Author's Note:
I'm sorry, I forgot to upload this on Saturday. So have two chapters in a row!
Chapter 76: Solaris on the Rocks
Another night at the Bombbrew Bar for the young duo of Solaris and Samantha. Albeit this time, there's been a bit of a shakeup in their roles.
Now, dressed in a spiffy sleeveless suit that barely contains his muscular bod, the sun god stood behind the counter stirring and shaking drinks for the patrons.
He was quick and vigorous with the shaker, breaking Samantha's usual records for drink making, while offering up greetings and welcomes to any new customers.
Yes, you're not misreading, I am talking about the same crass, stubborn, blunt, and utterly rude sun god. Don't believe me? Lets see him in action for a bit then, shall we?
"Hey Sol, we need two Rocky Knockers down here!" Samantha shouted all the way down the other end of the counter.
"Two? Coming right up!" Solaris whipped out a steel canister and poured in a mix of ginger ale, lemon and cinnamon, with a couple of hard salted ice cubes for additional flavor.
He shook it around in one hand for a few seconds then popped the drink into two martini glasses, sliding them one after another down the smoothed out counter top.
Samantha swiped them up in each hand with perfect timing then handed them off to the two middle-aged women here on a late night bender.
"Here ya are ma'ams!" She said with a peppy grin, "Drink until your livers burst!"
"Is that a challenge?" One lady said with a smirk.
"Oh I always love coming to this place." The other lady said, the two clinging their glass rims together before dumping the drink down into their gullets in one fell swoop.
Solaris stood by and pinched his fingers together behind his back, gritting his teeth anxiously until the ladies raised their glasses and shouted, "Our compliments to the bartender!"
"Yes!" He hissed out while pumping his fist against his bent over chest.
Samantha trotted on up to him after handing another customer a napkin for their dribbling mouth. She then propped her fists on her hips and remarked, "Well well, you ain't doing so bad for your first week."
Solaris stiffened up and coughed into his fist, remarking with a cocky attitude, "Is it that surprising how good I am?"
"A little, yeah." Samantha said with a chuckle, stifling the sun god's growing ego.
"By the way, Ace Bartender..." Samantha wiggled her right pointer finger out from her chest.
Solaris turned around and saw a man sitting hunched over with a glare at him in particular.
"He's been waiting for his food for two minutes now." Samantha patted him on the shoulder and then backed off to do her own thing.
"Shit...!" Solaris grit his teeth and then went to check the orders on the steel ledge nearby. Indeed there was a plate filled with pepperoni topped, ooey-gooey nachos. The steam rising off the top was at half-size, looking very, very pitiful and lukewarm.
Solaris wasted no time taking the plate to the customer, losing a pepperoni slice to the floor. The customer's expression turned a little brighter and he proceeded to eat his meal with a side of cold ale.
"Whew..." Solaris crossed his arms but the nighttime rush wouldn't let him rest.
"Sol! Table 8's requesting an Ice Age Disaster!" Samantha shouted the order and Solaris jerked his head to the side going "Really?!" before letting out a grunt and getting back to work.
He pulled a hefty chunk of crushed ice from the freezer and put it into another shaker with a helping of aged liquor and a hint of mint leaves.
He started shaking wildly only for the lid to pop off and the drink to start spraying onto the floor. In a scramble to fix this mistake he nearly lost the whole drink. He capped the lid, breathed a sigh of relief, then continued to shake at a slightly slower rate.
He had hoped that enough of the drink had been salvaged to satisfy the customer as he poured it into the glass, and handed it off to Samantha for deliverance.
He then tried to catch his breath and swiped a bit of sweat off his brow with the nearby towel, "Holy shit, rush hour is rougher than my training lately."
He then crossed his arms and flexed his biceps a little, "Got to keep these bad boys in check."
Samantha flipped over the counter to say hello and in the process cheekily remarked, "Feeling the heat yet?"
"Ha. Ha. Ha," Solaris slowly laughed back, "You should become a comedian with that talent."
"It ain't no joke," Samantha gestured her thumb over her shoulder to Table 8, "You're lucky they're new here. Shortin' an order to long-timers would spell bad news for our PR."
Solaris bit his teeth down and Samantha nudged him in the pecs with her elbow saying, "You'll get the hang of it. Just clean up your spill, 'Ace Bartender'."
