"It's been awhile since I've been to the city's aquarium." Cass was telling her niece. "My brother and I used to go look at the penguins for hours."
"That's cute!" Ari beamed. Hiro wasn't with them for some reason, he was too busy in the garage and said he was working on a "school project."
"Yeah, I'm excited to show you all the cool things San Fransokyo's aquarium has!"
"Just keep me away from the eels please, they're slimy and gross."
Cass just chuckled. "I'll try my best." So they spent the next half hour looking at the turtles, and Ari had fun trying to pet the stingrays in the petting zoo.
"Stingrays are cute." She beamed. "But they are deadly since the venom in their tails stings."
"That's nice." Cass winced, and felt very tempted to grab her niece's hand away from the water.
"Don't worry, stingray venom rarely kills people, and the aquarium put non-stinging ones in the petting zoo." Ari reassured her. "You should be worried if I fall into the seal exhibit."
Cass gave her a concerned look. "I swear I'm not planning too, but they're so cute!"
They were looking at the sharks and dolphins when Ari noticed a familiar brunette staring at the sharks as well. She tugged her aunt's sleeve. "Hey, Aunt Cass, I think I see one of my classmates."
"Which one?" Cass raised an eyebrow.
"Megan, she's in my math class. We chat during lunch a lot." Ari explained, she then cupped her hands to her mouth. "Hey Megan!" When the brunette turned around, she waved. "Over here!"
Megan walked up to her. "Hi Ari, didn't realize you were at the aquarium too."
"Yeah, I'm with my aunt." She gestured to Cass. "Aunt Cass, this is my classmate Megan."
"Nice to meet you Megan." Cass waved.
"Nice to meet you too." Megan waved back. "How have you been?"
"Sleepy." Ari yawned. "I cannot get a good night's rest, probably because we have a math test coming up."
"Yeah, same." Megan nodded. "Why does Mrs. Rosemary do this to us?"
"At least she didn't give us much homework this week besides review."
"Wish our science teacher could be that generous."
"Oh my god same."
"So-"
"Megan!" She nearly jumped up as a man with dark brown hair and a lighter beard with the same eyes walked up to her.
She nervously turned around. "Oh, hi Dad."
"Please don't run off like that." He chastised her. "I was worried sick when I couldn't find you…" he trailed off as he made eye contact with Cass.
"Diego?" She gasped.
"Cassie?" He also gasped. "What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?!" Cass exclaimed. "I thought you moved out of San Fransokyo."
"Well, I moved back." Diego explained, he then noticed Ari standing by Megan. "I didn't know you got married and had a child."
Her aunt chuckled. "I'm still single, Diego."
Meanwhile, Ari sputtered. "Wh-what no?! I'm not related to Aunt Cass!" She blushed. "I'm adopted. My brother is the one related to her."
"Ari, this is an old friend of mine, Diego Cruz." Cass introduced her. "Diego, this is my niece, Ari."
"Nice to meet you Ari." Diego waved to her, then turned to her aunt. "How has your brother and sister-in-law been? You mentioned they had a boy before I moved."
"My brother and his sister-in-law passed away." Cass sadly explained. "No one else in the family could look after their boys so I took them in." She gave a mournful sigh. "Tadashi passed away several months ago so it was just me and Hiro, until he brought Ari one night." She patted her head. "We looked after her until finding out her parents passed, so we officially adopted her."
His gaze softened, sympathy in his eyes as he placed a hand on Cass' shoulder. "Oh, I'm so sorry for your losses." He sighed. "I see you met my daughter Megan."
Cass stared at Megan, then back at Diego. "I didn't know you had a daughter!" She smiled. "I can see the resemblance, how's Valentina doing?"
Ari didn't recognize the name, but judging by Megan and Diego's flinch, she realized that her aunt was talking about Megan's mom. "I think that's a sore subject Aunt Cass." She recalled how snappy her friend got when Rachel pushed for details about the divorce.
"Sorry." Cass bowed her head down.
"No worries." Diego told her. "We moved back since I'm the new police chief, and thought I'd visit since recently there was a robbery here."
