Chapter 39: Heated Beach Brawls
"Alright!" Jupiter threw the ball onto her pointer finger and spun it around, "Here's how it'll go. The losers have to give a back massage to the winners!"
"Don't get too excited about rubbing my back though!" Saturn taunted straight to Mew.
"Puh-leeeeease," Mew laughed, "Baby don't got back."
"Hold up Cat, I want him to rub my back! I bet he can do some crazy stuff with his elements..."
"I called dibs!" Saturn bluntly retorted.
"Nah, you can have desert boy there." Jupiter hardly gave Mars a glance though.
Mars slumped over and Mew scoffed, "Oof, poor Seth."
Mars looked back at him and Mew gave a wide-eyed shrug. The two then focused on their opponents, "Alright ladies there's plenty of me to go around."
Mew smirked and wagged at himself, "And you'll be rubbing every square inch of it when we win."
Saturn shivered and slanted her brows hard, "In your dreams! C'mon Jupes, spike that ball in his face!"
"You got it!" Jupiter threw the ball ten feet into the air and leaped right for it, "Here we...!"
She spiked it clean against her palm and shouted "GO!" after it had already dove straight at Mew's chest. Mew dug his heels into the sand and was forced back to the line with the ball glued to his cupped fists.
"Hrrrghh!" He broke off its powerful momentum and scooped the ball over to Mars, who shifted to the left and then spiked the ball back to the opposition.
Jupiter nonchalantly nicked the ball over to Saturn and she hopped towards it. Mew couldn't keep his guard down against her and her crazy tech.
A burst of electricity fired from her gloves as she spiked the ball, managing just about the same degree of force as her partner.
"Seth, heads up!" Mew prematurely declared.
Mars stood his ground and cupped his fists at the waist, where the ball smashed into him like a sledgehammer. His eyes burst out of their sockets and he grunted in agony. He made it to the edge of the court, then roared as the lion's do while shifting the ball's course in Mew's direction.
"HERE!"
Mew grinned and backflipped towards the ball, spiking it upon the top of his foot. The ball zoomed right past their opponents, guaranteeing their first point.
"Gotcha!"
Suddenly the ball stopped over the line, caught on the grip of a glove made of aura. Saturn smirked and nudged her glasses up.
"What!" This shock made Mew fall on his face and eat a pint of sand.
Saturn flung the ball over to Jupiter and she delivered the perfect spike past Mew. However, it was suddenly caught on a pillow of wind and Mew planted his hands hard upon the ground.
"So powers are fair game eh?" He pushed up and the fired up look in his eye could've scared a swarm of sharks, "Bring. It. On!"
He stood up and flung the ball over to him, then bopped it over to Mars, using the wind to increase its rotation. Mars leaped and smashed the ball down upon his fist.
The ball's path curved past Jupiter, grazing her fingertips as she extend her reach. In desperation she doubled the size of that arm's muscles and grabbed the ball. Then, digging her feet into the sand, she spun around and flicked the ball her partner's way.
"CAT!"
"Got you covered!" Saturn leaped towards the ball and pounded it with both palms, the resulting burst throwing her entire coat back.
"Mew!" Mars trembled as he knocked the ball towards Mew, who braced his palms in vibranium and smacked the ball down.
Saturn smirked and put a curved layer of aura at her palms, giving it a few smacks with the gloves. Then she caught the ball in a sphere and popped it into the air.
"This'll be our finishing blow! Take 'em down Jupes!"
"ONE TON...!" Jupiter reeled her double-sized arm back and leaped straight for the ball, "SPIKE!"
Her punch knocked the sand on Mew's side of the court back up like a wave, which the ball then proceeded to blow a hole straight through.
"Holy...!" Mew turned around and panicked, "The ball's going to hit...!"
The ball hurtled hundreds of miles per hour at their group's resting place. Suddenly, it was snagged out of the air between a set of steel black nails.
Resting on her laurels, Priscilla calmly faced her wife as she sipped on a margarita and said, "Excuse me for a moment."
Neptune nudged her glasses down and smiled, "Give them hell dear."
Priscilla gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and then rose off her towel. She tilted her head left to right, the bones cracking like thunder. She dragged the ball by her hip and made her way to the court.
