[Fallen_Snow]

"STARBURSTS, ASSEMBLE!"

Longshot leaped across the manicured Terrace Park lawn, two of his friends, Reverb and Woody, following close behind. Holding his cape out at his sides, he smiled as the wind caught under it and threw it up behind him. He loved his yellow cape dearly, almost as much as he loved being a superhero.

Reverb played with a blue and silver cuff on her wrist, making faces as she tried to loosen it. She had been working on the invention earlier, but she had put it on too tightly in her rush to get out the door to meet up with Pamona, Minty and Jeremiah. Sticking out her tongue as she usually did, she dug her nails down under the bracelet rim, trying to pry it off her wrist while running. And, as she had figured, it wasn't a very good idea, because just as the bracelet broke free of her wrist, so did her body with gravity. She went up, and came down. Hard.

"Ack! Reev--you okay?" asked Woody, who halted quickly, fingering the jumprope looped around her special new belt hook that Snowy had given her. Longshot stopped too, dropping his cape and going back to help his friend. "Need a band-aid?" he asked, shoving a small hand into his jean pocket and pulling out a slightly folded piece of paper. Standing up with the help of her friends, Reverb looked at the scratched knee in question and gladly took the band-aid, wiping the dirt and grass off the cut with her thumb. "Thanks, Longshot." she said, sticking the bright yellow bandage over her injury. "I hope it doesn't come off from all the water." she said, restarting their walk towards the Water Fight Competition, albeit a bit slower. Longshot and Woody picked up her pace and walked in time with each other.

"Oh, don't worry--if anyone's gettin' wet, it's the others!" said Woody gleefully, tipping her hat forward. "We'll extreminate the varmints before they even get a chance to soak us down!" she said with her faked Western accent. Longshot made a fist out of his left hand and punched his right. "Yeah! All those other teams are goin' DOWWWNNNNNNNN! 'Cause we're--!"

"THE STARBURSTS!"

"Yeah! Now where are we meeting the others?"

[Freezair]

((Before I begin, I thought y'all might like to see a video of the game that inspired me to come up with this idea. Shiny! That level he's playing looks so much like I imagine Terrance Park to look, it made me want to do a water fight RP. XD))



"STARBURSTS, HO!" Minty pumped the air with her fist, her mind already pumped as it could be. Her purple cape trailed out behind her, as did her new pony tail. She'd grown her hair a little longer than usual recently. She marched forward with her hands on her cape, and two of her friends, Jeremiah and Pomona, trailing behind.

Jeremiah was making strange crinkling noises as he walked, and his shirt looked bizarrely puffy. He was stumbling along with a rubber raincoat stuffed under his clothing--he'd looked up the rules, and while it said no raincoats were allowed above the shirts, they didn't say anything about below. In truth, he was worried about shocking people--he wasn't trying to get wet, just trying to prevent his electrically-charged hands from zapping people. Of course, he admitted, his zaps were about as strong as the one you'd get touching a doorknob in winter. Still...


Pomona, on the other hand, was toting along lots of little vials of colored dye. The rules didn't say anything about making sure their shots hit! With colored water, she'd know exactly how her shots had landed. She'd been practicing, and was getting proud of her aim. She had on a groady old lab coat today, to prevent her fro ruining a new one, but she suspected that they were giving out old t-shirts anyway.

"Hey! I think I see Longshot!" Minty said. She jumped up and waved. "GUYS! OVER HERE!"

[135, 85]

((Also, I'm gonna introduce the BBBs when everyone is assembled.))

[HunnyBun]

"Team Awesome, sound off!" The gold haired boy shouted.
He at the top of the jungle gym, his arms crossed. He seemed to be observing to playground, watching as the other groups joined in. He wore thick black shades to hide his eyes as he scanned the area.

"Are we gonna start?" Asked the little boy that hung from his feet on one of the many metal handles of the jungle gym.
He smiled widely, but only for a moment. His "way to big for him", size medium purple sweater fell over his face. He chuckled lightly and yanked it over his exposed belly.

"I hope I don't get wet..." Moaned the little bright eyed boy.
He curled his hands into fist into his shirt. He was so worried about this stupid fight, why did he have to be part of it? A tiny tear appeared from the corner of his eye, and just as it did a little ghost seemed to hang from his shoulder. This was his imaginary friend Rip, he seemed to always cheer him up.

"Don't worry Torn, I won't let anyone touch you." The strange pumpkin head boy comforted, putting an arm around him.
His face was unable to make a smile, being a paper mache mask. But through the cut out mouth you could see the glimpse of a boys smile.
The blonde boy held up his hand, which meant for them to be quite.
"It's almost time boys, lets get down to business." He said, jumping down from the jungle gym and starting to walk off, the others following.