Ari frowned. "Why'd someone steal cash from an aquarium and not a bank?"
"They didn't steal cash." Diego told her. "They stole AC and DC, two of the aquarium's prized eels."
Cass giggled as Ari immediately made a face. "Ewww! Eels!"
"She's not a fan of them." Cass explained.
"They're slimy and gross!" She crossed her arms. "Who would want to steal a bunch of disgusting creatures?"
"It was nice meeting you again Ari." Megan told her. "Maybe next time I'll get to meet your brother."
Cass then gasped. "Diego, we should set up for those two to meet! Hiro's probably around your daughter's age."
"She's fourteen and a half." Diego told her.
"So is Hiro!" She turned to Megan. "Does tomorrow sound like a good idea?"
"I can show you where the cafe is!" Ari chimed in. "I'll meet you at the bus stop."
"Sure." Megan shrugged. "Sounds fun."
"I can't wait to tell Hiro when we get home." Cass grinned.
If he's not holed up in the garage first. Ari thought.
"Hey Hiro!"
"Hello, Fred."
"Hey." Hiro waved to him. "So I called you here for a good reason." Hiro pointed to an object he had a tarp over. "This."
He pulled the tarp to reveal a blue suit, with red and orange features and yellow googly eyes to make it resemble-
"A chameleon suit!" Fred gasped. "How?!"
"Well, I remember back when I was making your 'Fredzilla,' suit that you said you'd love to have a backup suit for stealth." Hiro explained. "During my internship at Krei-Tech I noticed there was a lot of flexible display technology leftover…"
"Hey Steven?" Hiro pointed to the discarded pile of purple cloths. "What's all this flexible display technology?"
"Leftovers." Steven explained. "Buddy Guard production is paused until all the glitches are fixed so we have a lot of spares."
"I see…"
"Mr. Krei?" Hiro walked into his office. "Can I have some of the leftover flexible display technology?"
"Why?" Krei asked him.
"Because you're not using it and I could use it for… 'stuff.'" Hiro gestured with air quotes.
Krei raised an eyebrow, then sighed. "Fine. You better put it to good use, it took a lot of money to get rights to that stuff and I don't want to give Mel another reason to sue me."
"Isn't he still in jail?" Hiro questioned. "How is he suing you if he's in jail?"
"I'm not answering that."
"So, I made this." Hiro gestured.
"I supervised Hiro in case there were any malfunctions." Baymax explained. "There were thirteen test, in half of them-"
Hiro nudged the robot. "He doesn't need to know that!"
Fred walked up to the suit, and hummed. "I think I'll call it… Fredmeleon." He then pulled out a paper and handed it to Hiro. "Also, I found out other cool things chameleons can do. Can we add them? Please, please, please!"
"Okay, okay." Hiro stared at the paper. Looks like Fred kept this just in case I ever did it. "But first, get in, and let's test the camouflage function." He turned to look for Fred, but couldn't find him. "Fred?"
Then, the suit moved. "Already inside. So excited!"
"Of course you are." He handed the paper to Baymax. "Okay, hit the button on the left-"
"Hiro!"
"Hello, Aunt Cass, Ari." Baymax waved.
He almost jumped seeing his aunt open up the garage door, Ari giving him a wave. "Whatcha doin?" His sister asked.
He turned to Fred and saw he activated the camouflage function, the suit flickered. "Hey, uh, what? Hey. Yeah. Nothing. Just, you know, working on a project for school." He pushed Baymax's arm which held the paper down. "You know, school project."
"Well hit pause because I have some very exciting news." Cass placed two cans down, she glanced left and right when feeling Fred wave a hand in her face, but didn't notice. "I ran into an old friend who just moved back to San Fransokyo."
"We met him at the aquarium!" Ari chimed in.
Fred knocked a wrench, which Baymax caught. "And?"
"He has a daughter named Megan, and she's the same age as you!" Cass exclaimed.
"She's one of my classmates!"
"Wow! What are the odds?" He raised an eyebrow, not sure how to react since Fred kept knocking stuff over!
"What was that?" His aunt questioned, he quickly nudged her out of the garage.