Mew had put the sand back in place before anyone could get suspicious when suddenly...
"You. Get lost." Priscilla made her demands, never stopping a second.
Mew pointed at himself and Priscilla's eyes narrowed, revealing the dragon's pupils. Mew then shrugged and walked past her, exchanging a quick and firm clap.
"So, you think this is a game of volleyball?" Priscilla tossed the ball aside into Mars' gut and then cracked her knuckles, each bone a piano key of impending doom.
Saturn remained stalwart and crossed her arms, "You sure it was wise to keep Seth on your side, Scourge Draconis?"
"He's the perfect partner..." Priscilla hunched down, abiding to a stance that showed no weakness, "As long as he keeps his aura on..."
Her eyes flared furiously and the heat of a hellborn radiated around her body, "I CAN FIGHT WITH NO RESTRAINT AT ALL!"
Jupiter, Saturn, AND Mars trembled.
Mew glanced back with a taste of regret in his mouth, "Aw man, I don't get to fight her now? Damn..."
He hung his head all the way over to the towels, where he snagged up a bottle water and took a seat in the shade.
He couldn't even get a sip in before he heard Joe Dark calling his name, "There you are Mew!"
The usual gruffness aside there was a sense of urgency in his tone worth checking out. He was knelt at the towel left of him and had just finish setting Maria down.
"How the hell am I supposed to fix her feet?" He threw his hands down to her tiny reddened feet.
"Ok first of all, language..." Mew leaned out and got a closer look at his daughter's feet, "Second of all, ooof...That's really bad."
He looked her in the eye and asked, "How's it feeling?"
"Sore." She gave the only answer necessary.
"Gotcha!" Mew stood right up and looked around, "Ah, there it is!"
He went over to Auris' bag and dug through it for a lotion bottle, then pulled out a sunscreen one too. He then walked over and applied the lotion to his hands, then onto Maria's feet.
"Your skin's not used to hot sand," Mew hung his shoulders in a sigh, "I knew I should've bought you some sandals..."
He mixed in a bit of aloe vera to help the skin heal faster. Maria leaned back and relaxed, shivering maybe once or twice.
"Its that easy...?" Joe Dark groaned.
"Yep!" Mew cheerfully replied, "Thanks for looking out for her though Joe."
"Hmph, think nothing of it..." Joe Dark pulled away onto his own towel and decided to lay down.
Meanwhile Mew moved on to the sunscreen and rubbed it down her arms, legs, and back of the neck, "We'll have to get you out more so you can get used to the sun."
"Can we come to the beach again?" Maria turned her head back and gave him a flutter of the eyelashes.
"Yeah we could," Mew gently leaned forward as he put the sunscreen onto her neck, "Glad you're enjoying yourself."
"Well well..." Said Neptune, sitting a couple towels aside with a folding mirror in her hands. She hooked her sunglasses down and smiled, "So you're the one who adopted Venus."
Mew couldn't help but stare at her body until she coughed, and smiled wider, "I know you're looking."
"...Well you do look good in that." Mew quietly admitted.
"Thank you." Neptune bowed her head and her eyes shifted towards Maria. Her smile began to fade.
"A little envious?" Mew teased.
"Hmmm, maybe..." Neptune retracted back into her initial posture, "I've considered having a child before. But it'd be...complicated."
"Oh yeah cause you and Priscilla-"
"Oh no we could work around that with magic," Neptune stated proudly, leaving plenty of questions to remain unanswered, "But that in itself has been...a complicated matter of debate between Priscilla and I."
"Huh..." Mew slowly focused back on Maria and wrapped up applying sunscreen.
"I'm glad its you though," Neptune whispered out of nowhere, "Venus needs that kind of positive influence in her life right now."
She leaned the mirror closer to her body while Mew slowly pulled his hands away and, after a light pause, patted Maria on the back.
"You're all set now!"
"Thanks papa!" And right after that, they both heard a loud gurgle coming from her.
"...Ummm." She blushed all on her own.
"Heh, guess its lunchtime," Mew chuckled and the two of them stood up, "What're you craving?"
"A hot dog!" She exclaimed full of vigor.
"Haha! That's my girl!" Mew turned towards the food stands and muttered, "Mars and I never did find one..."
