Chapter 3: Triple Threat Part 2

"Are we covered?" Riley asked as she braced herself for an attack.

"Yeah, I put up a shield, we're good," Crystal responded as she clenched her hands into fists and got ready for the fight.

"Good," Riley said with a smile as she turned her right hand into a half fist. A chain sickle appeared in her hand and she quickly threw it at Koto. He skidded to a stop and jumped back to avoid the sickle that had been thrown at him as Riley took the chance to run at him. She swung the sickle once more, making sure to give enough leeway that she would be able to pull it back easily.

He jumped into the air to dodge the attacked and came down with a kick aimed at her head. She used her left hand to swing back and grab his ankle as a ball of flame surrounded it. Koto screamed when she grabbed onto his ankle before throwing him a few feet away from herself.

Meanwhile Rhuben and Crystal were tag-team fighting against Reihu and Kotaro. They aimed kick after kick and punch after punch at the two girls. They kept their arms crossed in front of them to take make sure their faces or chests didn't get hurt. Crystal gritted her teeth at the pain that was spreading up her arms whenever a kick landed on it. She knew by how much power they were using that they could break her arms in two if they wanted.

Kotaro placed a kick on her arms once more before flipping backwards. Crystal took that as an opportunity to conjure up her bow and arrow. The tip of an arrow, which was surrounded in ice, reflected the sunlight as she quickly pulled back the arrow and let it go. With precision it pierced right through Kotaro's shoulder as he came back down. He hissed in pain before pulling it out and having to dodge the rain of ice shards that Crystal was launching at him.

Rhuben squeezed her hand before opening it so her palm was flat where a darkness orb was floating. It grew bigger, to the size of a basketball, as she jumped back to dodge Reihu's punch. With her free hand she grabbed his arm and shoved the ball of darkness into his chest. He screamed in pain as it felt like he was being electrocuted. Rhuben gritted her teeth as she slowly pushed the ball into Reihu's chest and his scream got louder.

"Rhu, that's enough!" Riley called as she shoved Koto back and sent a stream of fire at him. It hit him square in the chest and he was sent flying backwards. "Rhu!" She yelled as she rushed over and smacked Rhuben's arm. She dropped Reihu and backed away as he fell to the ground, panting heavily. Crystal looked up before quickly forming a spear made of solid ice and throwing it so it struck Kotaro in the shoulder.

"Man," Koto muttered as he pulled Reihu's limp body up and off the ground. "You're going to pay for this, traitor!"

"I'll be waiting!" Rhuben growled as she cracked her knuckles. In a flash of light Koto, Kotaro, and Reihu were gone. "They always come at the wrong time."

"It's what they take pride in," Riley commented as she spit out a little bit of blood that was trickling out of the corner of her mouth.

"We better go, we're going to be late," Crystal said as she looked at her watch.

"Who cares about education right now? They know where we are!"

"Yes, but they can't be stupid enough to attack during school!" Crystal shot back.

"If you say so," Riley grumbled. Crystal knew she'd get an earful later but she dismissed Riley's tone before leading them back to their lockers.

-------

"So, what do you think of them?" Cleo asked before taking a sip of her strawberry smoothie. She looked across the table at Emma and Rikki as she waited for their answer. They took their time in drinking their juices before they put it down on the table.

"They're...kinda secretive," Rikki finally told her.

"Well aren't you the pot calling the kettle black," Cleo commented as Emma laughed a little bit. Rikki gave her a confused look as she let out a breath. "You said they were secretive, you aren't exactly an open book yourself. I mean, you never told us where you lived until a few months ago, you never told us that you had financial troubles when we were looking for that treasure, you never-"

"Ok, enough suggestions," Rikki said as she held up her hand to stop Cleo. "I get the point."

"Not everyone is open about themselves that fast, we should...just let them feel welcome and wait for them to talk to us if they want to," Emma suggested. They turned towards the entrance when they heard the beads being pushed aside and saw the three girls walk into the café. Emma waved them over and they made a beeline for their table. "Hey, how was your first day?"

"It was all right," Riley said with a shrug as she slid into the booth behind Cleo and leaned over the back of it. "It could have been better."

"What do you-" Emma started but her sentence got caught in her throat when a shadow fell across the table. They looked up only to be wrapped in uncomfortable silence when they saw Charlotte Watsford standing at their table. Her eyes were shifting back and forth at all of them as she tapped her fingers on her juice cup. "Hi...Charlotte," Emma said slowly.

"Hello girls," Charlotte said with a small smile. "Umm, how are you?"

"We'd be doing better if you weren't here," Rikki responded as she glared at Charlotte. Charlotte visibly flinched at the bite in Rikki's tone.