"Megan, that's a… name." Gogo then called at the worst time, he answered the phone. "What?"
"High Voltage busted out of prison, again." His eyes widened, he turned to Ari, she was picking stuff up in the garage. Hiro already dreaded her reaction. She better not look for trouble again!
"That sounds fun." His voice cracked. "But, I, uh… can't make it. Uh, Fred's on his way though." He quickly ended the call.
"Fred is there." Baymax pointed.
"Was there!" Hiro chuckled. "I mean here, earlier. So, Megan…"
"Yes. I set up a lunch date for you to meet her."
"Date?!"
Hiro winced. "That was Baymax." He then felt Fred lift up his hood and crash into Baymax, his spikes piercing his vinyl belly and air started leaking out.
Ari ran to cover the puncture points and he rushed to help her. "I'd love to, but I'm just so busy with school and big school projects!" His voice took a higher pitch. "Big school projects!"
Cass shook her head. "I'm not taking no for an answer. You work so hard, Hiro." She started to exit the garage. "You need some normal kid time."
"What's not normal about this?"
Ari nearly yelped seeing Fred's chameleon suit dangle from the ceiling.
Superhero Squad group chat:
Speed Queen: I have news
Captain Cutie: If this is about HV then Ari has her phone off and charging, now is a good time.
Flame Jumper: Did they break out of jail, again?!
Speed Queen: Yes.
Chem Girl: Should we really count the first time?
Chop Chop: Yes, and I'm just gonna mentally prepare to get shot with lightning.
Captain Cutie: I'm mostly scared Ari is gonna book it and try to talk to one of them.
Speed Queen: She won't or else : )
Flame Jumper: I'm scared now
Chem Girl: Do you think they'll get their orb since they know where it is?
Captain Cutie: Probably
Speed Queen: Fred and I can stakeout the location
Flame Jumper: Not the Mole hole!
Speed Queen: It's either that or deal with electricity being thrown at your face
Flame Jumper: Fine…
Chop Chop: Their lightning doesn't hurt that bad.
Captain Cutie: Unless you insult them.
"When were you gonna tell me this?" Ari was glaring at him with her blue eyes.
"Tell you what?" He winced. Please tell me you're not talking about what I think you're talking about…
"This!" She held up her phone, which played a news report of a prison break out. "You know how I feel about High Voltage!"
"Yeah, which is why I kept it secret." Hiro groaned. "Ari, why are you bringing this up?"
"Because." She sighed. "Last time I talked to Juniper she said she was gonna work on being better."
"Maybe she lied."
"She never lies!" Ari huffed. "She just tells me she just doesn't wanna talk about stuff."
He blinked. "Okay…" Hiro narrowed his eyes. "You're not going to go look for them."
Ari looked at him funny. "What makes you think I'm gonna do that?"
"Well, you kept following them-"
"They were having an argument and I thought they were gonna kill each other like I maybe think my parents did or maybe they were murdered I don't know!" She threw her hands up. "I remembered that for a reason, I got scared!"
"You also almost got killed!" Hiro argued. "You might have feelings for Juniper but I bet Barb would hurt you if you got too close-"
"She wouldn't hurt me!"
"I don't know! If they find out our identities they could use you against me!"
"Oh, so it's a 'you' thing!"
"I don't mean it like that!"
"Well why do you care!" Ari sniffled. "Do you not trust me?!"
It hurt seeing the tears on her face. "I do trust you." Hiro told her. "But I'm scared that they'll accidentally hurt you… or you'll get hurt by accident."
"I know Hiro."
"Please promise you won't go looking for them this time."
"But what if-"
"Ari, please."
She froze. "Okay." Then slowly nodded. "Okay, I promise."
"Thank you." Hiro hugged her tight. "I'm okay with you sending letters and visiting her, but that's because it's in a safe environment, and I just wanna protect you."
"I know." She smiled. "And I did do some dumb stuff in the name of love."
"Some?"
"Shut up." Ari chuckled.
He let her go, and sat on his bed. "Um… what do you usually talk about when you visit her?" Hiro smiled seeing how his sister lit up with excitement.