"Uuuuuugh...!" And a certain hot-head groaning was TOTALLY not helping his concentration.
He turned behind him and planted a hand on his hip. Solaris crossed his arms and wandered up to them with his mouth frozen in a constantly grumbling mess.
"Whaddya want?" Mew hastened the conversation.
"There's nothing to do on this crappy beach!" As he threw his hands up Mew threw his down, right over Maria's ears.
"Have you tried looking around?" Mew suggested.
"Pffft, yeah right! All I've found is all this sand...! Its coarse, rough and its getting on my nerves!"
Mew totally sympathized, he really did, "Haaaaa...Look Solaris, you just got to keep searching. There's gotta be something that'll interest you."
"Grrrr..." Solaris was not buying it, and was clearly getting fed up with him, "Fine if you won't help, I'll do it myself!"
"Please, be my guest," Mew waved his hand out and Solaris stormed off, "But for the love of pete, if you get into a competition try and hold back."
"Pffft, there ain't a human on this whole planet that can handle me at my weakest!"
Once the sun god was far enough away Mew pulled his hands off Maria and said, "Sorry about that."
"He's not very nice is he papa?" She giggled.
"Understatement of the century." Mew crossed his arms and the two of them headed to eat.
Meanwhile, Joe Dark was caught off-guard by Alura's shadow cast overhead. He sat right up and noticed that she was pouting...Possibly?
"What?" He dryly remarked.
She closed her eyes and pulled her lower lip out somewhat, "Joe Dark I want you to carry me."
"...What?" He sputtered, "Are your feet sore too?"
She opened her eyes and stated, "Y-Yes..."
Joe Dark sighed and pointed down, "Take a seat Alura."
She slowly sat down and stretched her legs out, staring blankly at Joe Dark grabbing a bottle and applying some of kind of goop onto his hands.
"Lets see here, this is how he did it..." He muttered as the goop went onto Alura's feet.
"Oooooooh...!" A strange sound exited her mouth as her body pulled back on its own, and she wrinkled the towel in her grip.
Joe Dark's fingertips were pressing into her skin and were cold, in a good way. A smile spread to Alura's rosy cheeks and she mumbled, "T-This is fine too..."
A few minutes later Auris, Lunis and Riku exited the ocean and wandered back onto the shore. Lunis caressed dozens of shells under her chest, each sparkling under the sun.
"That was a lot of fun! We'll have to do this again some time!" She raised her head high with a victorious smile and the droplets of water on her hair swung off into a glistening curtain.
Auris took off her snorkel and brushed some algae off her forehead, "I agree. We'll have to go explore a reef next. I heard the one off of Australia is doing pretty well nowadays."
"Ok!" Lunis then faced Riku and raised her hand to a snicker, "R-Riku you..."
She pointed atop his head and he looked up, plucking a wandering piece of algae right off. He stared blankly at it for a while then flicked it back into the sea. Then a round shell fell out of Lunis' pile, but he snagged it right up.
"Careful there."
As he began to hand it back Auris got between them and remarked, "Actually...can I see that for a moment?"
He hand it off with a shrug and she gazed over it, "Hmm, a sand dollar..."
"A sand...dollar?" Lunis tilted her head, "So its some kind of underwater currency?"
"No dear," Auris pleasantly shook her head, "But...Hmmm, I think I have a fun idea. Come with me."
While the three of them made their way for the towels, the volleyball match seemed to have reached its sudden and impactful conclusion. Priscilla rested her hands in her pockets and huffed out a small breath, while everyone else lied collapsed on the ground full of sweat. Her opponent's side of the court was littered in craters.
"Aww man, lost to you again..." Jupiter groaned.
Priscilla turned her ridged back to her victims and spat a puff of smoke, "I'll be looking forward to that back massage later, Noel."
She then leaned in to hoist Mars up and clamped his hand in her grip, "You did good Desert Whirlwind. Enjoy the free massage."
"D-Did I actually do anything..." Mars' head swirled in a daze, "Where did the last few minutes of my life go...?"
A shrill whistle came from the resting space and the small group began wandering over there. Soon everyone sans Mew, Maria and Solaris were gathered around the area, with Auris manning all the attention at the center.
"What's this about mom?" Shina inquired.
