Ladies Night
Mao Mao and Badgerclops had been playing Doorbell Danglers for several hours when Minori and Violet returned from patrol. The two friends had been in the middle of their umpteenth round of play when the legendary heroes walked in.
Mao Mao was mashing the button as hard and fast as he could, but despite his efforts, he's never been able to beat Badgerclops. The man in the game popped his head out of the door, on Badgerclops' half of the screen.
"Gah, this isn't fair." Mao Mao threw his hands up. "Your robot arm puts you at an advantage!"
"Your just jealous," Badgerclops stated, confidence brimming from his smug expression.
"Badgerclops, do you remember when I had your arm for a day?" Mao Mao asked rhetorically. "Trust me, I'm not jealous."
"Psh," Badgerclops waved away the comment. "Wanna go another round?"
"Always!" Mao Mao replied, getting back into gaming position.
The duo began to mash away at the buttons once more. Suddenly, the front door was thrown open, slamming against the mechanism the prevented it from sliding further than it needed to. Turning their heads, Mao Mao and Badgerclops were found at a loss.
Minori and Violet both donned looks of annoyance. Their clothes were covered in onyx black soot. Letting out a single cough, a puff of smoke escaped Minori's mouth.
"What happened to you guys?" Badgerclops asked.
"Today's monster was a fire breather." Violet informed them, pulling off her hat and rubbing the soot off, revealing its brilliant golden gleam once more.
"Wow, you guys okay?" Badgerclops placed his controller on the coffee table.
"Nothing we couldn't handle," Minori responded, pumping out her chest.
Violet produced a new change of clothes for each of the Mao sisters from her hat. "Do you have a place for us to change?"
Badgerclops pointed to his and Mao Mao's bedroom. "There's a bathroom in there." The two made their way to the bathroom. Once the door was shut behind them, Badgerclops turned to Mao Mao and asked him, "so... why do your sisters not like each other?"
Taken aback, Mao Mao glanced over at Badgerclops. "I'm gonna regret asking this," Mao Mao muttered to himself, "why do you want to know?"
"Cause, it seems like your sisters are moments away from killing each other, and I wanna know if I need to reinforce the house," replied Badgerclops.
Mao Mao raised an eyebrow, coaxing the truth from his best friend.
"Yeah, okay, fine, you got me. I just wanna gossip."
"Well, you're wasting your time. I don't know."
"Come on~, tell me," begged Badgerclops.
"Tell you what?" Minori asked as she stepped out from Mao Mao and Badgerclops' bedroom.
"Uhh," Mao Mao had less than a second to come up with something. He started to speak slowly, "what cheat codes I used to beat him just now."
"Yeah," affirmed Badgerclops, leaning against Mao Mao. "Tell me which ones you used, buddy."
"And I'm telling you, I didn't use any!"
Before the duo's charade could go any further, the front door opened once more. This time, it was Tanya and Adorabat who walked through the front entrance.
Looking between the three Mao's and the cybernetic badger, Tanya could guess that that they had just walked into the middle of something. "Are we... interrupting something?"
"No, no no," Mao Mao beckoned the two to come in. "We were just having a heated debate is all."
"What about?" Adorabat asked as she landed on the couch's armrest.
"Doesn't matter." Mao Mao stated quickly. "Did you have a good day at school?"
"It was okay, I guess," Adorabat held her wings behind her back, looking up at Mao Mao with a tilted head. "But Tanya, was so cool! I was getting chased by these bullies, and Tanya chased them off, it was absolutely incredible!"
"Woah, woah, woah!" Badgerclops intervened. "Adorabat, did you just say you were getting bullied?"
"Give me some names, and I'll go have a talking with them and their parents, in their homes, in the dead of night." Mao Mao murmured the last part under his breath.
"It's fine Mittens," interjected Tanya. "I already took care of it."
"What'd did you do?" Mao Mao asked, narrowing his eyes at the bounty hunter.
"I just scarred them a little is all," implied Tanya, setting herself on the couch next to Mao Mao.
"You didn't hurt them did you?"
"No~," replied Tanya. "Well, not physically anyway."
"Ugh, you didn't do the 'nightmare beast' did you?" Mao Mao asked, rubbing his temples.
"Hey, it worked," said Tanya putting her arms behind her head.
"What's the 'nightmare beast'?" Violet asked out of curiosity.
"It's this bluff she does sometimes when she's not in the mood for fighting. She'll feed you some line involving a terrible beast, and use her powers to make the beast come to life."
"Well when you say it like that, it sounds crude." Tanya said, feigning that she was insulted.
"It's deceptive, and underhanded," growled Mao Mao.
"Like you've never done anything underhanded," retorted Tanya.
