura to run to meet her mom, only for Alura to not know who Auris is.

Joe Dark takes advantage of that to just kindly ask Alura for the sand dollar and run, ruining Kairi's sense of sanity.

Joe Dark then entrusts the sand dollar to Lunis' speed and she makes one last bolt for the finish line. Mars is the only one who can keep up, but Joe Dark trips him with the same trick he pulled before.

But they still have one obstacle to get around...Gabriel and Riku.

Gabriel stands and primes his hand on the hilt of his sword, his comrades calling him out for taking it this seriously.

He waits for Lunis to get very close then draws his...wooden sword. But the sincerity of his attack causes Lunis to leap, priming her in a vulnerable position for Riku to snag the sand dollar.

She forces the sand dollar against her chest and Riku winds up snagging the string, causing them both to tumble down together, and Riku to accidentally pull off her bikini top.

His hands also wind up flat on her bare chest for good measure, and while this flusters both of them neither wants to move to put the bikini back on.

Gabriel does the job himself, using this moment to snatch the sand dollar from Lunis and delivered it to Auris for the victory.

Gabriel tries to make a lesson out of this but nobody's buying it. There's still some time before dinner so everyone decides to settle down for a bit and relax.

Except for Solaris, who is on his 60th loss in a row to this fearsome competitor. He STILL wants to keep going but the woman gets called by a friend for BBQ, so she has no choice but to go.

Seeing how enthusiastic he is though, the woman decides to throw him a bone by handing him her business card, saying if he wants to play again to come find her.

Her name's Samantha J, and she works at the Bombbrew Bar.

Noting her oddness, Solaris tucks the card away for later and joins the others for dinner.

The special prize for Gabriel and Riku is a fish called a Saltpuffer, which Auris has managed to preserve from Genestasia for two-thousand years.

The fish has a powerful salty layer for protection but once that's shaved off, there's a plethora of flavors within the meat that creates the feeling of a quintessential meal.

The losers are sore they don't get to enjoy such a fine meal and have to stick to the admittedly great selection of chicken, steak and vegetables.

Everyone's stuffing their faces and thinking about how fun their day has been. Alura in particular understands what fun is now.

Mew hopes wherever he is, Alex is watching them enjoy themselves.

He steps away for a bit and Kairi winds up following. Though she still doesn't buy that he didn't have anything to do with the swimsuits, she's glad everyone had a great time, especially Maria.

She wishes she knew how to help Maria more herself, Mew suggests as a start they just like...go and hang out somewhere together. There's still some time for that before Kairi has to go back to school.

A little time later Maria starts to nod off and Mew picks her up ready to take her arm.

Then Solaris comes stomping up to him wondering what the hell's up with the card he got from Samantha.

After Mew explains the principal behind a date Solaris then wonders what a bar is, prompting Mew to have him ask Auris or something.

Solaris admits to having had a good time after all.

And so did Mew, cause he got to see all the girl's in sexy swimsuits.

...Which he says right within earshot of Kairi.

Mew scrambles to save himself but too late, she knows the truth now.

And when Solaris confirms that Mew tricked him into using his powers, his death sentence has basically been sealed.

Solaris is safe though, cause he's a dumbass who didn't know any better.

Shina then arrives, followed by Jupiter, and finally Saturn. Once they learn the truth they're all prepared to help Kairi kill Mew, saying they expected better from him.

Mew can't even use Maria as a shield because he's not that heartless.

Mew tries to turn to Riku to speak up in his defense, but Riku just bails.

Joe Dark, meanwhile, winds up joining the girl's side in all this, making Mew wonder why he's got a family of traitors.

With no other options, Mew crosses his arms and demands Maria remember this moment, as he declares with blusterous confidence that he's done no wrong.

His actions did not violate the law and as a matter of fact, the girls and Joe Dark have no ground to stand on because they're all perverts too.

But he doesn't find that shameful, for the fire in their loins is the proof that they are alive. He's not ashamed of being a pervert, he's proud of it, cause it makes him human.

His speech is powerful enough to nearly hold the girls at bay. Joe Dark doesn't buy it however and reminds them that he still tricked them and lied about it.

So Mew's still going to die, just not as hard as before.

With a heavy sigh Mew has Maria go to Riku's side for safety while he leaps at his enemies, prepared to take them all on to defend his perverted interests.

He proceeds to get his ass beat five ways to Sunday and spends three days in his bed. Whoops!

Not long after that's passed Mew's trying to get Maria hooked on video games, when he receives a knock at the door and finds Riku and Lunis hanging outside.