"Oh, we talk about a lot of stuff! June mostly complains that she's bored so I fill her in on my exciting life, which might mention you once or twice because you're a reckless idiot-"
"Hey!"
"But she tells me about a few books she reads, speaking of which I really wanna read that one dragon book she mentioned and…" As she kept rambling, Hiro smiled.
Perhaps this time, dealing with High Voltage wouldn't be as hectic.
Rachel knocked on the comic book store door. "Richardson?" She raised an eyebrow, it was open, but the small boy was nowhere to be seen.
"Is he in his stupid discount bat cave?" Katie, who was perched on her shoulder, narrowed her eyes.
She shrugged. "Worth a try." Rachel walked in and entered the telephone booth. She adjusted the phone and it brought her to the Mole Hole.
As she landed on the chair, Rachel and Katie blinked.
Then blinked again. "I think we took a turn to Narnia." Katie commented. In the Mole Hole, was Richardson on his phone. But what freaked them out the most was seeing two yellow and blue colored superheroes.
Rachel cleared her throat. "Ahem."
She saw Blue roll off the counter. "Oh, I- uh... Ms. Rosemary!" He cleared his throat. "Nice to see you again!"
"Did you get a new suit?" He looked a little different.
"Hello there Rachel." She cringed as Mole walked up to her in a flirty tone. "Did you come to ask me out?"
Yellow gagged in the background. "No, I came to buy something, I didn't realize you were closed." Rachel deadpanned. "Why is Big Hero 6 here?"
"For a superhero stakeout! I'm sure you heard about High Voltage's prison break."
"Oh." Katie's whiskers twitched as she glanced where their energy orb was kept. "What do you use it for?"
"Powering all my arcade machines!" He boasted. "Definitely saves me money."
Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Please don't brag, or mention High Voltage." She groaned. "Katie is a fan of them."
The feline puffed her chest, looking smug. "And also, I don't want to think about how they escape." Rachel shuddered. "Somehow they managed to break even more of the prison than their first escape." It's almost as if someone broke them out this time…
"Noted." Yellow noted.
"Uh, might as well stay." She sat down, holding up a Switch. "Maybe I'll finally get that shiny Emolga before they show up."
Several hours of Pokemon and smoothies later…
"And I'm out." Yellow gestured, beginning to walk out.
"But High Voltage!" Blue protested.
"Is clearly not coming." She pressed the escape button and exited the Mole Hole.
Rachel turned to Richardson, who had fallen asleep. "I guess they're not coming." She shrugged. "Maybe they decided to leave the city, Dad did some research and found out they usually went from city to city. Here is the longest they've stayed in a location."
"Because they're in jail, right?" Blue hummed.
She shrugged. "I'd be glad if they left, I have no love for flashy villains."
"But Rach!" Katie whined. "Ari'd complain, and you know how she gets!"
"I don't give a flip that Ari has a stupid crush on the daughter." She hissed. "They could do something productive with their lives instead of causing headaches!"
"You have a point." Blue lifted up a paw. "What's the deal with Richardson?"
"He hit on me once, and did not take no for an answer." Rachel explained. "I might feel bad for him, but also he could learn manners. Wish I could tell him that."
"It's not your responsibility to make him a decent person."
"I know." She groaned. "He reminds me a little of a… friend I once had, he was nice, but turned nasty." Rachel flinched at the memory.
"I'm sorry to hear." Blue patted her shoulder. "About your friend, I mean."
"Eh, we don't cry over spilled milk." Katie twitched her tail. "I bet there were some people you couldn't convince to turn good."
Blue sighed. "Yeah, I really wanted Noodle Burger Boy back." He crossed his arms. "And maybe High Voltage, that friend you mentioned? We ran into her."
"Let me guess…" Rachel sighed. "Was she there when High Voltage attacked Richardson's store?"
"How'd you know?"
"Katie." She pointed to the cat.
"I see all." Katie mewed.
"Okay…" Blue winced. "I wonder what happened to High Voltage to not have them go for their orb?"
"Who knows." The feline shrugged. "Krei-Tech again?"
