Helena smirked. "Yeah. Especially when you killed all those demons back at the base. You still owe me that dress, by the way."

She looked back at the mirror, stuck out the curve of her hip. It wasn't that bad after all. "Anyway, let me get changed."

"Alright. When you're done, we need to go pick out something for Ileyna," Alasea said, stepping out of the booth. "Hopefully the boys will be done by then."

Matt also wanted to leave quickly - he already picked a pair of shorts colored deep blue with some cheap sandals to match. From there it was a matter of waiting for everyone to finish. And he knew how long THAT would take. When all was said and paid for, they hitched another wagon. An extra slip of cash and this wagon sped up, charging down the dusty streets to meet up with Speedy, Guido, and this so-called Lucille.

They stopped in front of a large house with a straw roof and a sign hanging above the door in the shape of a teacup. In front of the house stood Speedy and Guido, currently trying to outdo each other in front of a lady with curved horns. That had to be Lucille. Matt guessed she was...pretty in their terms? Hey, he wasn't really a judge of quality in this kind of place.



"Hey!" Polly snapped at Speedy and Guido. "Stop fighting for a moment and come on. We're going right now."

Speedy broke out of the headlock Guido had snagged him in. "But what about my trunks? I can't go swimming without my trunks!"

"I got them right here!" Polly said, lifting one of the bags she had packed. "I figured you'd forget all about them."

Guido smirked. "Did you remember to bring his floaties?" His smile vanished just as soon as Speedy tackled him, and the two cats wrestled around in the dirt in front of Lucille, who was visibly growing distressed.

"Oh, please don't fight!" she cried. "You'll...you'll ruin the atmosphere!" Panels unfolded on her hairdo and sides of her dress, revealing rows and rows of...missiles?!

"HIT THE DIRT!" Francine shouted, diving under the wagon as every single missile fired with a high-pitched whine, littering the surrounding area with explosions.

Wind suddenly kicked up around Alasea, ruffling at their clothes as it picked up in intensity. Soon, the missiles fired were being directed into the air, where they exploded harmlessly.

She lowered her arm and let go of the flows of her power before sighing once. R.D. looked over at Matt and said, "I'm not so sure if this trip's going to be such a good idea now."

Matt glanced over at Speedy and Guido, covering their heads and cowering from Lucille's unexpected attack. "Well, uh...I'm sure it was just a fluke."

"I'm so sorry!" Lucille said, clenching her hands together. "Are you okay?"

Hugo pointed at her with his pickaxe while shooting a glance at Polly. "If she going to be trouble? How often does she do that?"

"Oh, not much," Polly said. A quick pull and Francine practically flew out from underneath the wagon. "Just whenever it makes things funnier."

Speedy chanced opening his eyes, and soon as he saw the coast was clear, he darted over to Lucille again and took her hand. "By the way, Lucille, we're all heading out to the beach. You want to come with us?"

"Hmmmm," Lucille hmmmmed. "Well, I should be minding the tea house...but I haven't slacked off in a while, so I'm game."

"Perfect!" Speedy said. He pulled her over to the wagon. "Aw, it's gonna be great, Lucille! We can walk along the shoreline, and we can swim, and then we can build sandcastles, and-"

Speedy's list of wholesome beach activities was cut off by Guido's hand rudely slapping over the other cat's mouth. "I think Lucille would much prefer something more mature than silly childish things like that. Maybe a nice tan. I'm a master at using sunscreen, so maybe I can help you out."

"Guys?" Matt suddenly asked, drawing the cats' attention. "Cut it out."

Planting a hand on her hip, Alasea shifted her weight to one leg while standing next to Helena. She sighed in disappointed. "Looks like it doesn't matter what species you are," she said to the other teenager. "Guys are still the same."

"Not me," Matt shot back. "I've got three stomaches."

"Come ON, let's go," Polly cut in. "Lucille, go get ready, but be quick about it."

Quick was certainly the key - Lucille popped back into the tea house and almost immediately stepped back out in informal day wear, with a shirt concealing her swimsuit except for an obvious shoulder strap. (How she managed to change so quickly, Matt had NO idea.) All of them piled into the increasingly-cramped wagon and headed off towards the beach, taking a good twenty minutes of discomfort until they arrived.

"We're taking the car back," Matt said as everyone piled out, Hugo held carefully in his hands.

"Good idea," the Mettaur said.

"Won't hear any complaints from me," R.D. said, helping Ileyna out of the wagon.

"Says the guy who can ride back on his own bike," Alasea remarked wryly. She made sure they had everything in their packs.

"Let's go find a changing booth, girls," she said. "Hugo, make sure the guys stay out of trouble, okay?"

And with that, she led the girls off to go get changed.

"I'm gonna go slap these on," Matt said to R.D., refering to the shorts and sandals he just bought. "Find a place to park our stuff, would you?"

"Right," R.D. said, scooping up their bags. "Don't take too long."