Lunis has adapted to more normal civilian clothes, though its still hard to find stuff that fits properly.

Either way, they're both here to pick up Joe Dark and Alura to go to the library.

Mew blanks out from hearing the name of the devil's sanctuary to which Joe Dark flips that around by pointing out what he's teaching Maria about.

Joe Dark tries to save Maria from a video game fate by inviting her along to the library, managing to beat Mew out by offering her ice cream.

Mew yells at Joe Dark for bribery and tries desperately to get Maria back but winds up being forced to watch them leave through one of Joe Dark's portals.

They arrive in a back alley and squeeze their way out into the big city itself. As this is their first time here, Maria and Alura are awed by the size of the buildings.

Joe Dark's the expert here when it comes to surviving in the big city but doesn't really know where to go to get to the library.

Lunis tries to ask strangers for help only to rattle a few heads with her ridiculous body shape. Riku manages to get a map for free from one of the stores and from there they manage to find their way safe and sound.

Lunis swears however that they're being followed, with Joe Dark groaning about creeps lying around the corner sometimes.

After trying to establish some ground rules regarding about noise levels they all split off inside the library, with Joe Dark suggesting to Riku that they flex their power if they need to meet up.

Joe Dark makes himself Maria's bodyguard while Alura joins with them. Maria wants to find stories about space cowboys, so Joe Dark teaches her how to search for books on the computer to help her out.

He also tells Alura to just wander around close by and see what catches her interest.

She winds up wandering into the magazine section and gets fooled by the bait articles, learning the truth about how printed media is an economy built upon suckers who fall for lies.

When she tries to go back a second time for something more truthful she ends up picking up a beauty magazine with a rather bold image of a black-haired lady on the front.

Alura discovers the word "sexy" but doesn't know what it means. She tries to ask Joe Dark but he loses it completely, demanding he put the magazine back.

But she wants to learn what it means and goes to the customer service section to ask them. The man running the desk assumes she's a lost little girl due to her young appearance, but after a bit of back and forth Alura manages to get him to understand what she needs.

She comes right out and asks what "sexy" means, causing the man to get flustered and assume he's being pranked.

As the guy goes stark raving mad Alura turns away, deciding to just keep this magazine so she can figure it all out later.

Meanwhile Riku's picking out science books to help further his and Solaris' training. Lunis comes waddling up to him, having found a book she really likes: The Very Hungry Catepillar.

Riku's surprised until he asks what she likes the most about it. She ends up giving an inspired speech about hard work and satisfaction, which causes Riku's opinion to flip on children's literature and their effects on adults.

She plans on picking that up along with a few more.

Joe Dark, finally freed of Maria for a bit, has tried and failed to find any old newspapers to catch up on the history of the world since he's been gone.

With nothing better to do he follows Maria into the fiction section to find the books she wants.

Joe Dark has no luck of his own until a book gets nudged out of the shelf, the very kind of book Maria would love, as a matter of fact.

He had been helped by a mystery man that's very obviously Mew in disguise, but doesn't comment on it.

Sometime later they all meet up with their stacks of books only for Lunis to realize there's a problem, she doesn't have any money.

Riku's glad to report that they don't need money for books, they're just borrowing them for a time.

Joe Dark then realizes, however, that they're going to need to get library cards and that's a problem as some of them weren't exactly born here and Joe Dark's supposed to be considered dead.

Joe Dark thinks they can make it work though and indeed fakes his ID as "Joseph Whiter", using his card to get Alura's tower of magazines.

Riku then manages to use his name to get Lunis' stuff while Maria's able to handle things just fine on her own.

They head on out, get the promised ice cream for Maria, and then return to Mew's place.

He clearly scrambled to get back in time and then tries to ask Riku and Lunis to stay for dinner. But they have to get back before Solaris worries about them.

Mew helps Joe Dark carry the books in, then the two chat about their encounter in the library. Mew denies all evidence of his existence there and then teases Joe Dark on calling himself "Joseph Whiter".

He denies all evidence of that.

Maria then trots up to Mew, offering a movie for them to watch that she knew he'd like. Mew's heart is warmed by the gesture and it assures him that she'll turn out alright.

Thus the four decide to enjoy a movie night with popcorn and all the comfort that comes with it.

A little time later Mew's outside with Maria helping her learn how to garden. They're just biding time until Kairi shows up for a family day out.

Mew and Kairi get the awkwardness out of the way by both apologizing for the whole beach incident. Mew then asks Maria where she wants to go, and she wants to see a Zoo.