Sadly, the feline was wrong. For High Voltage was at a much darker company. Sycorax looked eerie in the night, and inside was no better.
Liv grinned with malice seeing that the break-out mission was a success. "Ladies!" She greeted High Voltage. "So glad to see you, I trust Chris got you out safely?"
"It was a pinch!" Chris chimed in. "I'll be by the door if you need anything." He left, leaving her alone with the crime dancers.
The daughter spoke first. "H-hi." Juniper nervously waved.
"Take a seat." Liv gestured, grinning like a cheshire cat as both of them sat down in front of her desk. Behind her, two eels swam in the fish tank.
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Amara." Barb greeted her. "You are such a sweetie for getting us out of that nasty place."
"Are you kidding? Us ladies have to stick together, right?" Liv held out a hand. "Woo!"
There was an awkward silence. "Where's my woo?" She raised an eyebrow. "Woo!"
"Woo!" This time both crime dancers high-fived her.
"I see a co-opportunity here." She gestured to the two.
Barb raised an eyebrow. "Is that a word?"
"It is now!" Liv clapped her hands. "Listen, it just so happens I need a pair of specialists."
The mother and daughter exchanged confused looks. "Specialists?" Juniper frowned. "In what?"
Liv's grin darkened. "Crime dancing."
"I'm sorry, honey. Can't help you." Barb told her. "Our crime dancing days are over."
She crossed her arms. "I'm sorry, what?"
"You see, we had an incarceration realization." Barb explained. "The criminal life…"
"It's not normal." Juniper chimed in.
"Hmm. That's not going to work for me."
"What do you have to do with it?" Barb glared at her.
Hazel eyes narrowed. "Well, there's the matter of my payment."
"Payment? What happened to us ladies sticking together?" She questioned.
"We woo-ed." Juniper protested.
"Please. Woo or no woo, we both know nothing in life comes free." Liv told them. "You can go off and be normals after you pay me."
Barb scoffed, getting up from her chair. "I don't take orders from you." She gestured for her daughter to follow, and they both started to leave.
"Fine." Liv clicked a button, revealing a phone on her desk, she started to dial a number. "Then I'll just give the police a jingle."
"Then we'll tell them that you broke us out." Juniper pointed out.
"Oh, sure." Liv sarcastically replied. "Like they'll believe you. Who do you think donated their new canine unit?"
Juniper's eyes widened, she shot her mother a worried glance.
"Okay." Barb gave up, they had no choice. "We'll get you your money. But we'll need our energy orb."
"Ladies…" Liv put the phone down, the eels in the tank started cackling purple electricity that gave the office an eerie glow. "I think you can do better."
Juniper nervously gulped. "Um… wh-what are you gonna do to us?" She clung to her mother's arm.
"Just a little enhancement without needing any batteries." The CEO answered. "I wouldn't waste my company's resources on a pair of small fish."
Barb growled at the insult. "Watch your tone."
Liv ignored her. "Chris!" She called the assistant in. "Give the mother her upgrades first." She shot Juniper a look that froze her to the core. "I'd like to have a word with the daughter."
"Whatever you want to say to Juni, you can say it to me." Barb protectively put a hand over Juniper as Chris walked in.
"Mama, I'll be fine." She lied, giving a nervous look to Liv. "We don't wanna cross her."
Her mother looked hesitant, but she sighed. "Okay, be careful." She reluctantly went with Chris out of the office.
As Juniper watched Barb leave, Liv got closer, her shadow looming over the teen. "Well, that was quite the emotional departure." She yelped, the fear showing in her eyes as Liv flashed an eerie grin.
"I'm not s-scared of you." Juniper glared up at her, trying to put on a brave face. "Don't come any closer or I'll scream."
"Oh, I'm so frightened." Liv taunted. "Not so tough now without your mama, aren't you?" The CEO walked back to her desk, the eels in the tank cackling ominous electricity. "Why your only friend has feelings for you, I'll never understand."
My friend? Juniper blinked. No… she doesn't mean- "Ari?" She felt her anger boil at the insult, considering the sweater girl had sung praises about Liv in the past. "Was the only friend part supposed to be a jab at you considering your attitude?"