"I think its time we all played a fun little game together," Auris held up the sand dollar between her fingers and twirled it around, a large black "X" was inked onto the back, "Here in my hand is a sand dollar. I'm going to hide it somewhere on this beach for you to find."
"A sand dollar? Really?" Joe Dark muttered, "And what's in it for us if we find it?"
"Not everything has to give you a reward Joe." Kairi bluntly remarked.
"Well in this case my dear there is, indeed, a prize to be won..." Auris bent at the knee and plucked a small cube shaped cooler, dangling it before her captive audience, "Win and you'll get to eat a special dinner cooked by yours truly."
"Hmmmm?" It was not the allure of a prize that got their interest, but the manner of Gabriel's reaction to it. With a coy smirk he gently lowered his hand to his sheath and remarked, "I will participate."
And immediately Joe Dark's attitude turned a 180, "Hmph, if he's interested it must be worth my time."
And in turn ensnared the little mannequin, "Then...I will too!"
And from there the rest fell like dominoes. Lunis joined, then Riku, then a somewhat reluctant Kairi, followed by Mars. But from there the remainder had their disputes on who was going to participate.
"I'm out," Priscilla said, stretching her creaky bones to the sky as she wandered over by her wife's side, "I need to get back to my tan."
But not without nudging her head back to the others, "One of you still needs to rub my back though."
Jupiter and Saturn turned to each other and immediately started bouncing their fists off their palms, "ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS!"
Jupiter threw out a paper to her rock and then pumped her fist back, "YES!"
"Bah!" Saturn threw her hands up and waltzed over to Priscilla licking her lips, "Oh well, this'll be fun..."
And that just left Shina, who tucked her hands back and promptly remarked, "I think I'll sit this one out. Wouldn't wanna make the numbers uneven."
"Uneven? Why would you worry about that sis?" Kairi pondered.
"Because, as a matter of fact..." Auris directed everyone's attention to her two raised fingers, "We will be dividing everyone up into pairs."
"With my help," Neptune stood up and whipped out a magic hat and wand, giving it a few twirls and adding a dash of magic into the hat, "So...eight people. Lets see what lady luck has in store for you..."
She drew four papers out sprinkled with magic glitter and levitated them out for all to see. The pairs are as follows: Lunis/Joe Dark, Mars/Jupiter, Kairi/Alura, Gabriel/Riku.
"Oh." Lunis and Alura murmured together.
"Redo! Redo!" Joe Dark and Jupiter proclaimed.
"Belle come oooooon." Jupiter laid her arms down with a loud groan, then hung her head.
"Sorry, the magic's spoken." Neptune popped the hat on her head then made it vanish with the wand, returning to the towel of which she enjoyed her relaxation in peace.
Lunis shuffled on up to Joe Dark and smiled, "Well, we'll do our best together Joe!"
Joe Dark pulled away looking like a cat after smelling something bad.
"Alright," Auris wandered past the crowd and waved the shell at her face, "You all wait here, I'll go and hide the shell."
Meanwhile, Solaris was slouching around through the beach, ignoring all the baffling cheeriness surrounding him.
"What is WITH all this happiness? There's nothing to do here!" Children ran around him trying to squirt water at each other, then ran off laughing like crazy.
"Find something to do...What does he know? Its not like..."
"Yo! Yo! YO!" Hollered someone close by.
"What in the...?" He lurched towards the left and saw a lone table set up near the stone walkway between here and the buildings in the city.
Manning the table was a woman with short messy orange hair shaved off only above her ears. She wore a firm kind of bra and had some big pants on with green, brown and olive colored patched on it. Curiously, for a woman, she had six-pack abs and this odd, grizzly look on her face.
She stood half a foot shorter than him and threw her hand around in the air, yelling to her passerby's, "Come on, is anyone brave enough to go toe-to-toe with these guns?!"
Three people eyed her and then slowly moved on. She slapped her hands on the table and spat at the ground, "Bah! Pussies!"
There was a sudden twitching in his trunks that made him gravitate right over to the table. She looked his way and then settled back into place with her arms crossed.
"Well well, what do we have here?"
"What's your deal?" Solaris demanded to know.
The women shrugged and said, "What's it to ya?"