[GrayGriffin]

"Get ready for a fight, Wild Children!" declared Nikey. The Kirund-boy was dressed in rather tattered clothes, and the jeans he wore had multiple patches on them. He wouldn't say, but those were the clothes he had first worn, the clothes he wore before Tayne took him in. His favorite orange hat had been carefully wrapped in plastic. The rules didn't say anything about llama-nation!

He was also grinning, more than might be expected of him. After all, he'd been invited to this epic fight by his new best friends, the Starbursts! He was going to help them in their battle against whoever dared to oppose them. They would be an unstoppable team!

"I'm gonna live up to my name!" growled Danger, her teeth gripping a new-looking squirtgun model that was apparently operable by the mouth. Langlin had invented it, and handed it out to those who he felt would need them. But even without a squirtgun, she knew she'd do just fine! She had her daddy's powers, and if she or her friends was in danger, she could use them to protect everybody!

"Yay! I'm here!" squealed the little Candy Apple Kuhna, her usual candy apple now replaced with a new-looking squirtgun model, similar to Danger's. It was also apparently designed to be operable with the teeth, as she was currently biting down on a trigger-type object, squealing in delight as water splashed everywhere. However, upon seeing the slightly disapproving looks of her teammates, she quickly set it down. Her eyes darted back and forth slowly as she tried to reassure herself that they weren't that upset. Nikey nodded at her.

"Just save that for the actual contest," he added. "You'll do fine." She gave a small sigh of relief. Good, everything was still fine then.

Anne shivered slightly. She was wearing her hat and dark glasses, but even so, the albino girl was feeling the sun trying to burn at her eyes. Big brother had said he would come to look after her, but she didn't want him to! She loved him, but she wanted to prove she could strike out on her own!

"Anne here!" she added, her voice sounding somewhat squeaky. No, don't think about that! Think about being brave! And strong! Like big brother was!

Jikei coughed slightly, feeling a sharp pain in his chest. It had been increasing of late, he thought, and he hoped it wouldn't go over too badly. If he really needed to, he could call a time-out while he rested. His medicine was also nearby, although he knew it was running out. They could buy more medicine now that they had a family, but even they weren't rich...

Anyways, he was there, as a referee. He had a squirtgun too, and he wouldn't hesitate to use it on anyone who got too unruly!

[27, 1, 1, 1, 1]

[Fallen_Snow]

Longshot immediately caught sight of Pomona. "HI POMONA!" he yelled back, waving excitedly. "WE'RE COMING!" Urging the other two on, he managed to get them up the hill to the rest of the Starbursts. "Yeah! The gang's all here! Now where to for the sign-ups?" he asked, looking around with a hand shading his eyes from the sun. His unruly black hair stuck to his forehead and the back of his neck. It was nice out, and the heat was perfect for a water fight.

Woody pointed to his left. "There's the stand! They already have our names, right? We just have to check-in, then." she confirmed. "I'll sign in our group!" she said excitedly. "Take a buddy!" Longshot warned. Woody crossed her arms.

"Why should I?"

"'Cause Rena said so!"

"Not uh!"

"Yes huh!"

"Not uh!

"Yes huh infinity!"

"Ugh, fine. Hey Jeremiah, wanna come with me?" she asked the little static child, holding out her hand.

While they handled that, Longshot turned to Minty. "Hi, Minty!" he said gleefully, grabbing her up in a big ol' bear hug. "I missed yooooou! It's been a looooong time since we saved the playground together!" he said, his smile fading a bit at the thought. "We'll have to hang ou

Reverb smiled at Pomona. "Hi, again!" she said brightly, staring at Pomona's lab coat and vials. "What're those for?" she asked, curious.

[Freezair]

Minty cheered and pounced over. Was there a bit of psychic power buoying up her steps? "Hi, Longshot! C'mon--let's show 'em we waste no time! We'll be fightin' back in no time! And getting wet!" She laughed like she laughed, and grabbed Longshot's shoulder to drag him over to the singup booth.

"OK," Jeremiah agreed, and he followed Woody. They were all a team, so he wasn't sure if they really needed to go in partners, but why not?

Pomona looked back over her shoulder, her blonde hair looking like it was fresh out of the barber's. "I'll be with ya in a sec, Reverb!" she said. "I wanna scope out the other teams. Hey! There's Nikey! Hi, Nikey!" She waved, one hand still clutching a bottle of yellow dye.

At the booth, Minty looked down at the paper. It was all simple words--easy for a young reader--but she stumbled a bit over the first two names. Someone had already signed up! How unusual. They thought they were here really early!

