"Oh my gosh, these are delicious."

"I know right? I don't know how they can taste so different from regular fries."

"I don't think they taste that different. But I've had a lot of boardwalk fries from different places so…"

"You are so lucky!"

The younger members of the Vanguard sat and ate at the cup of the boardwalk fries they had all bought. They had been planning a trip to the beach for a while now, but with them having their own things going on and being from different divisions, it was hard time finding a chance to all go together.

But today had given them that chance, and they didn't want to waste it. Nia had been particularly excited since she had never been to an Earth beach before. Despite AJ and Jia telling her that it probably wasn't much different than a regular beach, she was ready to take everything in.

The feel of the earth sand under her teeth, the smell of the salty ocean air, and… the scent of the boardwalk fries that she had caught while they were setting up their blankets and chairs. She had practically floated over to the source of it, and even offered to buy everyone their own.

"How many places have you been anyway?" Jia asked, looking over towards Stanton. Sol was picking at her cup of fries, the phoenix seemingly enjoying the salty snack as well. Stanton had mentioned that he had traveled to quite a few places with his dad, and she assumed he got to see a lot of new sights and try out a lot of foods and snacks too.

Stanton looked up in thought. "Ugh… I'm pretty sure I've lost count at this point. My dad's job used to take him to so many places I didn't even get to settle long enough to bother keeping count," he said.

Nia smiled as she ate another couple of fries. "That's so cool. Traveling to all those places and solving mysteries. It's like that group I heard about with the talking dog."

"I ugh… I think we're a little different than that," Stanton said. The monsters they dealt with were… well, real. "You guys get to travel to different dimensions though."

"Yeah, I guess it is. Maybe you guys should come along with it sometimes."

Ezra swallowed the bite of his burger. "Yeah, that actually sounds pretty awesome. You guys have been to some dimensions where cryptids come from, right? Maybe we can find somewhere that helps me with my Kurr powers," he said.

Bianca huffed from her seat. "I don't know why you want to go to those super creepy places. Aren't there any other normal dimensions?"

"Normal is a pretty relative term you know," Sky said, yawning. "Like you. You're totally not normal. Normal girls don't have chemical X in them."

Bianca narrowed her eyes on them. "That's different…"

"Of course it is."

AJ opened his mouth to say something, but then Nia reached down and ate one of his fries. "Hey!" Jia reached down and pucked another one. "Hey! You guys can just buy another cup of fries if you're that hungry!"

They both smiled at him. "Yeah, but why do that when you're sitting right here?" Jia asked giggling.

Ty smirked. "See, letting them pick off your plate like that, that's some punk stuff man. I wouldn't let nobody get away with crap like that," he said, completely unaware of Lequan grabbing a rather large handful of fries from his own cup.

"I'm done eating anyway. Let's hit the water," AJ said getting up.

Nia tilted her head. "Aren't we supposed to wait half an hour before swimming? I thought I read that somewhere or something," she said.

"That's a myth," Stanton said, getting up. "Either way, I think I'd rather-"

"You're going swimming," Erin said, cutting him off. "Your dad said you had to, remember? And as much as I'd like to cover for you he said he would pay me fifty bucks to make sure you did."

"He paid you?!" Ezra asked in disbelief. "Why didn't he pay me instead?! I'm his best friend!" If anyone should have been trusted to keep an eye on Stanton, it should have been him, right?

Jia smirked. "I think that's the reason. I mean, if Astro paid me to keep an eye on Nia and keep her out of trouble, chances are I'd just take the money and go along with whatever we go into anyway," she said.

Ezra thought for a moment, and then sighed. "Yeah, I guess I would do that… anyway, let's hit the water."

Nia spat the mouthful of water out of her mouth and frowned. "Okay, sea water on earth is just as salty as seawater on mewni…" she said.

"I mean… yeah? What did you think it would taste like?" Sky asked.

"I don't know. Everything else on Earth tastes so good. I kind of thought sea water would taste good too. Maybe like… liquid candy."