Opening his mouth to respond, Mao Mao's words got caught in his throat. Looking over to his sisters, he remembered using underhanded tactics to best Minori in their sparring match. He had no room to talk, which annoyed him almost as much as the look Tanya was giving him when she saw him speechless.
"Hey, Adorabat," breaking the silence, Badgerclops moved off of the couch, making his way to the kitchen. "How about we work on that thing."
Adorabat stared on, tilting her head at the cybernetic badger. A moment passed, and her eyes widened in realization. "Oh, yeah! Let's do that thing!" Adorabat hopped off the armrest, flapping after her friend.
"Thing?" Mao Mao said curiously. He looked over to Tanya, who didn't seem interested.
"I don't know what they're talking about, if that's what your wondering," shrugged Tanya, dismissing Mao Mao's silent claims. "Can you pass me the remote?"
Rolling his eyes, Mao Mao gets up from the couch, moving to the dojo to practice with Geraldine, and work out his arm while he's at it.
Tanya leaned over and plucked the remote from the coffee table. "Your no fun."
The day went as quickly as it came. The sky was now a vibrant purple, as the sun hid behind the Pure Heart Spire. The spire's shadow eclipsed the village, wrapping it in the umbra of the shadow. The village's lights lit up, one after the other, making it almost resemble a starry night sky, before the sun had even fully set.
Tanya stood next to the front door of Sheriff HQ, waiting patiently for the Mao sisters to wrap up whatever they were up to in Badgerclops' workshop. Adorabat flew out from the kitchen, perching herself on Tanya's shoulder.
"Can I come with you?" Adorabat asked.
"Mmm~, I don't know," said Tanya, feigning concern as she rubbed her chin. "Me and Mittens' sisters are going to be out late, and don't you have school tomorrow?"
"Please? I wanna come with you~!" Adorabat's wide eyes, seemingly got wider, as she gave Tanya a sad-puppy-dog-sort-of-face.
Tanya gave up, admitting defeat to the five year old child on her shoulder. "Okay, but if I hear a yawn, I'm taking you back to get you to bed."
"Okay!" Adorabat half-screamed, excited to spend the night with Tanya, Minori, and Violet.
"Oh?" A hidden voice spoke up. Tanya and Adorabat turned to the stairs, seeing Minori and Violet poke their heads pop up from behind the banister. "You coming with us AB?"
"Yeah!" Adorabat confirmed, flying over to perch herself on Minori's head. "Where are we going?"
"You wanted to come, but you don't even know what we're doing?" Minori asked, attempting to look up at the child without tilting her head back. "I like your style."
Violet, slightly annoyed with Minori's statement, answered Adorabat's question. "We're heading down to the village to acquire formal wear for the event next week."
"Event?"
"She means the party, AB." Minori explained to Adorabat.
"Oh~, why didn't she just say so?" Adorabat asked innocently. Violet seemed almost annoyed at the child's question.
"That's just how she talks," replied Minori. "It annoys me too."
"Are we prepared to part?" Asked Violet.
"Yeah, let's go," opening the door, Tanya stepped to the side, letting the others walk through before her. Out in the front yard, was Tanya's golden Aerotruck, which she had fetched from Badgerclops' workshop earlier.
Violet immediately took up her usual spot of sitting in the back, whereas Minori bolted for the front of the truck, shouting "Shotgun!"
Setting herself into the passenger seat, Minori pulled Adorabat off her head, and placed the child into her lap. Pulling herself into the Aerotruck, Tanya began flipping switches and pushing buttons before the engine roared to life.
"Alright, hold on to your tails!" Tanya shouted over the engine. Slamming her foot on the pedal, the Aerotruck shot forward. While Minori and Adorabat were pulled by the sudden lurch, Violet wasn't supported in any way, so she was thrown to the floor of the truck. Catching sight of Violet getting tossed in the rear view mirror, Tanya felt a tug at the corner of her lips.
In no time at all, the quartet of women flew into town, the tires of the Aerotruck skidding along the cobblestone. As the truck came to a halt, the vehicle tipped slightly, going up on two wheels. The moment the remaining wheels touched down, Minori wasted no time in hopping out of the Aerotruck.
"Woo! That was awesome!" Minori threw her hands up. "Let's do that again!"
Violet grabbed at the wall of the cargo bed, pulling herself off of the floor, her face looking unusually green. "Let's not."
Tanya hopped out of the truck. "Got a weak stomach?"
"I... don't have to answer... you," retorted Violet, clamping her mouth shut at certain intervals.
"Come on!" Minori bolted down the road, Adorabat close on her heels. "Let's get this night underway!"