"I'm changing clothes. It's not a project." Matt turned towards Speedy and Guido. "Now, show me where the booths are. BOTH of you. I don't need you fighting over that girl and hampering my clothing needs."

"Fine, fine," Guido said. "Come on, it's not far."

As Matt and the male cats walked to the east, Hugo looked up at R.D.. "There's a clear spot over there. Come on."

"That looks fine," R.D. said, starting forward. Didn't take him long to reach it; most of the people quickly cleared out of his way, much to his irritation.

As R.D. laid down the towel and set down their bags, Hugo settled on the edge and deployed his solar panels to recharge his batteries.

"Keep an eye on things," R.D. said, grabbing his satchel. "I'm gonna go get changed, and see if those cats are holding Matt up."

"All right."

After R.D. had left, Matt and the cats left the changing booths on their own accord and located Hugo. For this beach-y adventure, Matt stuck with one of his many black T-shirts against his new shorts and cheap sandals. Meanwhile, Guido and Speedy stuck with their bare chests. Disconcerting, actually, He could see even more of their strange, mannequin-like joints that way. Best not to stare, yes, but he'd be damned if it wasn't freaky.

"R.D. went to change clothes," Hugo said as soon as Matt walked up. "The girls are still holed up."

"Women!" Matt declared dramatically. "Anyway, slap me some sunscreen, I don't feel like burning today."

Within a few minutes, R.D. returned, attired in a dark red and black pair of swim trunks, and a sleeveless white shirt that he felt would be best, considering the state of his body from a couple of weeks ago--only a hint of the jagged scar given to him by Dragon Drive FINAL could be seen near the collar.

"The girls aren't back yet?" R.D. said, walking up to them. He did his best to ignore Speedy and Guido's unusual body frame. "What's taking them so long?"

"Oh come on, R.D.," a voice quickly called out from the side. "We didn't take that long."

R.D. looked over his shoulder again, before quickly turning around to look at the girls fully. Alasea stood next to Helena, clad in only a bikini in various shades of dark blue, the bottoms' strings tied together along her hips. Her hair was tied up into a frayed bun with a red ribbon. Simple sandals adorned her feet, and a couple of colored bracelets hung on her right wrist. It contrasted sharply with the orange number Helena wore, and the differing design made it seem even skimpier than it already was.

Beside and slightly behind the two teen girls, Ileyna stood, wearing a simple white one-piece with yellow-gold frills along its shoulder straps and hips. Once more, she lacked her beret, and seemed uncomfortable with its absence.

"Well guys?" Alasea continued. "What do you think?"

Edited by RisingDragon on January 18, 2010 at 21:25:33.

"Well, gee," Matt remarked, glancing at R.D. while sliding greasy sunscreen on his calves. "How am I gonna say this without coming off as sexist?"

As expected, Guido swooped in to take Lucille's hand. "My my," he remarked, eyeing her soft pink one-piece with that kind of gaze Matt knew was looking for something in particular. "As always, you are radiant enough to outdo any sunny day the beach can throw your way. What's say we take a quick dip, out where it's not so crowded?"

Before Speedy could intervene, Matt jabbed his finger at Guido. "Hey, back away from me before you start that again. I don't feel like almost getting nuked with missiles again."

"It's great exercise, though," Lucille said. "The Little Tokyo Times interviewed me once, and for a whole week I had people come in from all around trying to lose those last ten pounds by running for their life."

"And I thought living on my world was bad," Alasea joked, walking past R.D., who still couldn't seem to be able to form words. "Pass me some of that, will you?" she asked of Matt after sitting down on the towels.

Matt pushed the cap down on the suntan lotion and tossed it at Alasea. He then glanced in Helena's direction. She looked lost. And really, when she looked like that, who could blame her? Did she really have to stay like that while wearing that swimsuit?

Might as well get her to take her mind off things. "Hey, Helena!" Matt said. "Bet I can beat you to the water."

Helena smiled. "Are you going to cheat?"

"No. Are you?"

"I'll hold it back," she said. Matt moved in place next to her and they scoped out a path ahead, swerving around tanning animals and red umbrellas towards their goal. "Ready? When I say go." They bent down in preparation. "3...2...1...go!"

The two bolted towards the water, Helena laughing all the way.

Alasea giggled at the sight of the two running off towards the ocean as she popped open the cap and squirted some lotion into her hand. "I'm glad he's taking her mind off of things," she commented before spreading the lotion over her arms.

"Yeah," R.D. said, finally sitting down. Ileyna followed suit. "Its better that they're getting along more."

"They fight often?"

"Not exactly fighting all the time," R.D. said, leaning back on his arms. "But she doesn't put up with nearly as much of his antics as she used to."

Edited by RisingDragon on January 19, 2010 at 1:53:27.

Speedy wrapped his arm around Lucille's elbow. "Come on, Lucille! Let's go swimming!"

Guido took Lucille's other arm. "Yes, let's go swimming."

Lucille glanced at one, then the other. "Well, I was thinking about getting that tan I was-"

"No, I insist," Guido and Speedy growled, staring at each other with determined fury.