"Sights were set a little high on that one…"

As Nia tried to get the taste of saltwater off of her tongue, Jia tried to comfort Sol. The bird was perched on top of her head, and every time it looked like she was about to go under he could zip over to someone else. She supposed it made sense he didn't like to be submerged in water. He was a being of fire. It was a wonder he had come with her at all.

Nia reached up and put her hands around Sol. "Here, try this." A bubble suddenly appeared around the bird, and he looked around confused. "There you go. Maria taught me how to do that. You can breathe in it, and go underwater if you want."

"Whoa, that's a pretty freaking awesome trick blondie," AJ said.

Sol sat on the surface of the water, content in his little bubble. Ty stared down at him before smirking. "I wanna pop it…"

Bianca gave him a warning look. "Do not."

"Hey, where did Stanton go?" Sky asked, looking around.

They all looked over and spotted the boy making his way back to the shore. "Hey! He's trying to sneak back to his book!" Bianca said before pointing at him. "Lequean, bring him back here! I'll give you a snack!" At the mention of the word snack, Lequan flew out of the water and went after him.

He went back under the water, grabbing Stanton by his foot and dragging him back through the water. "Oh my god! Not like that! He can't breathe! By his shoulder Lequan, by his shoulder!" Lequan flew up higher, and Stanton began coughing up mouthfuls of water.

Ty burst out in laughter until Bianca slapped him in the back of the head. "You okay dude?" Ezra asked swimming up to Stanton, who was still being held in the air.

"I've been better…"

"Put him down, Lequan."

"Okay."

He dropped the boy in the water, and the others winced. "I didn't mean-! You know what, it's my fault. Should have been specific," Erin said, shaking her head.

"Hey, since we're already dropping each other in the water anyway, why don't we play a game of chicken fight?" Ezra said, smirking.

"What's a chicken fight?" Nia asked curiously.

"It's when one person gets on another person's shoulders, and they try to push the other people who are on other people's shoulders off into the water," Sky said.

Nia beamed. "Oh! I wanna try that! Let's play!"

She flew up and out of the water and then on top of Erin's shoulder. The girl stumbled for a moment, but then managed to catch her balance. "Uh, Nia. I'm glad you want to be partners and everything, but maybe a little warning next time," she said.

"Sorry," Nia said, smiling nervously. She hadn't been able to decide between AJ and Jia as a partner, so she had just gone with Erin on a whim. "But we're totally gonna win! Let's knock everyone else over! Yeah!"

"Whelp, she's in the spirit of things," Ezra said amused. He turned towards Sky. "Wanna partner up?" Sky shrugged her shoulders, not really caring too much about the game or who she partnered with anyway.

Ty floated over towards his brothers. "You and me Lequan. The Jojo brothers got this on lock," he said, lifting him up and putting him on his shoulder. Lequan just grunted in response. He hoped they would go and get some snacks after this.

Jia practically climbed on top of AJ's shoulders, and the boy nearly fell. She pointed forward. "Onward! We shall topple all who oppose us my trusted steed!"

"Steed? Really?" AJ asked, raising an eyebrow.

Bianca looked towards Stanton, a slight blush on her cheeks. "Well, I guess that just leaves me and you. I mean, I'd rather pair with someone else honestly, but-"

"If you want I can ask Erin to switch," Stanton said casually.

"N-no! That's fine," Bianca said quickly. "I mean, we're already here so…"

"Okay then… who should lift who? I think since you have super strength that…" He stopped when he saw the look Bianca was giving him. The last time she gave him that look she threatened to punch him, so he must have said something wrong. He looked over towards Ezra who was giving him a look. "That uh… that I should… should carry you, since you're so light?"

The others either shook their heads or fought back giggles as Bianca pouted and got on Stanton's shoulders. "Okay everyone. We start on three. Ready?" Ezra asked. Everyone nodded as they glanced around at each other. "Okay… three!"

He suddenly moved forward, right towards Ty and Lequan. The brothers barely even had time to react before Sky pushed Lequan off Ty and into the water. Ezra laughed while Ty scowled at him. "Hey?! What the heck man?!" he complained.