Mew knows of a good Zoo in Tacoma they can go to and head there right away under the cover of some clouds.

Kairi's surprised Joe Dark and Alura aren't coming with...Of which it turns out they weren't alerted about this, which Kairi picks up on and admonishes Mew for instantly.

Its probably for the best anyways. Today its all about them and Maria.

After getting their tickets and heading inside Mew helps show Maria around a bit and then provides her with a map so she can decide where to go first.

They spend the first hour or so here exploring the various animal pens and habitats, with Mew giving Maria the facts on these creatures of Earth.

...And by facts he's totally making shit up to make them sound cool.

Kairi eventually draws the line at chameleons being able to fire laser beams when they change colors and starts telling Maria the truth.

Turns out she likes the true facts more than the lies, so Mew feels like a doofus.

Upon reaching the African exhibit they decide to let Maria wander for a bit, giving Mew and Kairi some breathing room to talk about how their days are going.

Kairi's been having to deal with Shina's pregnancy so its not always easy, but otherwise she's just fine...As long as she's not around crowds.

While they were distracted though, Maria's jumped on one of the beams beside a lion's den and throws Mew and Kairi into a panic...Well, Kairi moreso but still.

Mew tries to hop up to lure Maria down but winds up slipping and falling into the lion's den.

Kairi then makes the rash mistake of pursuing Mew into the den, while Maria has no problem just getting down normally.

After getting up and dusting themselves off, Mew and Kairi are targeted by the lionesses. Since using their powers would be too obvious at this juncture, Mew tries to calm down and come up with a plan.

He then realizes Maria's stuff can be subtle enough and has her throw some dust in the lionesses' eyes while one of the employees open the door for them to escape.

A short time later they're eating lunch and deciding its best not to bring up what just happened.

They take this break period to discuss where to go after this. Maria wants to see something unique, and Mew knows just the place nearby.

After wrapping up at the Zoo they go to the Museum of Glass, which has a bunch of glass art that makes Maria really excited.

They even show her how the glass is made and allow her to pick up a souvenir.

Seeing it all in action makes Kairi realize how little she knew about what goes into making even the plates she eats off of.

Maria comes pack with a glass rose pin for her vest and a heart for Mew and Kairi, to represent their love. The two of them get flustered and she giggles cause of it.

Mew wants to take them to one last destination to end the day, and after picking up a pizza they head on up to a hill full of lovely flowers so they can watch the sunset and get a beautiful view of the entire city.

Seeing just how big one city in the world is really shows Kairi just how small her worldview has been up until now.

Mew seems to be crying, but doesn't really show it in the fun he's having getting pizza grease on his and Maria's faces.

Maria gets tired shortly after so they decide to take her home. Mew lays her to rest, and both him and Kairi agree they need to do this again soon.

As Mew heads on back inside, he finds Joe Dark and Alura fast asleep on the couch with the TV watching them and popcorn strewn about.

One late night, after Riku and Solaris have wrapped up a training session, Solaris is looking at the card he got from Samantha and thinking about her.

Lunis snags it up and assumes Solaris has found a girl, to which he roughly snags the card from her hand and says he just has a score to settle.

Riku points out its been weeks though, which forces Solaris to admit he doesn't know how to get to the bar let alone what the hell one even is.

Lunis suggests books, Riku suggests Auris. Having heard the latter suggested by Mew, Solaris heads right to Sancturia to bother her.

His bold entrance into her house causes her to grip his shoulder tightly and reprimand him like a little child, reminding him that he set this very city on fire not even two months ago.

Once Solaris has been emasculated he settles down and Auris decides to tell him what a bar is, amused that he's so innocent about these things.

She's about to corrupt him when Gabriel walks in to help provide a more mature view on bars.

Given the current predicament Gabriel offers his aid. Solaris rejects him, not wanting the buzzkill breathing down his neck.

But seeing as Solaris knows nothing about how to get to this bar, he has no choice but to accept Gabriel's help.

The two get better dressed and head to the surface, finding the Bombbrew Bar in the middle of the city.

Solaris makes a bold entrance and is given a resounding greeting from the rowdy customers, which worries Gabriel.

The two take a seat up at the bar proper and Solaris demands the bartender serve him...Only to lock eyes with that woman from the beach, Samantha, whose surprised he finally stopped being a chicken and came back for more punishment.

Solaris demands his rematch but she's sadly on the job or she'd school him once again.