Liv narrowed her eyes. "Very funny, but so is your friend." The CEO's hazel eyes narrowed at the fish tank. "Would be a shame if she had a little accident like what happened to Orso Knox, two and a half months of being a monster can do things to you."
Cocoa brown eyes widened in horror. "You… you were the one that did that to him?" Juniper's mouth opened in horror as the CEO smiled cruelly. If she did that to Knox… what would she do to Ari? She didn't want to think of what'd happen if Liv got her hands on her friend. "Don't you dare threaten her!"
"What are you going to do about it, zap me?" Liv got up from her desk, something ominous in her hazel eyes. "Do you think sweet little Ari will like you for attacking me?"
"I-"
"Do you think even if by a slight chance she does, that her peers and family will agree with her?" Liv pushed, getting dangerously close. "You'd be the reason she'd have nobody else to turn to in her life, do you really want your friend to end up like that?"
"N-No I-" Liv's hand wrapped around her neck like a snake coiling it's body, a cold chill running down her spine.
"Then it'd be best of you to hold your tongue like a good little girl, and nothing bad will happen to Ariel." She offered. "Deal?"
She's a monster. Juniper looked up at the CEO in hatred, she wanted so badly to make her pay for threatening Ari. But in a twisted way, doing that would make things worse for both her and her friend. "Deal…"
Liv smiled, oh she hated that smile. "Then we've made an agreement, June." She pressed her hands together. "Stay quiet like the obedient little girl you are, and your sweet, naive Ariel won't have a hair misplaced."
Juniper felt like crying, the ugly feeling of horror suffocating her chest. What have I done…? She looked down at herself. I'm so sorry Ari.
The door to the office opened, and that smiling assistant came back with her mother.
"Chris!" Liv smiled at him. "I just finished my little chat with Juniper, you can take her now."
"Excellent!" He grabbed her over, the grip on her arm nearly hurt. "Try not to struggle during the process, I'd hate to get my hands dirty." As her mother shot her a very concerned look, Juniper painfully gave a smile.
"I-I'll be okay Mama." She lied.
Barb didn't look convinced. "I'll wait with you-"
"Actually, I need a chat with you too Barb." Liv cut her off. "I won't take no for an answer."
"You…" Barb glared, but she gave Juniper a sad smile. "Give Mama a yell if anything bad happens."
"Okay." Juniper shivered, she felt the fear return as the assistant was dragging her to who-knows-where, the smile on his face never wavering.
Please, let everything be okay. She silently prayed.
But a part of her knew that it wouldn't, not while under the orders of the CEO of Sycorax, whether they wanted to or not.
Ferns and Nerds group chat:
Sara Ferns: Who wants a nuzlocke update?
Honey Lemon: Why would you do this D :
Sara Ferns: It's the hip and trendiest Pokemon challenge!
Rachel Rosemary: I did a Pokemon X nuzlocke once
Sara Ferns: Ha!
Wasabi: Please tell me no one died
Sara Ferns: I caught a Pikachu!
Honey Lemon: That's so cool!
David 19: Don't you have an Electrike?
Sara Ferns: Last gym is water I NEED BACKUP
Mikan Ferns: I'm next to Sara I can hear the struggle
Wasabi: Sara take a break
Sara Ferns: Fine
Mikan Ferns: whipped
Mikan Ferns: IQC,
Honey Lemon: ?
David 19: Now I hear the sound of Mika and Sara fighting
David 19: I have had it with these two
Fredzilla: Wanna come over?
David 19: Please
"Who needs lemonade?"
"Aunt Cass!"
Ari rolled her eyes, she was just attending the counter while her aunt introduced Megan to Hiro, it was going okay but her aunt loved to be a little pushy.
"Sorry." Cass chuckled. "I'll leave you two alone. But if you need anything, I'll be right over there." She started drag Baymax, who was standing by the side, out of the cafe.
"Goodbye." The robot waved.
Hiro and Megan just stared with raised eyebrows. "So, that's my Aunt Cass." The former chuckled. "She cares, a lot."