"Excuse me?" Solaris growled, enticing the woman to bend down and slam her right elbow atop the table.
"You're here to arm wrestle ain't cha? With all those roids you've shoved down your throat I bet you think I'm an easy win!"
"Are you seriously challenging ME?" Solaris was starting to laugh.
"There ain't no other tomato-haired muscle brains in my sight," She clenched her fingers together and grit her teeth, "So what are you waiting for? Scared I'm gonna break your jerkin' off arm, little boy?"
"..." Solaris narrowed his eyes and bent down, slapping his elbow down and grasping her hand in his, "Bring it on!"
"Heh! 3, 2..."
"This'll be easy. I won't even need to break a-"
"1!" The woman gripped tightly and pulled Solaris' arm straight down against the table. She then threw herself up and pumped a fist into the air, "YEAH! Slam dunk!"
Solaris stared at his arm limp on the table with an agape mouth. He then squeezed his fist and stood up declaring, "I want a rematch!"
The women looked over her shoulder and turned around with both hands raised and her aura radiating smugness, "Lookie here, found a real whore for humiliation..."
"Bah! You just caught me off-guard..." Solaris knelt down and put his arm back into position, "This time I'm going to-"
Three attempts later...
"And that makes four!" The woman and stamped her right foot down on the table before Solaris' limping arm, then leaned her grinning face in for good measure, "Want a break?"
She puckered her lips and began talking like a baby would, "Poor baby need to check his ego...?"
"Grrr...!" Solaris stood up and pounded the table right before her foot. She hopped back and started laughing like a mad dog.
"Hahaha...!" And she wasn't the only one laughing. Behind him was Mew giving off an eat-grating chuckle as he consumed a hot dog.
Solaris narrowed his eyes and backed away, the woman's taunts grinding on his back, "Awww don't run away! I'm sorry I hurt your feelings...! Hahahah!"
"Ghhh...!" Solaris shoved Mew to get him further away from the little hyena, but he was merely replacing one taunter with another.
"I told you to go easy, I didn't say to throw competitions."
"Peh...! There's something odd about that woman." Solaris crossed his arms tightly and glanced back at her.
"Maybe you underestimated humans," Mew chomped down on his hot dog, "Again."
"No that's not it..." Solaris narrowed his gaze, "I raised my power just a little bit a few times and she still beat me."
"Hmmm..." Mew was thinking about it when Maria tapped him on the hip with her mustard stained tray.
"Can I have another?" She smiled with her mustard-y lips.
"Yeah, sure thing," Mew turned away and the two of them walked off, "Just don't go crazy on her ok?"
"Oh don't worry..." Solaris' eyes slanted with a menacing aura, "I'm not going to break her...much."
He wandered over to the table and she rolled her tongue as she laughed, "Oh ho ho! Back for more?"
He almost broke the table with his elbow and looked her in the eyes, "Shut up and step up."
"Eh?" She grinned.
"All I got to do is beat you once to prove I'm stronger," Solaris grit his teeth and flared his eyes open, "So come on you shrub head, put your money where your mouth is, I got all day!"
"Heeeeh heh heh heh!" She dropped down and put his hand against his, "I'm gonna bust your arm like you'll bust your balls tonight in frustration when you lose!"
Meanwhile, as Mew and Maria got a second hot dog each, Auris tip-toed over to them with a restrained giggle and slipped the sand dollar into his trunks pocket. She then silently slipped away, like a fox.
"Alright," When she returned to the group she clapped her hands a couple times up by her face and smiled, "Let the hunt begin!"
Riku and Gabriel stayed behind while the others dashed over the beach. Riku looked to his wiser compatriot and asked him, "Got a plan?"
The samurai took a seat and crossed his legs, "Ever read about the tortoise and the hare?"
"No?" Riku slowly sat down, "But I might've heard of it."
"We wait," Gabriel stated plainly and closed his eyes, "And our opportunity to strike will show itself."
"...Alright." Riku closed his eyes and took a deep breath, going into a meditative state.
Gabriel smiled and patted him on the back, "A wise move Riku."
Riku poked one eye open and inquired, "So, you know what the prize is?"
"Yes. Its something I'd put my life on the line to eat..." There was determination with a slight competitive edge in his tone.