She playfully winked and then walked off to check how well the customers at the counter were doing. Solaris then sighed, turned around, and bent over with his towel to clean up.
"Is it always this busy on Fridays?" He asked loudly.
"Ah no!" Samantha laughed with a gruelingly wicked echo, settling into a far, far more relaxed tone of, "This is a slow day."
Solaris could feel his heart sink so low it merged with his stomach, "A-Ah...?"
He then heard the bell above the door ring and rose to greet the new customers, "W-Welcome to our bar, I hope-"
His eyes then shot right out of their sockets and he let out a quick, bloodcurling scream, as these "new" customers weren't new to him at all!
It was Gabriel and three of his Aurian buddies, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter, all wearing some "night on the town" clothes instead of their usual attire.
Gabriel had on the suit from the first time he came to this bar. Jupiter had put on a short jacket vest with flaming streaks beside the sleeves. Mars swapped out his vest for a thin coat and put on some dark shades, but kept the baggy pants on. And Saturn had taken off her lab coat to put on a purple martini dress along with glittering gold glasses, her hair knotted into a bun behind her head.
Solaris' mouth hung with a long gasp for air as Samantha waltzed up and waved her hand at the new arrivals.
"Oh hey, I remember you guys! Welcome to the Bombbrew Bar! Make yourselves at home!"
Solaris' eyes followed the four as they took their seats before the counter beside him. Samantha then wandered off saying "I'll get then menus" while Solaris finally picked his jaw off the floor and bent down right in front of Gabriel.
"What the HELL are you doing here, old man?!" Solaris whispered to the bewilderment of the scruffy samurai.
Gabriel laid his hand to rest and smiled back, "Lady Auris asked me to check up on you."
Solaris grit his teeth and grumbled, "If she wanted to do that she could've come herself..."
He then shook his head and shuddered, "N-Never mind forget I said that."
"Indeed," Gabriel chuckled, "She'd run your business dry in a single night."
He then gestured his fingers up and remarked, "Even had she not asked I would've come anyways."
"Whyyyyyy?" Solaris groaned.
"Because I like the atmosphere here," Gabriel turned around and looked across the bar, "Its wild yet inviting. The lighting's warm, the drinks are cold. Perfect for relaxation after a long day."
"And Goons 1-3?" Solaris roughly pointed to the others where, at the moment, Saturn was spinning in her chair while Jupiter and Mars talked about the drink selection.
"Oh, well..." Gabriel shrugged, "I thought you'd appreciate having more business."
"Oh yeah I'm just thrilled." Solaris rolled his eyes and stood up, by then Samantha returned with a menu for each one of them.
"Here you are, take your time," She then crossed her arms and grinned brightly to them all, "If you have any questions feel free to take it up with your buddy Sol."
"We're not buddies!" Solaris gestured out to the small group as Samantha wandered off for a bit, "I don't even know three of these idiots!"
"Hey, 'Sol'!" Jupiter called out, slapping her menu shut and tapping the cover with one finger and a wild, ready smile, "Gimme the strongest drink you got, no ice, largest glass available."
"Ooooh, the Cretaceous Impact?" Samantha chimed in with lustful intrigue, "Sure your liver is up for the challenge?"
Jupiter slammed her elbow down and propped her hand against her smirking cheek, her eyes darting right at the bartender to tell her, "Is YOURS?"
Samantha chuckled and bobbed her head around in delight, "I like you."
Right as Samantha prepared to make the drink Saturn slapped her hands down atop the menu and stood on the bar around the bottom of the chair shouting, "What is this?!"
Samantha leaned over her shoulder as Saturn raised the plainly labeled "Kids Menu" and wagged it around like it had killed her family or something.
"I want the same menu they're having!" She squeezed the one currently in her hand and shook it like a rattle.
"Heh, sorry kid," Samantha turned and dried out the glass she planned to use for Jupiter's drink, "Pretty yourself up all ya like, I can still tell you're underage."
"Uh-oh." Mars muttered.
"She said the 'P' word." Jupiter followed, a dreadful sense of awkwardness spreading out between their merry gathering.
"What? What? What's going on? Why does it feel cold all of a sudden?" Spoke Solaris.
"...Pretty?" Saturn plopped the menu onto the table and nudged her glasses up until the lens flared.
Samantha paused with a bead of sweat glistening down her forehead. Saturn leaned over the counter on both hands and pinned her forehead against hers.