She then hollers out to "Black Frost", a tall black man with icy corn rows and her boss, to give the newcomers some free drinks on the house to warm them up.

Solaris embraces the joyous feeling of his first drink while Gabriel is soothed by its touch upon his tongue.

Samantha assumes Gabriel is Solaris' dad, but Solaris exclaims that the dude's just a fly buzzing around and to ignore him.

Samantha introduces herself and her boss to Gabriel, then hands them each a menu so they can relax and enjoy some drinks.

She heads off to work while the two scan the menu, finding the drinks categorized by different explosive weapons.

Solaris wants to hit the toughest drinks right away but Gabriel tells him to take it slow...which goes quickly ignored.

Solaris picks the absolutely strongest drink while Gabriel settles on something mild with an order of spicy fries.

Once Samantha prepares the drinks Solaris downs his in own gulp, stuttering but otherwise fine. He demands another but Samantha paces him, since it takes time to make the drinks anyways.

Gabriel notes how the bar feels...comfy.

Samantha tells him that's by design, as it helps a lot of people unwind after a long day's work. Though there's a couple rules to follow...Which a pair of ruffian bikers seem to be breaking at this very moment.

The two men are bullying a guy they were playing in pool, accusing him of cheating. When it seems like its going to escalate to violence, Samantha vaults over the counter and tells Gabriel not to move.

Black Frost Zeke remarks how they'll be lucky to get a show from the Fire Fist on their first night, and that name makes Solaris take interest.

The men try to seduce Samantha but she rejects them without a care and asks if they believe in angels...For she is the One God's Servant without Mercy, and soon she'll be making them believe.

The men try to attack her but she easily sweeps them off their feet with a rough and brutal fighting style that takes full advantage of their openings.

One of the men try to take out a knife and stab her in the leg, only to accidentally hit a mechanical prosthetic, which allows her to keep her momentum going without worrying about pain.

Eventually with Zeke's help opening the door, Samantha flings the two big men out the bar and into their motorcycles.

Solaris, two heavy drinks in and dazzled by Samantha's performance, proceeds to faint on the counter pitifully.

Gabriel sighs, pays the two's tab, and then hoists Solaris over his shoulder to take him home.

Samantha tucks a beginner's guide on how to drink into Solaris' pocket so he can be better prepared for next time.

Zeke then teases Samantha on having a crush when the two are gone.

The next morning Solaris wakes up with a headache and the sight of his sister sitting beside the bed, reading off the beginner's guide with intense punctuation on certain words to make sure he gets what he did wrong.

Solaris groans and tries to retreat back under his covers, worried that Samantha girl is going to be the death of him.

Up in Sancturia a few days later, Kairi and Shina are having some quality bonding time until suddenly, Shina's teleported away onto Saturn's ship for an emergency.

Saturn needs the Cosmos Drive again, explaining the situation involving Mercury and Uranus. Shina's totally on board with helping again.

However, Saturn needs to recruit one other person to make this all work out and that person is Neptune.

They got to work somewhat quick though, as Neptune has a schedule to uphold. So Saturn rockets them off to Macros' planet for another job.

Macros is there to greet them on the spot and even notes Shina's pregnancy, offering his sympathies for Alex's death.

They're going to be doing something similar to with Venus to separate the Mercury's minds into two separate bodies.

So Shina has to do a lot more standing around which she's not exactly happy with, even if it means helping people in need.

Once the process is all done Michael wakes up in a new yet familiar body. Raphael is being kept under for now so he won't cause trouble.

Michael's sister Vivi is still asleep too, and this is where Neptune comes into play.

To rescue the true self of Vivi, Michael is going to be sent into her mind to connect with her and pull her out. They could only do this when Michael was in his own body because otherwise Raphael's presence would endanger the process.

But if Michael fails to connect, he'll be lost inside Vivi's mind for good and they won't be able to save him.

Michael dives in, coming across a wintery prison pulled straight out of one of the fairy tale's he used to read to Vivi.

Vivi is trapped in a frozen castle awaiting rescue, and Michael charges forth, facing the monsters made of sweets that guard her.

Vivi's so trapped in her mind that she doesn't even recognize her brother at first, forcing him to recite the very fairy tail this prison is based off of to help her see him.

Michael thus gains the power necessary to break through the titanic beast guarding the castle and reclaim Vivi, allowing them both to return to reality back to normal.

It seems like a happy ending for them both...But Raphael has his objections. Having taken advantage of everyone's concentration, he managed to aim his lance at Michael's head, prepared to continue their long battle now that he's free.