"I guess I deserve that," Charlotte muttered as she hung her head before looking at Cleo. "So, um, how...how's Lewis?" She asked nervously. Cleo locked eyes with her, she knew that Lewis was a touchy subject with her yet Charlotte always asked about him after the incident.

"He's doing well," Cleo said with a nod as more silence fell over the table. Rhuben and Riley exchanged confused glances as Charlotte looked at them.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I don't think we met. I'm Charlotte," she said as she held her hand right under Rhuben's nose.

She glared at it before looking at the red head. "Rhuben," she said as Charlotte dropped her hand. "That's Riley," she nodded at her twin. "And Crystal," she tilted her head in her cousin's direction.

"It's nice to meet you," Crystal said politely as she shook Charlotte's hand. Charlotte smiled a little before dropping her hand and looking around the table.

"So, what are you girls up to today?" She asked as if they were friends. She knew that Cleo, Rikki, and Emma were sore about what she had done and she was trying a lot to get them to forgive her, even going as far as to tell them that she had only did those things because the power got to her head and she just wanted to know how her deceased grandmother lived her life. It was of course a lie but they didn't have to know that. They didn't believe it so Charlotte tried numerous times to get them to trust her and listen to her. She really missed being a mermaid and hated that she was excluded from the 'club, was a normal girl again, and lost Lewis to Cleo.

"Just showing them around," Emma told Charlotte before taking a sip of her drink. "They moved here from Los Angeles."

"I imagine it's not that different. The sun, the sand, the ocean, it's all the same, right?" Charlotte asked, hoping to create some small talk.

"Well, we don't have to worry about being crushed to death by falling debris from earthquakes," Riley said with a shrug. "We traded that for being stung by jellyfish. I think it's a fair trade."

Emma and Cleo laughed a little as Rikki stayed silent. She didn't like the smirk that was on Riley's face but she didn't want to comment on it and sound like she didn't like Riley only because she was new at school. There was something about her air that Rikki didn't find settling and that was what had her tense.

"Umm, will you excuse us for a moment, I would like to talk to Rikki, Emma, and Cleo privately," Charlotte asked. Riley tilted her head slightly, a silent signal. Rhuben and Crystal got out of the booth that was behind Emma and Rikki before following Riley to the pool table.

"What is it?" Rikki demanded once the four were alone together.

"Umm, I just wanted to let you know that...I haven't told anyone about what happened," Charlotte responded. "And I won't. You can trust me with that."

"Somehow, I feel like we can't trust you," Rikki responded. "I mean, you did go crazy with your powers in the first place and you tried to take ours away."

"It's just that...my grandmother-" Charlotte started to explain.

"Your grandmother was responsible with her powers," Emma interrupted her in a low voice to make sure no one overheard her. "You weren't. You had to be the only mermaid. For what? Lewis's attention? You didn't deserve to be a mermaid and your powers were taken away because of that." She stared at Charlotte's face. "We're finished here."

Charlotte nodded before backing away from the table and rushing out of the Juicenet Café. Cleo played with the straw that was in her juice, trying not to feel guilty for treating Charlotte that way. In one sense she deserved it but in another...

"I think being a mermaid really brought out the rebel in Emma," Rikki said with a satisfied grin. "Normally I would be the one to say that to her." Emma smiled a little and shrugged before glancing towards the counter and waved to her boyfriend, Ash. Rikki noticed the look on her face and said with a sigh, "Go on." Almost automatically Emma jumped up from her seat and went over to Ash.

"What was that about?" Crystal asked when she, Riley, and Rhuben returned to the table.

"What was what about?" Cleo asked, feigning innocence as she looked over at Rikki who caught her eye.

"That thing with that Charlotte girl," Rhuben responded. "We could feel the hostility all the way over there." She nodded over at the pool table.

"Oh, we kind of had a falling out a few weeks ago," Rikki said with a wave of her hand.

"Yeah, nothing to worry about," Cleo agreed. "So, um, why were you guys late?"

"We were getting jobs," Riley admitted. "We needed something else to do while we were over here."

"Oh? What jobs did you get?" Rikki asked as she gave Cleo another look.

"Riley is going to be a surf teacher," Crystal spoke up when Riley and Rhuben stayed silent. "Rhuben's going to teach some dance classes, and I'm going to take pictures of some fish for a marine biology magazine." Cleo made a noise that was between a sound of amazement and a sound of shock as hers and Rikki's eyes widened. "What's the matter with you two?"

"Nothing, it's just...we haven't heard of a sixteen-year-old being a photographer for a marine biology magazine around here," Rikki quickly lied.

"I know, the guy said I was the youngest," Crystal said with a proud smile.

"Will you...excuse us for a minute?" Cleo asked before she and Rikki jumped up to rush over to Emma. They said something to her and she said something to Ash and the four of them went to the back room.

"They're hiding something," Riley said bluntly as she absentmindedly played with the red stone that hung around her neck.