"Huh. Who are the Black Hole Busters an' Dolly an' Lloyd?"

*~*~*~*~*~*

Elsewhere on the playground, perched on the highest level of the playground equipment, they lurked.

Dolly hung her hands over as she laid on her belly, eyes scowling. A giant super soaker was laid next to her, the stuff in its chambers not wholly water-esque. A pair of plastic binoculers (bought from the museum gift shop) hovered in front of her face.

"They're moving in to the sign-up sheet," she reported. "All according to plan. What's the status report on the other two teams, Lloyd?"

"They're coming in!" Lloyd responded. "Obviously, none as cool or as powerful as the Starbursts. Unless that tattered old thing that one kid has is meant to be a costume!" He tittered sharpy.

"I think that's Nikey, one of their ant sillree pals," Dolly nodded. She then thought that that word didn't sound quite right. Why did grown-up words have to be so confusing?

"Ahh. But I bet the rest are no problem," Lloyd said. "Only the Starbursts have those... dangerous powers." His voice thrilled as he said it.

"Oh--wait. Darn it!" Dolly zeroed in on Jikei. "He's got a whistle! Must be the ref! This might be stickier than it seems, eh, Lloyd?"

"'Stickier?' Why'd you say it like that? What are you--ooooh, wait, I get it! 'Cuz it's a joke about how we're gonna cover them in goo--yeah! I get it!" He laughed wildly.

"Shut up. Don't make me kick you outta the Busters."

"S-s-sorry, sis."

[136, 86]

[HunnyBun]

"What? We have to sign up?" Shouted the little golden hair boy.
He took off his sunglasses off violently, showing his different colored eyes.
"Why didn't anyone tell me this?"
He looked back to the rest of his group, Torn shrugged.
"We didn't know about it." He replied.
The boy growled, then threw his glasses back on.
"Let's just get up there, sign in, and then back to looking cool." He said, walking towards the table.


"So, what's it look like so far?"
The boy had made his way to where the others of his group had been hiding. He made sure no one seen or heard him.
"Do they look like a threat?"
He tried to get a good look at the other groups. He didn't know much about any of them, he was new to all this kind of stuff. But they seemed to have a grudge on those Starbursts guys?
His little water pistol was damp against his pants. The evaporation soaking his waist. He looked all over the house for a good weapon, but that was the only thing they had. Everyone else had pretty cool ones, he felt so wimpy.

[GrayGriffin]

"Hey, those are the Starbursts! They're the guys we're gonna help!" exclaimed Nikey, pointing and waving. "C'mon guys, let's go sign up now!" He raced towards his friends, Omouto and Danger following close behind. Anne ran along, somewhat more slowly, making sure her sunglasses didn't slip.

Jikei followed some distance behind. He was the referee, after all. He didn't need to sign up. Still, he'd better come along with them, check out the other teams, make sure everything would be alright. He could already see another team coming along to the sign-up stand as well.

Nikey quickly scribbled down the name "Wild Children" on the sheet, adding everyone's names as well.

[28, 2, 2, 2, 2]

[Also, as a note, only Nikey and Anne are in human forms.]

[Fallen_Snow]

((Yay, BHB! owo))

Longshot frowned. "Never heard of them." he said, furrowing his brow. "But I bet they're nice!" he said with a smile. Woody nodded. "Yeah, even if their team name sounds kind of tough, their regular names sound like nice names. Err, ya'll!" Woody said, adding some southern-y sounding slang at the end.

Reverb joined Pomona in waving down their old friend, Nikey, certified Al Eye of the Starburst Squad. "Wonder who his teammates are?" Reverb thought aloud, taking a good look at the competition. She wondered how he was going to keep his silly orange hat on his head, but became distracted as she tried to stick her newly created bracelet into her backpack. "Hmm, do you think that the ref will let me use my water balloon catapult?" asked Reverb, pulling it out of her backpack to show Pomona. "I figured that we'd only be able to carry a few water balloons at a time, so I figured that staying with the bucket of 'em and just launching them at far away opponents would be easier."

---

Meanwhile, the last member of the Black Hole Busters was perched on top of the monkey bars, swinging her legs wildly. She laughed as a younger kid glared at her for blocking the rest of his journey across them and dropped, huffing and puffing his way to his mom. Henrietta returned her eyes back to her big binder of Pokelon cards, in the middle of resorting them for the twelfth time that week. "Haha, stickier. Good one, Dolly." she squeaked, idly scratching behind one of her fiery red pigtails. Her water gun sat behind her in the backpack hooked over her shoulders.

"Pssh, threat? They're all little toothpicks compared to us. We'll slow 'em up, just you wait." she said, her green eyes burning with excitement. She was so ready to take down those meanie Starbursts.