"I get it." Megan told him. "My dad's the same way."
They then turned to the window to see Cass and Baymax giving thumbs up.
"How about we go somewhere else the next time we meet up?"
"Yes please."
She cleared her throat. "Allow me to help." She saw Megan nearly jump with surprise.
"You scared me Ari!" Megan exclaimed. "I didn't know you were there."
"You didn't see her by the counter?" Hiro questioned. "If you can, please get Aunt Cass to stop spying on us, it's creepy."
Ari flashed him a thumbs up, and walked outside where Cass and Baymax were peeping. She cleared her throat. "Aunt Cass, as happy as it is that Hiro's getting a friend around his age, you're kind of creeping them out."
Cass blinked. "Oh, sorry! I'm just so excited!" She chuckled. "They're so cute together!"
Wait. What? "Please just leave them alone." Ari sighed. "You too Baymax."
Baymax blinked, then gave her a thumbs up. She gave a sigh of relief. "I think I'm just gonna join in the convo."
"Have fun!"
"I will." She walked back to the two teens, both of them were laughing.
"He did not!"
"He did!" Hiro chuckled. "For the rest of the day Baymax was acting sugar high."
"I remember that." Ari chimed in, she grabbed a nearby chair and took a seat. "Hi guys, I managed to get Aunt Cass to stop spying."
Her brother gave a sigh of relief. "I love Aunt Cass, but I think she just made it awkward."
"I don't mind the pancakes." Megan took a bite of the food. "These are better than my dad's."
"Really?" Hiro raised an eyebrow.
"He's better at waffles." Megan explained. "They're really good, but it's kind of sad that I find the pancakes at Joe's Diner better than his."
"Joe's Diner has really good pancakes you have to admit." He chuckled. "Right Ari?"
She shrugged. "I don't wanna insult Aunt Cass, she makes really good food." Ari tapped her hands on the table. "Joe's has good fries though."
"Oh my gosh I love their fries!" Megan exclaimed. "Maybe we could go there next time!"
"Sounds like a plan to me." Hiro grinned.
Ari chuckled. "At least you two are getting along."
"Well, you were right, your brother is really cool."
"Ha!" Hiro exclaimed. "She thinks I'm cool."
"Just don't let it go to your head…"
Meanwhile in another location…
Rachel was casually walking through San Fransokyo, Katie perched on her shoulder, until she saw a familiar face by the bank.
"Sienna Kline?" She addressed the artist, Sienna turned around and recognized her.
"Rachel Rosemary!" Sienna beamed. "And Katie the cat! What a cool surprise seeing you two."
"Nice to see you, whatcha up to?"
"Probably some shopping." She replied. "For some of my friends, and David." The artist thought she'd treat her pals considering the recent monster attacks had been stressing everyone out.
"I thought Valentine's Day wasn't until a few months from now." Katie snickered.
Rachel nudged the cat. "That day is just full of empty promises, partners don't have to give their loved ones gifts on that day only."
"Correct." Sienna nodded. "But besides me, how have you two been?"
"Okay, I guess." Rachel shrugged. "I'm mostly on edge after what happened last time a thief broke out of jail."
The artist frowned. "You mean with Momakase?"
"Yeah, she broke out mysteriously and next thing you know she went all monster." The scruffy brunette explained. "I wouldn't be surprised if High Voltage suffered the same fate."
Sienna winced. "Yikes, maybe don't tell Ari that theory."
"No promises."
Katie was about to speak her opinion, but her ears perkled up. "Guys, back away. I hear the bank alarm."
"What?" Rachel blinked, but Sienna quickly dragged her away and hid behind one of the parked cars.
Bam!
Two figures ran out of the smoke, carrying duffle bags of cash, all it took for Rachel to recognize them was their flashy outfits and long blonde hair. "Oh, great." She grumbled. "High Voltage."
"Oh, I love their dance routines!" Sienna exclaimed, but the scruffy brunette gave her a glare. "I mean… how dare they rob the bank!"
Katie muffled a snicker.