"I'm cute, and don't you forget it," She then stared her down, facing her ultimate nemesis of ageism like a champ, "You say I'm too young? Nah, I'm too old! I've been saving the universe and kickin' evil butt since before your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather had developed into a zygote. I've got a thirst in my mouth and a thirst in my loins, so when I come here asking for a drink you don't say 'Too young' you say 'Happy to serve you, oh wonderful, fantastic, and super cute superheroine Saturn. And thank you, for saving the goddamn universe!'"
Saturn then plopped right back into her seat smiling smugly with her arms and legs crossed.
Samantha stared back, smirked, and then plucked the Kids Menu off the counter.
"Lets see if you can put your money where your big mouth is, superstar." Samantha walked off to exchange menus, humored the whole way there.
Solaris' jaw dropped and before he could comment Jupiter rambunctiously slapped her hand on the counter and shouted, "Hey bartender, where's my drink?!"
He jolted around and by then, Mars raised his closed menu and tried to speak up, "And I'll...have a Fiery Filibuster."
Solaris sighed, snatched their menus up, then grumbled to himself, "I'll be right back..."
He then walked on up to Gabriel, face deep in his own menu, looking like he was in his own world.
"You decided, old man?"
"Hmmm?" Gabriel poked his head up a bit and then laid his menu down flat, "I still need some time, if you don't mind."
"Hey, its your time and your money." Solaris shrugged and then backed up to take care of the two's drinks.
Meanwhile, Samantha passed him by and handed Saturn a new menu. Saturn snatched it in her hand and opened it up, scanning it faster than a supercomputer.
Samantha crossed her arms and chuckled, "You might want to start with something light. Might I recommend-"
"I'll take this one!" Saturn flipped the menu around and pointed at the middle of the "Napalm" category.
Samantha leaned in to stare and chuckled some more, "The Grasp of Dust? Aaaalright, if you insist!"
She then took her menu and grinned, "Coming right up!"
She joined Solaris at the cabinet to makes their drinks, with the four observing them from behind with their own colorful commentary.
"Never thought I'd see the day when a sun god would be serving me drinks." Jupiter said, her hands flat against her cheeks.
Mars nudged her and whispered, "Noel, we're under cover, keep it down!"
"Ah, sorry, you're right!" Jupiter gasped and pulled her volume down to half her norm, "Not used to being on a world where we got to have 'secret identities'."
She laughed at how stupid that sounded.
Samantha and Solaris brought their drinks back and then Samantha leaned on up to Jupiter with a dazzling gleam in her eyes, "So you guys must all be superheroes then, yeah?"
"Well I totally mean to brag but," Jupiter pumped her fist against her chest twice and craned her head back with a smile, "Yeah. We are."
"No kidding? That's so wicked awesome!" Samantha cheered.
She then looked over her shoulder and said, "Why didn't you tell me that, Sol?"
"I told you, I don't know these guys!" Solaris barked back, in the middle of cleaning a drink.
"Hey bartender, we need a couple salt shakers over here!" Said a pair of customer at the corner.
"Coming!" Solaris groaned in a panic, sweeping a pair of salt shakers off the rack.
Saturn then took the first sip from her drink and sat it down with a satisfying breath, upon which she turned to Samantha and asked, "So how much do you know?"
Samantha crossed her arms with a cheeky smile and whispered, "A lot! 'Sol' has been all loose lips ever since he confessed back in Christmas."
Solaris returned and glared around the back of her head as he made his way for the utensils, "Only because you don't shut up with the questions!"
He took some forks back with him and Samantha's gazed trailed him the whole way there, "I can't help it! A bunch of cool, attractive heroes have been living under our noses this whole time. I gotta know everything!"
"Ahem!" Hollered Saturn, nudging her glasses.
Samantha tilted her head around and muttered, "And one cool and cute superheroine."
"Heh!" Saturn then took another sip from her drink. She then coughed up a winded gasp of "Whew!"
"I'll admit," Gabriel chimed in with his delicate tones, "I voiced some concerns when I heard that you had been told about us."
He gestured kindly to Samantha with a smile, "But I see I was worried for nothing."
"Heh, thanks for that, Shaggy Green!" Samantha chuckled, while Gabriel stared blankly at her and began to rub his beard back and forth.
He then returned to his menu, pontificating what would suit his palette this fine evening.