Mars/Jupiter:
Jupiter was hunched over and examining all the footprints in the sand, "This isn't good, there's too many of them, I can't identify Auris'."
She slapped her knees and stood up, keeping a ten foot gap between her and Mars. He looked around and gestured to the left, "I saw her coming back from this way, we should keep looking."
"Yeah yeah..." Jupiter wagged her hand aside and kept walking.
Mars kept following her pace and looked around. And then he looked at her and said, "Noel, can we talk for a bit...?"
"What's there to talk about?" She remarked, "Focus on finding the shell."
"Noel," Mars firmed his tone of voice, "This is ridiculous, you can't keep avoiding talking about what happened."
"Maybe...I don't want to hear it?" Jupiter shrugged her shoulders.
"Not even a sorry?" Mars was exasperated.
"You can say it as much as you want, it won't change a daaaaamn thing..." Jupiter said all lacks-daisically.
"It WASN'T my fault!" Mars shouted, freezing her on the spot, "That's what I've been trying to tell you! Catherine was the one who tried to force herself onto ME!"
Jupiter put her hands by her sides and remained motionless as Mars laid into her, "I don't...blame Catherine. You know how my Drive works, and with her especially..."
Jupiter's fists began to crunch.
"I should've done more to hold her off but you act like I was going behind your back!"
She spun around and proclaimed, "You just don't get it!"
He looked her in the eyes and muttered, "Then why don't you tell me...?"
Jupiter rolled her body around and planted her hands on her hips, letting out a heavy sigh. She waved her hand around and muttered, "Can we just...focus on the game?"
"...Fine." Mars grumpily lagged behind her through the hot sand...
Lunis/Joe Dark:
"Hmmm, if I was Lady Auris, where would I hide something...?" Lunis leaned out with her hand over her forehead. Joe Dark hung back, her butt pronouncing itself towards his face.
"Nnnnn...!" He grit his teeth and turned his head away.
Lunis turned around and tucked her hands behind her hair, "Do you have any idea?"
"N-No!" He thrust his head away.
"...Joe, you always seem to be uncomfortable around me. Did...I do something wrong?" She frowned and wiggled her body around, giving Joe Dark a full view of her breasts and butt jiggling around in that barely constrained bikini.
"Goddamn all these women and their bodies...!" He grit his teeth and forced his eyes not to gaze, "Every time I look at them my body gets hot for some reason...!"
She turned her head and then stood up with a clap of the hands, "Maybe it'll help if we find a common interest...?"
"Or maybe put some damn clothes on!" Joe Dark immediately regretted that call, "Tsk...! That won't help, that skin-tight thing will...!"
"Mmm..." Lunis tugged at her bikini strap and murmured, "I've been getting...mixed opinions on this. Maybe Mew wasn't right..."
"Well that was your first mistake," Joe Dark scoffed, "Try thinking with your head out of the clouds next time."
Lunis dropped her arms and head and gave a soft, embarrassed grin, "S-Sorry, I'm not used to Earth's customs."
She twisted around and gazed at her behind, "But its not like I...hate this. My body feels so free..."
"Mmmmrr..." Joe Dark squeezed his eyes shut and pinched his nose, "If you need help adjusting, read some books..."
"I would but...I don't know where to get some," Lunis sighed, "Mew barely had any in his house."
He chuckled, "He's so allergic to them that he'd pop like a balloon if he touched one."
"Hehehe, yeah."
"Whatever, the best place to go is the library," When she gave him a doe-eyed look he said, "I'll...probably be going there with Alura soon. If you want to come with..."
"Sure! Sounds like fun!" Lunis lit with a smile, "See, we found a common interest! I bet that helps a lot!"
"...No," Joe Dark waved backwards, "Go get a damn towel on or...something."
Kairi/Alura:
Alura was glaring at Joe Dark off in the distance. He seemed to be enjoying himself with Lunis and her big, bouncing chest spheres.
Alura patted her chest with her fingertips and sighed. Kairi groaned beside her, and tugged at the string of her own chest sphere support.
Her face looked distorted and she had a glare like Joe Dark's aimed at a group of men hanging around and whistling her way.
"Damn pigs...!" She growled, then jerked back towards her, "Hey you...Alura right?"