Violet pulled herself over, stabling herself as her feet touched the cool cobblestone. Tanya stayed next to her, just in case. Once Violet's stomach stopped turning, she let go of Tanya's Aerotruck, taking a steady step.
"Holding up?" Tanya asked sarcastically.
Ignoring the Bounty Hunter's jab, Violet began to set a steady pace for herself. The group walked through the village, coming up to a clothing shop.
It was a classy establishment; a brick building with glass doors, the display windows had faceless mannequins wearing dresses and tuxedos, and Sweetypies, in preparation of the Sheriff Appreciation Party, were walking out of the shop with bags of clothing.
"This looks like the place," placing her fists on her hips, Minori looked the shop over. "Okay, we came, we saw, I say we call it a night."
As Minori spun on the ball of her foot, Violet's arm shot out, grabbing the collar of her sister's gi. "We're doing this, whether you like it or not."
Silently harrumphing to herself, Minori crossed her arms as Violet pulled her inside, the martial artists heels being dragged across the cobblestone and into the store. Tanya and Adorabat followed the two heroes in.
The inside of the store was almost blindingly bright, in contrast to the darkening night sky outside. Adorabat flew about the store, seeing everything from her vantage point.
"Anything I can help you with?"
Tanya was approached by an athletic horse Sweetypie. What was her name, Marion?
"Yes, we just came to get some dresses for the upcoming party," answered Tanya.
"I see, well if you'll follow me, I'll take you to where we have a number of fine dresses." Marion began walking towards the back.
The group followed the Sweetypie, navigating between the mannequins and shelves that towered over their heads. Looking back, Tanya saw Violet glancing about the store, as if she expected someone to pop out from nowhere. Adorabat, perched on Minori's shoulder, couldn't seem to settle on any one thing to look at, her large eyes struggling to take it all in. Minori, on the other hand, was hunched over, grumbling to herself. What was her issue with getting some new clothes?
The five turned the corner, coming to a little alcove where rows and rows of dresses hung off hanger caddies.
Marion turned to the four young ladies. "Alright, you let me know if you find something, and I'll come fit it for you."
As soon as Marion was out of earshot, Tanya turned back to group. "Anything stand out to you all?"
"No," blurted Minori, not even letting half a second pass by. Violet glared from underneath her hat at her kid sister, silently scolding her.
"I like this one!" Adorabat pointed to a pink frilly dress with a bow that wrapped around the midriff and tied in the back.
"I think it'll look good on ya, kiddo," Tanya said, pulling the dress of the rack, holding out next to Adorabat for a size comparison.
Minori rolled her eyes, looking anywhere, except at the dresses in the alcove. This was a waste of time. Why couldn't they go in their casual wear? It was the norm at Mao family events, where the outfits ranged from suits of armor, to a hoodie that Minori saw one of their many family members wear.
"What are you gonna wear, Violet?" Adorabat asked, looking over at the warrior. Combing through each of the dresses that hung off the rack, Violet dismissed each one without a second glance.
Stepping back from the rack, Violet dipped her head down in defeat. "I don't believe any of these are for me."
"Oh, come on!" Tanya half yelled. What is with these sisters in wearing dresses? "You never even tried them on!"
"I'm aware, it's just that...," hesitating, Violet averted her gaze, heating rising up in her cheeks. "They don't go with my hat."
Tanya did a double take. "Excuse me, what?"
"We try to keep our weapons with us at all times," answered Minori with a bored tone. "Even during events."
"Well, that's stupid," said Tanya brazenly, crossing her arms. Grabbing as many dresses as her arms could hold, Tanya took Violet's wrist, dragging her to the changing room.
"What are you doing?" Violet asked, giving Tanya no resistance as the bounty hunter pulled her along.
"Finding you a dress, obviously."
Minori watched as the two rounded the corner. Left alone with Adorabat, she slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor.
"Minori?"
Minori looked back at Adorabat, who had sat herself next to her. "Yeah, AB?"
Adorabat averted her gaze as she fiddled with her wings. "Are you... not enjoying this? Spending time with us?"
When Adorabat's words clicked in her head, Minori's eyes widened, as she nearly shot off the floor. "Adorabat, no! No, I love hanging out with you, I mean you're practically an agent of chaos (which I love)! Not to mention Tanya, she's the most badass women I've ever met."
"Then how come you're all grumpy?" Adorabat's words stabbed Minori in the heart. The thought that Adorabat would even think these kind of things alone was heart wrenching.
"I-I... I don't exactly have the best history... with formal events. It sounds stupid when I say it out loud."
"Well I don't think it's stupid." Adorabat leaned herself against Minori.
Minori looked into the child's eyes, feeling a crushing guilt from the expectations behind them. Minori heaved a sigh, pulling herself off the floor. "Alright, let's get me something to wear.