"Its been a while, hasn't it?" The deep, smooth sounds of the bar's owner drew Gabriel's eye upward, where the man looked down behind his pitch black glasses.
"Ah, Zeke, right?" Gabriel snapped right to remembering his name.
"Heh. Zeke, Black Ice, take your pick, I don't mind," The black man whispered coolly, leaning in to say for his ears only, "So how should I refer to you as? Gabriel? Or Aurian Earth?"
Gabriel froze momentarily with a shrunken glare. Zeke hooked his glasses down slightly and smirked, "Don't think too negatively about it. Its just an ice breaker, albeit with the force of a sledgehammer applied to it."
Gabriel tapped his fingers along the edge of the counter and muttered, "I don't sense any ill-intent from your actions, for what its worth..."
"But you saying that so casually is rather...disarming, I must admit."
"Heh well," Zeke stood and began cleaning a glass he had on him, "I wanted to talk and figured you'd be more approachable if I 'spoke your language'. Catch my drift?"
"Loud and clear," Gabriel rested his arms on the counter and leaned closer to the man, "So. Who was it who told you? Samantha, or 'Sol'?"
"Neither," Zeke replied curtly, "Prometheus."
Surprise barely registered on Gabriel's face, "Ah. I should've suspected as much."
After a rest so Zeke could finishing cleaning the cup, he poured a bit of liquor from a green bottle and nudged it towards Gabriel, "On the house."
Gabriel eased the rim into his lips and took a slow sip. Setting the glasses down he smiled and described the experience lavishly, "Aged pinot noir with a hint of lemon and dare I say, a few sprinkles of cinnamon?"
"My personal favorite," Zeke bowed, "Happy to serve."
Gabriel took another sip and then looked the man in the eyes, "So why reveal yourself now? The man you served is dead and his ambitions have gone down in flames."
Zeke sighed with melancholy and took his glasses off fully, tucking them in his pocket, "The man I served died years ago. You and your friends just finally buried a rundown corpse."
He closed his eyes and rested his arms on the counter, "What you saw of Prometheus ain't what the rest of the world saw. He was kind, dutiful to his country and people, and most importantly, loved his family very much."
Gabriel's eyes narrowed and Zeke backed away with a gentle sway of his hands, "Now...I ain't making excuses but, its that same love that broke him. He lost his wife to the ignorance and cruelty of those in power and, with nothing left to bring him joy but the smile on his daughter's face, he turned his hot steel against the world."
"And left countless blood in his wake." Gabriel intervened.
Zeke nodded immediately, "Such was the disparity between Judas Jeremiah the father, and Prometheus the murderer."
"I couldn't bear to stand looking at him the way he was anymore, with his vengeful, power-hungry eyes..." Zeke gestured his pointer finger out and said bluntly, "That was not the man I pledged my loyalty to."
"But I couldn't just...abandon him either," Zeke sighed with regrets, "Not after how much I owed his wife."
"I detached myself from his cruel experimentation on orphans and offered to take his daughter under my wing, in the hopes of keeping her pure of his hate."
"And well," Zeke gestured to his left with a smile, "As you can see she's turned out quite alright."
Gabriel turned and looked at Samantha with a brief glimpse of shock in his eyes, "She's his daughter?"
"She's rougher than diamonds but damn if she doesn't shine like 'em too," Zeke smiled and then put his glasses back on, "And look, she's made plenty of..."
Jupiter was downing her fourth drink while Saturn began spinning around in her stool all tipsy. Solaris was madly dashing between the shelves and the customers to deliver drinks.
Zeke raised a brow and muttered, "Interesting friends."
"Ha ha ha...!" Gabriel nodded with a smirk, "We are certainly a unique bunch."
He then turned to Zeke and raised his glass, "Well, thank you for confiding with me. I promise not to tell a soul."
Zeke raised an empty glass and the two clinked them together, "Much appreciated. Feels like a weight's been lifted off my chest."
As Gabriel resumed his drink the bell over the door rang, and in walked a sharp-dressed man with cold, precise eyes. We know him as one Julius Talbain.
The man slowly walked across the floor and veered his gaze subtly to the left towards Zeke. Zeke fired back, the two's intensity meeting each other with Gabriel stuck plum in the middle.
"Zeke." Julius murmured.
"Julius." Zeke replied.