She poked over her shoulder, "Can't you use your illusions to like...scare them or something?"
"...Ok." Alura's eyes began to glow and a lance started forming by her head.
Kairi planting her hands on her shoulders stopped her immediately, "No not like that!"
She looked over her shoulder again and now the guys were looking down and whistling. Kairi grit her teeth and grumbled, "Actually on second thought, maybe being skewered in the dick will shut 'em up...!"
Alura's eyes were hypnotized by the sway of Kairi's chest spheres.
"...Bah, forget it, screw them." Kairi stood up and Alura's head followed those luscious melons.
"...Hello?" Kairi tapped Alura twice on the head and she blinked.
"Ummmm..."
After a long hum from her Kairi remarked, "We've barely gotten anywhere...Why couldn't I have been partnered with Jupiter..."
"Kairi?"
"What?" She looked down at her.
"How do I...become like you?" Alura didn't think Kairi's eyes would widen so much.
"Like...me?" Kairi's cheeks turned red and her head spun around, "O-Oh wow ummm..."
She turned all the way around and started mumbling, "D-Did Mew say good things about me...?"
Alura laid her hands on the center of her chest and sighed, "It just feels like there's something...missing with me."
Kairi turned back around and uttered "Oh". Then she got a contemplative look and tapped the side of her face, "Mew...told me about you. You're having trouble adjusting to life on Earth, right?"
"Ummm..." Alura's head nodded on its own.
"..." Kairi rubbed the back of her head slowly, "Sorry, I'm...I'm not fit for being a role model, or...giving you advice."
She let out a long sigh and then placed her shaking arms under her chest, "But...if there's one thing I CAN say..."
Alura patiently gazed into Kairi's eyes as she spoke in a different sort of voice, "Don't be afraid to ask people for help. You'll see that there's a lot more kindness in people's hearts than what you see on the surface."
"...I see." Alura nodded again.
Kairi glared aside and grumbled aloud, "Can't believe that came from the same idiot who totally plotted this whole swimsuit sham...!"
"Huh?" Alura murmured.
"Forget it...!" Kairi squeezed her eyes shut and gestured a thumb over her shoulder, "Come on lets go hunt for that sand dollar."
As Kairi walked off Alura continued rubbing her chest, feeling a tiny, sliver of warmth inside it, "Kindness...isn't just something you see..."
"Hmmm..." She closed her eyes and wandered after Kairi.
Mew/Maria:
"Om nmmm nmmm..." Maria nibbled away at her fourth hot dog, topped with cheese, mustard, onion, tomatoes you name it, she's put it on there. Her gopher-like stuffed cheeks held a wonderful smile as she pulled her head back and finished the rest of it off.
Mew stood by at the end of his second hot dog frozen with abject awe, and horror, "She's got a bigger stomach than me...!"
With one fine belch she patted her bulging stomach and turned her dreaded, innocent eyes upon him, "Papa can I have another...?"
He could sense a shiver in his wallet.
"S-Save space for dinner dear. Wouldn't want you puffing up like a balloon..."
She giggled and wiped all the sauce off onto her arm, "Ooookay..."
After tossing the two trays into the trash Mew clapped his hands and thought, "Alright, lets go see what everyone else's up to..."
"Papa?" Said Maria.
"What's the matter?" He replied as he turned around.
She pointed straight out, "You got something sticking out of your trunks."
Mew grimaced and pulled his hands back, "M-Maria I SWEAR its not supposed to be doing that aro-"
She reached towards his trunks and pulled out a sand dollar from his pocket. She looked it over and then raised it up.
Once Mew's heartbeat was normal he breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed it. He turned it around and muttered, "Now how'd this get there...?"
Once he saw the "X" on the back he pulled it in closer and squinted, "An...X?"
And there was something written underneath in a much smaller font.
"Run bitch...run?" Mew pulled back with an utterly baffled look in his eyes, "The FUCK?"
"THERE IT IS!" Came the frantic exclamation of one Aurian Jupiter. In a panic Mew turned a hard right and found her, Mars, Lunis, Joe Dark, Kairi and Alura encroaching upon his location with mean glares in their eyes.
"Ah crap...! What'd I get dragged into this time?!"
Next Time: Ultimate Battle