"Did you notice that they all had on the same necklace, except the stones above them were different colors?" Rhuben asked.

"They could've gotten it at a store, what's so weird about that?" Crystal asked.

"I don't know," Rhuben admitted with a shrug. "But I know something is going on."

-----

"We can't trust her, Lewis," Cleo said as he paced around the living room of the Setori house. They had split up from Riley, Rhuben, and Crystal because they had to go start their jobs so Cleo, Rikki, and Emma agreed to meet at Cleo's house with Lewis, Ash, and Zane.

"She knows about our secret and she can tell anyone," Emma agreed.

"But who's going to believe that mermaids are real?" Ash questioned from his spot on the couch next to Emma.

"Dr. Denman," Lewis, Zane, Emma, Rikki, and Cleo responded in unison.

"Who?" Ash asked in confusion.

"Dr. Denman," Lewis repeated. "She was a marine biologist who found out about the girls mermaid powers and tried to get them to admit that they were mermaids so she could run tests on them. They tricked her and we haven't seen her since then but she could come back."

"She only found out about our powers because you had a crush on her and left Cleo's scale on her boat," Rikki accused.

"And I apologized for it," Lewis said in frustration. "She's gone; we don't have to worry about her."

"But you said yourself that she could come back," Zane pointed out.

"If she does we can distract her," Lewis told them. "Back to the topic at hand, Charlotte won't tell anyone."

"But how do you know?" Cleo demanded as she locked eyes with Lewis. She could hear the bitterness in her voice but he didn't know if it was because she knew about their secret or if it was because she had power over them that she didn't realize she had.

"Well...we're going to have to trust her," Lewis said in a small voice.

"Trust her!?" Rikki exclaimed as she jumped to her feet. "Lewis, she constantly put Cleo down, she stole you away from her, she got mermaid powers because she broke into Cleo's room, and she almost destroyed us. Now you're saying you want us to trust her!?"

"What other choice do we have?" Lewis asked with a shrug. "We can't wipe her memory or anything. And she seems really sorry for what she has done and-"

"But nothing's as it seems, Lewis," Emma spoke up. "She can easily expose us."

"What else can you do?" Lewis shot back. The girls stayed silent as they exchanged glances and let out a collective sigh. They didn't want to have to trust her but they knew that they didn't have any other choice. "The guys and I will keep an eye out for her, just to be sure," he said as he nodded at Ash and Zane who nodded back.

"Have you met those new girls?" Ash asked suddenly.

"Yeah, they are in our class at school," Cleo responded. "Why?"

"I'm just curious. They seemed to be tense and jumpy throughout the day. I met one of them, Crystal I think was her name, and she was really tense and kept looking over her shoulder as if something or someone was following her."

"She's just new, she's shy," Cleo suggested. "They all are."

"They seem kinda fishy to me," Rikki commented. She looked around the room with a face of annoyance when everyone aside from her burst out laughing. "What?"

-----

Charlotte angrily slammed the door to her bedroom shut as she bit her lip to keep herself from crying. It wasn't fair! She was being treated like dirt while the new girls were being welcomed into their group with open arms.

She hated that she was excluded and treated like she didn't exist anymore. Even Lewis wouldn't give her the time of day anymore. What was it that Cleo had that Charlotte didn't? It dawned on Charlotte and hurt her heart like she had been stabbed with a hot blade.

She still believed that she was the only one who had the right to be a mermaid; she was the only one who was a descended of the original. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair! Charlotte longed to get her mermaid powers back but she knew that she couldn't with Cleo and her friends going to the moon pool all of the time. She had to find another way there to get her powers back, to feel like she belonged somewhere.

And those new girls? Riley, Rhuben, and Crystal. Charlotte felt that there was something odd about them when she first saw them arrive at the school. She didn't go and speak to them because she was intimidated by them for a reason she couldn't put her finger on. In class they became the center of attention which really got on Charlotte's nerves. No one paid attention to her when she first got to the school but when the Jacksons and that Manning girl came it was like they were celebrities.

"I think I heard something about their name before," Charlotte muttered to herself as she opened her laptop. Once it was on all the way she clicked on a link she saved. She had a folder with links to articles about the Gold Coast of Australia so she knew about it when they first moved there. She remembered reading something about a fire that happened seven years ago and the name of Jackson was used a lot, but it was a common last name.

Charlotte clicked on link after link, trying to find out if there was a connection to their name. A couple of the papers had the name Jackson in it and commented on how they had two daughters that were twins. Charlotte knew the story was connected to the new students but what piqued her interest was the fact that it kept saying something along the lines of the fire being started intentionally inside the house. She clicked on one more link and read through the whole document, her eyes widening with each sentence she read. A young girl had been accused of setting fire to her house and that was what made them move in the first place.

The accused girl was Riley.