"Never said I was going to count one and two first," Ezra said, still chuckling. He then felt Sky nudged his shoulder, and they turned around just in time to stop AJ and Jia from pushing them over. Sky and Jia locked hands as they both tried to push the other back.

"There can only be one," Jia said, smirking.

"Yeah, okay highlander," Sky said as she struggled to push Jia back.

Erin and Nia meanwhile had moved towards Stanton and Bianca. "Okay, let's go this! We're gonna-!" Stanton moved back and out of the way right before Erin and Nia could reach him and Bianca. "Hey! What are you doing?!"

"Dodging…" Stanton said simply.

"But… you're supposed to fight right? It's called chicken fighting!" Nia said. Stanton just shrugged in response, and Nia pouted. They pointed towards him. "Let's get 'em!" Erin moved forward and went after them again, but Stanton continued to move out of the way. "Stand still!"

Bianca looked more than a little surprised at how quickly Stanton was moving. "You're really good at this," she said.

"I have a lot of experience avoiding and running away from things."

Erin tried to catch up with Stanton, but he continued to back peddle and side step and keep them out of Nia's reach. She lunged forward at them, hoping to close the distance, but Stanton moved to the side again and she stumbled. Nia looked like she had lost her balance, and that's when Stanton and Bianca moved in.

Bianca lightly pushed Nia, sending her falling into the water. "Ha-ha!" Bianca cheered and raised her hands up.

Nia rose back up from the water and frowned. "Aw man! No fair!"

Sol watched as Jia and Sky continued their shoving match. Sky looked like she was getting tired, while Jia was getting more and more into it. Her competitive side was definitely starting to come out. "Alright, I'm calling it," Sky said.

"What?" Ezra asked. "What do you mean- Hey wait!" Sky fell back into the water. "Aw man, we could have totally won!"

Sky just floated on the water casually. "Too much work. Would rather just relax."

Jia pumped her fist and then she and AJ turned around towards Bianca and Stanton. "And then there were too," AJ said, smirking. "You guys ready to take a dip?"

Bianca cracked her knuckles. "Dale," she said, signaling for them to come. Everyone floated around them and watched as they moved towards each other, and right as it looked like they were about to start their shoving match, Sol looked up.

"Company…"

Something leapt out of the water, right towards the group of young ones. It looked like some kind of strange fish-like sea creature, with grey eyes and razor sharp teeth. It opened it's jaws and looked ready to big at Bianca… who casually swung her fist and then knocked it back.

The creature flipped through the air and then smacked down onto the surface of the water before it slowly started to sink down. "Shenme…" Jia said, amazed. She forgot that Bianca had super strength.

Bianca blushed a bit. She had acted pretty much on reflex. She hoped she hadn't freaked Stanton out or anything.

Stanton looked at the creature. "I've never seen anything like that before… I should record it in the journal," he said.

"I wonder how it tastes," Nia said, tilting her head.

"Nia, no…" Sky muttered, shaking her head.

"Maybe we can sell it for money!" Ty suggested.

"Can we get snacks now?" Lequan asked.

Kingsley looked at the large tank with a blank expression. When the young members of the Vanguard had come back, he had expected them to have boardwalk fries or goggles or… anything but some mysterious sea creature? The creature swam around, a nasty look on it's face as it eyed him wearily.

"Can we keep him?" Nia asked excitedly.

"No!" Cayenne snapped angrily. "Why did you bring it back here?!"

"I wanted to study it," Stanton said.

"At first I wanted to eat it, but then Stanton said it was poisonous so…" Nia frowned.

"I just thought it was neat looking," Jia said smiling.

"Peer pressure," Sky said bluntly.

Cayenne shook her head. "Okay, new rule. No more unsupervised trips to the beach…"

A/N: Commission for laylaylamode of some of the youngins in the Vanguard League all hanging out at the beach! All them kids getting together in one place are bound to cause chaos wherever they go lol.