Michael tries to pacify him with words but he's too violent to really be reasoned with pacifism.

However, Shina quickly lunges herself between the two and demands Raphael hear her out, cause she's got a plan to satisfy him.

A quick trip back to Sancturia later, Shina has managed to get Raphael engaged in first-person shooters, specifically DOOM 2016, so he can enjoy killing to his heart's content without actually killing real people.

Its a very unorthodox solution but whatever, it works. Michael vows to keep an eye on Raphael for the others' sake.

Now at least he has his sister back and can enjoy some peace and quiet. Though the procedure that restored Vivi seems to have caused a permanent change to her powers. Now she can shift between hot and cold powers, utterly baffling her big bro.

But eventually, the summer days have to come to an end, and those who go to school must return. Or, in Maria's case, begin her education for the first time.

As much as Mew objects to the idea in front of Kairi, Kairi puts her foot down and has already signed Maria up for classes.

Maria's scared having to be among strangers without papa around, but Mew does reassure her it'll be a quick seven hours per day once she gets used to it.

He does give her one piece of advice beneath Kairi's notice, then sends her on her merry way.

Kairi takes Maria to her classroom, the poor girl feeling rather dizzy by the time she gets to her room. Kairi feels nostalgic going down these halls, and tries to use her comfort to reassure Maria that she'll be fine and that she has a good teacher.

Kairi then scurries off to her own class, leaving Maria to go into the classroom and introduce herself. Her nervousness causes her to introduce herself as the Planetary Aurian Venus, making all the other kids her age laugh at her while the teacher groans about another joker.

Maria takes her seat and winds up sitting on a spitwad, put there by the biggest girl in class who seems to be kind of a jerk.

Maria throws a spitwad back at the girl's face and said girl then rats her out to the teacher, earning Maria her first strike, much to her confusion.

The first day focuses on introducing the basics of the fifth grade to the young Aurians, including such normal learnings like blacksmithing and combat.

The teacher mentions these classes were forced to be kept in despite Gravitus being ousted due to the two monster attacks that followed in the month after.

Maria brags about having been involved, earning her second warning and nearly putting her in detention.

So she clams up and decides to worry about learning. Turns out, learning is hard! She also gets a tour of all the facilities she'll be using, her many questions leading to her getting called a teacher's pet.

Eventually she makes it to something good, lunch time. At first she thinks she's getting served some ugly slop, but once she forces herself to take a bite her perception changes and it turns out to be a good old fashioned healthy meal.

Unfortunately she doesn't get to enjoy it for long before that big girl in her class comes knocking, demanding her meal.

Maria stands her ground, insisting that its her meal, and that this big girl doesn't need anymore food in her pig belly.

The girl, named Kris, shoves Maria against the table and makes her apologize.

However, following not Kairi's advice but Mew's, Maria takes her tray and slams it into the bully's face. Kris retaliates by trying to throw the pork chop, but Maria ducks under the table and the meat winds up knocking out another student.

This ensures a crazy food fight with every grade in this school getting involved somehow.

Maria sticks under the table until a boy from her class flies under to avoid getting caught in the fray. He's having the time of his life though, and wonders who started it.

He introduces himself as Nikolas the Great, with ambitions to be a great hero one day.

Maria and Nikolas hit it off on good terms quickly, despite her shyness, with her soon admitting she might have caused the food fight.

Nikolas thinks that's epic, expecting nothing less from one of the Planetary Aurians.

Maria's shocked he believed her, but as it turns out Maria had saved her big brother back during the monster attack.

Nikloas feels motivated now and heads out to show his stuff...Only to get beaned by an apple.

Maria then jumps out, getting really excited to "avenge" Nikolas by using her gas fists to rapid-fire food everywhere.

Eventually the food fight ends when the teachers arrive to clean up. Classes are canceled for the rest of the day and nobody knows who even started the food fight.

Shockingly Mew's waiting for Maria outside, as it seems he might not have ever left in the first place.

He asks how the first day went and gets his answer when Nikolas comes running out, introducing himself as a friend of Maria's, and wanting to ask Mew's permission to let her come over and hang out for a bit.

Mew's totally fine with that and lets them go on their merry way.

Kairi emerges from the school soon after, covered in mashed potatoes. Mew chuckles at the shape she's in, then tells her how Maria's doing.

Kairi's so happy she did fine on her first day that it completely nullifies the pain of the food fight.

Thus with both parents assured of their adopted daughter's well-being, they decide to head home so Kairi can shower up...

Story 6 END