As Julius walked up to take a seat left of Gabriel the samurai took his glass to the counter and whispered, "I feel I'll just be getting in the way."
"Nah, sit down," Zeke urged with a cool sway of his hand. He then brought a menu up for Julius' perusal, "Sometimes shadows of grudges just tend to linger at our feet."
Julius took the menu without looking at Zeke directly and began to scan it over.
"Still a servant to blind ambitions, Eye in the Dark?" Remarked Zeke.
"Still blind, Black Frost?" Julius fired back coldly.
"Heh," Zeke smiled, "Your bark still has bite."
Julius put the menu down and sighed, "I need it now more than ever these days if I'm to keep up with the demands of those in my care."
He gave the menu two taps and remarked in a more friendly tone, "One Orange Dust, shaken, no salt."
"Coming right up." Zeke retreated to the shelves and poured orange juice, vodka, and a little ice cream into a sole shaker.
Gabriel rested on his laurels with a look of contemplation, "Julius, Julius..."
Realization came to him a moment after and he looked the butler in the eyes, "Ah that's right, you're a friend of Joe Dark's family."
Julius looked at him out the corner of his eyes and then swiveled his stool to face him closely, "You are...Gabriel?"
"Yes, pleasure to meet you." Gabriel extended his hand and Julius shook it.
"Likewise, however..." While Julius paused Gabriel raised his brows curiously.
"Hmmm..." Julius rubbed his chin and remarked, "Master Joseph described you as...'That guy on the green bean cans', but you're very...white."
Gabriel stared and then chuckled in amusement, "Yes well, this isn't how I normally look."
Zeke brought Julius his drink and Julius quickly reached into his pocket to hand him exact change, transitioning cleanly into sipping from his glass.
"Aaaah..." Julius hung his shoulders and smiled, "Magnificent."
"So what brings you here tonight?" Zeke inquired.
"Master Joseph and Miss Alura are on a date at the theater, so I decided to spend some time for myself for once." Julius promptly replied.
"Ah, young love in bloom," Gabriel rubbed his chin and smiled fondly, "Is there nothing more beautiful?"
Zeke sighed and nudged his glasses, "When shall the floors ever bloom for us?"
"Our soil's tainted with blood," Julius remarked, twirling his finger around the rim of his glass, "And our fatal attraction lies in bullets and death."
The three old men sighed and then left the air silent.
Gabriel raised his glass to Julius and remarked, "Well then, let us toast to love everlasting for your two young charges."
Julius smiled and raised his glass in a toast, "Yes. To love everlasting."
They then both sipped from their drinks and laid them to rest on the counter. Julius sighed.
"Though I worry for Master Joseph sometimes..." He shook his head and faced forward with a tired look in his eyes, "He barely registered Miss Alura's true feelings, and yet he expects to become the President?"
"Did I hear that right?" Zeke butted in, "Joseph Dark wishes to become the President?"
Julius crumpled onto the counter and gestured his hand up by his face, "Laugh all you wish, Zeke."
"Heh," Was all Zeke replied with, "There. There's my laugh."
He began to clean a plate off while pondering the nature of what he heard, "Like father like son, as they say. And he's got just as much of an uphill battle ahead of him."
"Yes, most assuredly," Julius replied, "Prometheus may be gone but his shadow still lingers over the political landscape."
The butler bridged his hands beneath his nose and continued to speak, "I've offered my support, but I admit to being at a loss of what to do. If only he had someone trustworthy by his side who knew their way around politics..."
Julius and Zeke glanced aside at Gabriel, who shook his head slowly and remarked, "My wisdom does not pertain to politics, unfortunately. But I'm sure the right person will come around eventually."
"WEE HEE HEE!" A shrill cry of excitement came behind them, certainly from Saturn of all people.
The three old men watched as the young scientist was leaning back into the counter with a dazzling gleam in her glazed over eyes, "Looooook, you can seeeee the cooooooosmooooooos...!"
She then flopped upright and with her head tipping around she smirked, "Yoo-hoo! Boooooys!"
She grabbed the front flap of her dress and sloooowly raised it while alternatively raising her brows, "Who wants to take a ride on the rings of Saturn?"
Jupiter slapped her hand down on Saturn's lap and laughed, "Cat, no!"
"Mrow!" Saturn clawed her fingertips at her and then flopped back down against the counter, beginning to slide off her seat with a groan.
