Chapter 19
The people watched from a distance. No one could see the beach thanks to the barrier Alley put up, but from the streets, they could see bursts of water shooting up into the sky. "Whoa, it's like a bomb went off!" said one boy.
"There goes another!" called a woman.
Every ten minutes there were these bursts of water in the air, the people knew the beach was closed for a reason, and the heroes were doing their jobs in protecting the people and the city.
At least, that's what it appeared to be.
#
Earlier
"ONE TWO THREE FOUR, I DECLARE A WATER WAR!"
They were only at it for four hours. In that time, the group divided and conquered, the beach was swept and cleared of all monsters. Hunter, Pac and Suiryu were dive-bombing from the skies, taking out monsters that lurked in the waters near by. Many were merely tiger threats if that of crawfish like warriors waiting to make their move. Yet enough were taken out for Melee to announce it would be a craw boil today. Those bastards won't dare make a move now knowing what became of their comrades!
With the threats cleared out, and the dinner menu was set, the beach would remain closes for the day, which meant the heroes could have some fun. Bad proposed a game of water wars. Yet the concept confused Garou's children. "How do you play?" asked Goliath.
"You ain't played water wars before?!" Bad demanded. "It's simple, you break off into two teams, and you try to get the other team wet, the team that remains the dries wins!"
"Interesting concept to play at a beach, surrounded by water." Muttered Snek. "I ain't playing."
"On come on dad! Please! One game!" Drax begged.
Snek rolled his eyes. "Fine. One game."
"Hold it! We need to set some rules first. Whose playing?" Bad demanded.
Drax, Snek, Hunter, Alley, Suiryu, Goliath, Draven, Pac, Zenko, Bad and Stinger all volunteered to play along. Max opted to sit this one out, him and water don't quite go well together.
Bad broke up the teams.
"Okay, I get Pac, Snek, Drax, Goliath and Zenko. Other team will be Stinger, Draven, Hunter, Alley and Suiryu. Now, the rules. NO ESPER power!" he announced.
"Damn it," growled Hunter.
"Second, you are soaked, you are out. We keep going until the driest person wins. So get imaginative and get the other team soaked!... GO!"
They had to get creative, despite an ocean full of water, no esper powers, they had to get the other team drenched. Pac remembered he packed buckets for sandcastles and was quick to retrieve them. However Hunter remembered he packed them as well. The two nearly went into an all out brawl for them!
Garou watched from the sidelines with Melee. Zombieman took a disinterest in the event. "I can't believe these guys are heroes and they act like children…" he muttered.
"Most of them are, remember that!" laughed Melee. "You could have fun if you tried! Look, I know you haven't had the easiest life there Zom, but you could at least try and have fun if you wanted to." She paused. "Perhaps this was the reason why the association sent you out here today."
He blew off the comment. He didn't appear to care that he was missing out on it all, so he continued to watch from a far.
The first to fall happened to be the twins. Draven and Goliath got into a power struggle near the water, grabbling one another and refusing to let go. Then, Snek comes along, he coils around the two and launches them up and into the water!
"HEY, I'M ON YOUR TEAM!" protested Goliath.
"Sacrifices must be made!" Snek replied.
The twins were out, reluctantly they went to the beach blankets and sat out. The two pouted over the game, muttering how it wasn't fun anyways. Melee however smirked, if there was one thing she knew it was how to cheer the twins up. She turned to Zombieman and then announced. "Did you two know, Zombieman took out a real vampire?"
The twins froze as the turned to him. His eyes shifted just far enough to see the two staring at him with fascination. "Is it true?" Draven asked. "You took out a real vampire!?"
"Yeah…" he said.
"Can… can you tell us about it?" questioned Goliath.
"It ain't a story for kids."
"You can tell them," said Garou, he appeared nearly asleep under the beach umbrella. "These two are no strangers to gore."
Zombieman was about to refuse until the twins suddenly sat in front of him, staring at him with great interest and fascination. With a role of his eyes he began to tell them about the monster association, the rich kid they had to save and the path he was given by Child Emperor…
#
The battle was grueling. Snek did a self-sacrifice as Suiryu was plucking everyone up off the sand left and right. He was about to go for Drax when Snek struck! He coiled around Suiryu and yelled for someone to throw him into the water. Pac obliged and along the way, Snek managed to grab Stinger as they were thrown into the ocean. Three down! The battles went on. Hunter and Pac took out the other team members with relative ease until it was down to them…
#
"I WIN!"
"NO, you cheated!"
It was one for the ages. Pac and Hunter were arguing who won the water war. Both appeared to be drenched to say the least, yet neither one refused to yield. "I say I got you more!" protested Hunter.
"No way, I got you more than you got me!"
They were so into the argument, neither noticed something or someone made a dead leap from the boardwalk and into the water. A massive wave was then launched right at them! It got not just them, but everyone on the beach! Melee got an esper barrier up before the water struck the seating area. All teams were soaked to the bone! And yet the wave was unnaturally made. Every head turned as he glided to shore on a small board. "I do believe, I win!"
Melee rolled her eyes. Dressed in a light blue swimsuit, and yet amazingly dry was someone she didn't expect to see but wasn't the least bit surprised to his apperance. "What the hell do you want now Amai… for that matter how did you know we were here?!" she paused. "It's not the weekend either…"
He was starting to become a little clingy to say the least. Amai appear to show up, unannounced for no reason but to partake in the festivities. "I was told you were going to be here, Saitama said he was going to be beach with Genos today stating there was some sort of monster purging going on. I suppose I missed out on that…" he paused. "I also don't get a chance to enjoy the beach to say the least, I wasn't about to waste this opportunity…"
"How come the beach is always full when we go"
She turned and saw Saitama and Genos just making it now. "It appears we missed out on assisting in the clean up." Announced Genos.
"As long as we didn't miss out on the food, I'm good,"
"You missed the water wars too, despite Amai claiming he won!" muttered Bad. "You cheat, you didn't even have a team!"
"I am my own team, I went rouge."
Suddenly, a small smirk came to Saitama. "So… anyone can go rouge right?" he asked.
"I suppose…."
PUSH.
No one really expected Saitama to get in on the game, he shoved Amai so hard he pushed in beyond roped off section of the beach! "HAHA! That was great!" called Garou.
"I win." Saitama smirked.
"Actually Master…."
Saitama turned and came face to face with Genos, he stood partly in the water, just enough to cover his feet. His hands locked as he suddenly powered up. "HYDRATION CANNON!"
Water burst forth from his arms, soaking Saitama…. But also stripping his clothing. "Oh God…" muttered Melee as she reached into the bag. She tossed Saitama a pair of swim trunks. "I always bring spares, please cover up. Genos wins, game over!" she said.
Alley was laughing. "I knew I put in that upgrade for a reason, granted, it was for Genos to help put out fires…" she said.
With water wars over, they spent the rest of the day just enjoying the beach. Melee smiled as Drax and Snek buried themselves in the sand and enjoyed the sun together. Garou was well rested to say the least, but her smile grew as she saw Zombieman become very illustrated with the twins as he explained how he took out a vampire on his own and then a room full of 30 monsters afterwards. By the end of it all, Zombieman had two new fans…