Lucille looked over her shoulder as the male cats dragged her towards the water. "Guess I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place...well, I'll see you in a bit!"

Polly folded her arms and glowered, along with Francine who adopted the same expression. Both wore bikinis as well, though Francine's sported a frilly green skirt. "Boys! They'll never learn to leave well enough alone."

"You're telling me!" Francine said. "Who needs 'em, anyway?"

"Robots can be just as bad," Hugo said. His extended solar panels shone brilliantly, absorbing the sun's rays. "You should see the ones I live with. Bunch of troublemakers sometimes."

"Really?" Alasea asked, beginning to lather sunscreen onto her legs. "What's it like?" She didn't know much about Hugo. He rarely ever talked about his life before joining up with Matt.

"Ice Man and Cut Man are always fighting over their video games," Hugo said. "Bomb Man keeps asking me stupid questions and getting into arguments with Fire Man. Elec Man always acts pissy. And somehow Dr. Light tolerates it. It's ridiculous. Only reason I hang out with Roll so much is because she's normal. She and Rock, I mean."

"So you and Guts Man don't have a problem with each other," R.D. mused. Well, at least there were others in his family that he could stand.

"Mmn. Here, R.D.," Alasea suddenly said, tossing him the bottle of suntan lotion. He caught it quickly, and looked back at the girl with a peculiar expression.

"I can't reach my back," she said as she laid down on her stomach and untied the strings of her top. "Mind if you rub some in for me?"

R.D. now regarded the bottle in his hands like one would a poisonous viper. You've got to be kidding me, he thought as he flipped open the bottle, not catching Alasea's grin as she turned her head to the side. "Come on, R.D.," she said cheerfully. "We don't have all day."

"Right, right."

Edited by RisingDragon on January 19, 2010 at 19:58:13.

Polly and Francine exchanged glances with Hugo. Polly couldn't resist part of a grin creeping on her face. "Well, we'll be going along the shore if you need us," she said. "See you later."

"Have fun, you two," Francince said, twiddling her fingers in a wave, like a taunt. Hugo turned back to face the ocean as the two female cats walked off.

R.D.'s head snapped over as the two cats suddenly retreated. "W-wha?"

Ileyna giggled at R.D.'s misfortune, and the boy sighed before turning back around, moving over to sit alongside Alasea. He squirted a bit of lotion onto his hands before going to rub it into Alasea's back.

The girl shifted a back, stretching her legs a little as he did so. "Thanks," she said as he began.

Meanwhile, Helena was trying to teach Matt how to float. And hell, it was amazingly hard for no reason at all. She just told him to hold a bunch of air in his lungs, then just trust it to keep him afloat. Which, of course, didn't work, since he'd started to fall below water level every time he'd try.

"You got it yet?" Helena asked as she floated by. Somehow her tucked-in wings weren't weighing her down.

"You think you're SO COOL!" Matt said, shaking his fist. "With your floatin' and junk. I'll show you. I'll digitize everything!"

"Hey!" Speedy's voice rang out, and Matt turned around, swishing his legs to try and stay afloat while the male cats and Lucille swam over to him. "Check out what we found! Guido tripped all over it while we were making fun of some fish, but thankfully he didn't break it!" His hand broke the surface of the water, fingers clenched around a glistening cyan diamond.

"A Chaos Emerald?!" Matt gasped, snatching the precious jewel. What the hell was a Chaos Emerald doing here?

"I'm guessing you already know what kind of plot device we're dealing with here," Guido said.

"That's for sure. R.D.'s got a bunch of these. Thanks for finding it - lemme go give it to him!" He broke into his admittedly crappy swim, struggling towards the store. "I'll be back, Helena!"

Back at the towel, Hugo blinked as he focused on something in the distance. "Matt's coming this way," he reported. A squint. "...he's got a crystal in his hand."

"A crystal?" Alasea asked, looking up a bit. R.D. stopped his actions and also looked up.

He stood up while wiping the lotion from his hands. "I'll go see what's going on," he said, making his way down to the surf to meet up with him. Both girls watched him walk away, and then Alasea suddenly sighed.

"Way to go, Matt," she muttered. Ileyna patted her on the back sympathetically.

Matt hated running in sand - always got caught up in it, slowing down his momentum. At least it didn't take long for R.D. to meet him halfway. "Hey, Guido stepped on this while he was swimming," Matt said, holding up the emerald. "I figured you'd be looking for it."

R.D. blinked in surprise when he saw what exactly the crystal Matt was holding was. He reached out and took it from him, turning it over and over in his hand. "A Chaos Emerald?" he said. "That's two that we've found in different dimensions now."

He tossed the glittering gemstone in his hand several times, letting the light catch it and refract brilliantly in its depths as he contemplated for a second. He made a quick count in his head, and then stopped his motions, freezing. "That makes six Emeralds in my possession," he said. "Six out of the seven that Ondal said exists."