Jupiter sighed and commented, "So Cat's an obnoxious drunk, who'd've thunk?"
Mars leaned around her and stared at Saturn's drink, "She didn't even finish half of it..."
Jupiter took a drink from her seventh glass and then set it down right next to Samantha, "Another one please!"
"..." Samantha stared wide-eyed at her and then happily carried the glass off while remarking, "You've got an inhuman liver, geez!"
Solaris and Samantha nearly had an accident when they crossed paths to handle different customers. Solaris brushed her off frantically and Samantha burst into laughter.
"Its so fun watching him run around." She said as she handed Jupiter her drink.
"So be honest," Jupiter leaned down and gestured the drink at Samantha, "Half the reason you hooked up with him was for the entertainment value right?"
Samantha crossed her arms and enjoyed a lull in the moment observing Solaris slide orders to some of the customers at the opposite end of the counter.
"Eh, a little of that, a little bit more of the other stuff," She shrugged and looked fondly over her shoulder, "You'd have to spend some time with him to get it."
"Ok sure but tell me," Jupiter leaned in and whispered, "Have you guys...?"
"Oh yeah!" Samantha grinned cheekily and unfurled seven fingers from her fists.
Jupiter let out a shrill whistle and shouted "Damn! Nice!" then wiggled her brows knowingly while remarking, "And...?"
Samantha glanced to her left real quick and then raised her hands up before her chest, putting them an "above-average" number of inches apart.
"Oooh, how do you handle that?" Jupiter winced in pain.
Samantha crossed her arms back up and chuckled, "You should be asking how he handles me."
"Ha HA!" Jupiter and Samantha clapped their hands together while Mars sat by rolling his eyes and sighing.
"This is the start of something dangerous..." He retreated to his drink, while Saturn's mind was retreating into cuckooland.
"Looooove and PEEEEEACE!" She raised two fingers in a "V" and then collapsed back first atop the stool.
Solaris wandered up behind Samantha after a few more minutes of toiling for the customers. Now drenched in sweat, his suit looked more like a wet towel.
"I want to die..." He groaned.
Samantha patted his tricep twice and told him, "You're doing fine, just keep it up."
"I need a break at least..." Solaris took it upon himself to pour a glass of ice cold water and guzzle it down in seconds.
"Aaaaah..." He felt refreshed.
Samantha and him leaned back into the sink. The customers were settling down in their separate groups and having fun, so they could just slack off for a little while.
"You got such awesome friends." Samantha grinned.
"Yes. They're so awesome that I never want to see them again." Solaris said in a grumpy grumble.
"...Y'know, this night's got me thinking," Samantha took up a rare serious tone and closed her eyes, "You should tell all your other friends about this place. We could make it a sort of...hub for them to gather at, hang out, and talk about their days."
"A lot of them are underage though," Solaris gruffly pointed out, "And I sure ain't letting my sister get drunk."
"Don't worry about that," Samantha responded, "Just give them some free seats at the counter away from the others and we can talk in private about our own stuff. They don't have to drink."
"Heh," Solaris turned towards her with a fist on his hip, "You think you can handle all those nutjobs coming here? Cause let me tell you about a woman named Auris..."
"This place is hospitable to all sorts, so long as they ain't causing trouble," Samantha grinned and looked fondly towards the rest of the bar, "Its why my father always loved to come here. So I just...want to spread that hospitality to others, y'know?"
"You're just asking for trouble." Solaris remarked.
"Ah I'm just shooting the shit," Samantha pulled away and brushed her hands up, "But its something to think about, yeah?"
The sound of glass crashing came from over the counter and they saw Saturn limply dragging her hand up and knocking Jupiter's empty glasses onto the floor one at a time.
"Ooooooone dead bad guy...Twoooooooo dead bad guys..."
"How about we survive this night first?" Solaris murmured.
"Yep. Totally," Samantha ran up and vaulted over the counter to smack Saturn's hand away from the glasses, "Alright you purple gremlin, break another glass and I'll break your glasses!"
Saturn raised her middle finger and shouted "Iiii'm the strongest! Traaaaaansformation, GOOOOO!" then stuck said finger up her nose.
Solaris stood by and crossed his arms, grumbling warmly at the chuckleheads gathered in front of him. He then craned his head back and murmured, "Hey dad, you watching? Good. Cause I hope you're proud."
Next Time: Two Brothers and the Reminiscence