Tanya seated herself outside the changing room, waiting for Violet to change from her hero clothes into an assortment of dresses. So far, Violet had tried on three dresses, which now rested in a pile next to Tanya, and each one clashed with the Mao woman's hat.
Rustling could be heard from the other side of the door, followed by a zip from Violet as she finished putting on the dress. When the door finally swung open, Violet came out wearing a plain dress. The thought behind this one was that with the other dresses it was like wearing two different patterns. So Tanya had grabbed the dress thinking that it wouldn't clash with the hat; it didn't, but it didn't really suit the vibe that Violet had associated herself with.
"Well?" Violet held her hands out to either side, giving Tanya a slow turn. "Is it good?"
"It's fine, but maybe try another one?" Tanya clenched her jaw, causing the words to come out strained.
Letting out a sigh, Violet went back into the changing room, leaving Tanya to wait once more. Minutes pass by, and Tanya sees movement out of the corner of her eye. Looking over to see what was moving, Tanya's eyes widened slightly.
As Minori and Adorabat waltzed over to the changing stalls, Tanya took notice that Minori had finally picked something out; an orange tuxedo, with a black bow tie.
"You know, I think that look suits you," said Tanya as she took in the sight.
"Right?" Minori said as if it was obvious. "I think it's definitely me."
Violet walked out wearing her normal clothes, immediately catching sight of Minori's new suit. Giving it a good look over, Violet donned a slight smile. "Looks good."
"What happened?" Tanya motioned to how Violet was back in her normal wear. "You still got a few dresses left."
"I'm done, this isn't working."
"Okay, but before you walk out," said Tanya, pulling out a leaf. "Let me try something." Tanya pressed the leaf into Tanya's hand.
"What do you want me to do with this?" Violet held up the leaf to examine it; it appeared to be an ordinary leaf off of some random tree.
Tanya motioned back to the changing stall. Rolling her eyes, Violet went back to the stall. As soon as the door closed, Tanya willed the leaf to change. Smoke exploded from the stall. The door was thrown back open, slamming against the wall. Stumbling out from the from stall, Violet wore a dress that wasn't originally from the pile on the floor.
Violet, who was coughing from the sudden explosion of smoke, now wore a purple cheongsam, with a gold sakura flower pattern. Tanya's eyes widened a bit, she remembered that this kind of dress was popular in her hometown when she was a kid, but she wasn't expecting Violet to look so... refined.
Minor pulled out her cape and started fanning at the smoke. Once it was cleared, she took notice of Violet's new dress. "Wow, Violet. You look... wow."
Tanya shook her head, snapping herself out of her trance. "Y-yeah, you look great."
"You think so?" Violet's tail, which had previously been hidden by her hakama, raised itself, broadcasting that she was overjoyed by the compliments. It didn't take long for Violet to notice where Tanya was looking; she grabbed her tail and pulled it down. "How about you Tanya? What will you be wearing?"
"Oh, I've already got a dress."
"What?" Minori barked. "If you already had a dress, then why did you say you were going to looking for one?"
"Window shopping. I just wanted to see if there were any nice dresses," said Tanya, as if it was obvious. "I can always use my leaves to make a copy for myself."
"Is that not stealing?" Violet asked, while she stood in front of a body length mirror, examining her new look.
"That a perspective argument," pointed out Tanya. "You say I'm using the brand's dress without paying for it, I say I'm paying by giving them free publicity; in the end it's a win-win."
"At some point, you and I will have to sit down and have a chat about how you do things," said Violet flatly.
"Another time." Tanya jumped up from the bench, making her way to the front desk. "I believe it's time we get out of here."
The group gathered up their clothes and the dresses (and suit) they'll be wearing to the party, and made their way to the checkout. Once everything was paid for, the group began walking their way back to Tanya's Aerotruck.
"This was fun," Minori said, swinging the bag that held her suit. "We should do this again!"
"Agreed," said Violet. "Though hopefully, it won't be all about getting dresses."
"Yeah, sorry about that," Tanya apologized. "I wanted to head to a bar or something, but we spent more time than I anticipated in there."
"Nah, it fine," Minori said. "But seriously, we should really do this again."
"Yeah, can we Tanya?"
"Of course." Tanya wasn't going to fight the child. Besides, how wild could a ladies night get?
"Oh, BC and I are planning to make everyone's favorite food tomorrow." Minori informed the group. "What do you all like?"
"I fancy a 12oz steak." Tanya told her.
Adorabat screamed her answer. "Bugs!"
"You already know what I want."
"Seriously?" Minori acted as if Violet said she still believed in Santa Claus. "You're still on that diet? Okay, fine."