The two crime dancers didn't run very far, Rachel noticed a yellow armored superhero skated to the scene and they froze. "Give it up." Yellow told them.
"Yeah!" Blue flickered in, still in his chameleon suit. "Without your orb, you're just bad dancers!"
Both of them gave offended gasps.
Yellow chuckled, armed with her disks. "Oh, yeah. This is gonna be too easy." As she skated at them, Katie hissed.
"I hear a loud beeping." She winced.
"Um… guys?" Sienna pointed back to the fight going on. Rachel and Katie looked up, and gasped.
Somehow, Juniper generated purple electricity from her arms, and shot them at Yellow. Who gasped and barely dodged out of the way. The two dancers then turned to Blue, their grins reminding Rachel of sharks.
"Super jump!" Blue leapt into the air very mildly. "Oh no, different suit." He then got shot with electricity and his suit fizzed.
Yellow skated from the back and tried attacking from behind. But Juniper zapped the disk out of the air. Barb then zapped Blue who tried getting up.
Blue was sputtering as his suit fizzed and he was zapped. "Help!" He cried out. Yellow skated to rescue her teammate but High Voltage placed electricity on the ground, causing her to flip into the air and have a bad landing.
The trio of observers winced in sympathy.
"You're right. That was too easy." Barb taunted Yellow, and chuckled menacingly.
High Voltage!
Music played out of nowhere as Barb and Juniper started dancing away from the scene, the daughter picking up the bags and slinking into the alleyway.
High Voltage!
"Buh-bye." Barb told them as she made her exit.
Yellow groaned in pain. "Ohh how did that hurt more than last time..." She grumbled. "How did they even do that without their orb?"
"I was hoping-" Blue lifted up a finger. "You'd know."
"Wow that was cool seeing those two in action." Sienna clapped her hands.
"They just robbed a bank, you're killing me Kline!" Rachel facepalmed.
Katie just stared at the scene. "How did they do that without their dumb orb? And why was their electricity purple of all colors, and did anyone else hear a beep?"
Something fishy was going on, and all the signs were pointing to a repeat incident of what happened at the dinner event. "Is this gonna be a repeat of Momakase?"
"Probably, I'm too scared to find out." Rachel shared a knowing look, whatever the cause, they really hoped they weren't a witness to this mutation.
AN: well, well, well,
It took 16 uploads but we're finally at Something's Fishy! Aka the ep I've been foreshadowing since Issue 188
*evil cat laughter* OH I have been planning this episode for MONTHS! You guys have NO idea what's about to happen. Well, kind of. I mean Ari's eelphobia gives some hints.
And yes, she is gonna witness High Voltage's mutation, why do you think I made her attend the same school as Megan? Speaking of Megan, I wanted to write the scene of Chief Cruz and Cass running into each other, also I'm so confused why Cass called her "old friend" Chief Cruz until Hardlight. Like... I know they were trying to push the ship, but it just makes no sense to me? So I wanted to adjust that. But we'll get back to him later, there's other things to talk about.
-I added a Mel Meyer mention since his invention was used in Fred's chameleon suit, and he's an underrated gem
-Rachel and Katie get some screentime because I just like writing them watching all this monster stuff and going "yeesh"
-Sidenote Rachel did catch that Shiny Emolga, in case anyone's curious : P
-Sienna is still a HV fan despite them robbing a bank in front of her in case anyone's asking, she probably was one of those people in the crowd in Issue 188
I probably should talk about that office scene. Yeah that was also planned for awhile. Remember when Ari visited Sycorax after Big Problem? Yeah she talked about a lot of stuff, and she might have mentioned "oh yeah I kind of have a crush on Juniper from HV and we talk, she's really sweet" to "Liv," who pretended to be chill about it. But that sadly ended up being some more ammo to bend HV to her will ;-;
Poor HV man, evil laughs aside I didn't like making them suffer. And in Juniper's case, she really didn't like "Liv" threatening her (only) friend...
QOTW: On a scale of 1-10 how much are you DREADING that dance? And tell me your thoughts so far about this ep is going!
I'll be enjoying all your tasty, tasty reactions to this episode.