"So, what're we gonna do about the ref? He may cause trouble in the beginning, you know. Could we lock him in the port-a-potties at the bottom of the hill?" Henry begged, careful to shut her binder and store it away in her waterproofed backpack, taking out her water gun in turn. "I got some ribbon in one of my backpack pockets, I think. We could tie him up!"

[Freezair]

"This is gonna be so--much--FUN!" Minty squealed so strongly she created a sudden tiny psychic cloud. She dismissed it. No powers for her today--she wanted to keep things clean. So to speak. She'd been eyeing that water balloon catapult, honestly wondering. She had to admit, it was one of the more awesome things Reverb had ever thrown together.

Pomona was bubbling over with inventorial glee. "Oh! But wait... I have an idea!" She pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil and began scribbling furiously, showing each step to Reverb. "See... If we do this... and this... It's like that thing you always see kids with in cartoons when they're running away from home, only with water balloons... OH!" She started a new drawing right beneath that. "If we increase our counterweight just a little, and do this, we can more than double our possible payload!" Minty, listening in, was a little lost, but it was alright all the same.

Jeremiah was going over and introducing himself to the other Wild Children. He'd never met them before, but any friend of Nikey's was a friend of his!

*~*~*~*~*~*

Dolly sat up, pondering that ref. "Hmm... Naah, port-a-potties is too harsh. They'd notice if he went missing. He's the ref; he's the one the adults are keeping their eyes on." She was far too grown-up to say something as childish as "grown-up." "We need to stop him without attracting too much attention. Hmmm... Lloyd?"

"Yeah, Sis?"

"What do we got--uh, have for bribin' people with?"

Lloyd riffled through his pockets. "I got some Play-Klay. Stickers... a coupon for a free slushie at the snack bar..."

"NO!" Dolly spat. "You give that coupon up, and you ain't--aren't my brother anymore."

"But the guy was totally nice about it! He was sorry--"

"The Starbursts took those slushies from us! Don't forget, Lloyd! Took them! Right from under our noses! It's not about the slushies, Lloyd--it's about justice!"

"Oh--okay. Um, but then I'm out."

"Puh." Dolly slid down the firepole to the bottom, where the others were. "We're gonna try bribing the ref. Got anything to do it with?"

[137, 87, 2]

[HunnyBun]

The blonde boy finally reached the sign-up table, his "group" piled behind him. He signed the name "Team Awesome" in big thick letters. Then next to it put: Aur, Y, Torn, and Jack. He smiled wickedly then turned back. He nodded to the rest of his team and they backed off a few steps. They weren't very sure if they were suppost to wait next to the other groups or not. So they decided to just in case.
"Did you do as I asked?" Aur asked Y.
Y nodded furiously, his head almost a blur.
"Yes, yes I did Aur! I ate all the candy in my house, just like you said!" Y replied, twitching slightly.
Aur smiled.
"Good!"

~~~

William nodded, they didn't look that threatening at all.
"So, how much longer till it start?" He asked, running his and over his water gun to make sure it was still there.

(( a little bit of writters block DX ))

[GrayGriffin]

Nikey grinned at the Starbursts. "Hi guys!" he said, the muscles in his shoulders relaxing slightly. He'd been so tense-he didn't really know these other kids. He'd just put up an ad, and they'd signed up.

"Where are those other Black Hole Busters kids?" asked Anne. "Aren't they supposed to be here too! We need to start this!"

"I'll handle it," muttered Jikei. He crouched, then lunged onto the desk, his claws slipping sideways somewhat. He nearly fell face-first, but managed to pull himself up, coughing slightly, then suddenly doubling over. He reached a paw downwards, and Omouto, understanding, pulled a vial of medicine from a bag beside her and passed it up. He flipped it open and took a small drink, then sighed with relief.

He first blew hard on his whistle, a shrill cry that rang throughout the park.

"THE WATER FIGHT STARTS NOW!" he yowled. "EVERYONE, GATHER!"

"Yay!" added Danger. "Finally!"

[29, 3, 3, 3, 3]

[Fallen_Snow]

"Well, I got my water gun, my Pokelon cards, and some change for the pay phone just in case I have to call home. And my ribbon." Henry said, putting a protective hand on her backpack strap. "But I'm not givin' up my Pokelon cards. None of 'em. You can take my pay phone change, though. I won't be needin' that--our getaway is set up, right? I don't wanna be stayin' behind for time-outs, Dolly." Henrietta squeaked, reaching into a side pocket and pulling out two dollars in change, tossing it to the little girl.

~*~

"Yay, it's starting!" Longshot shouted, punching his fist towards the sky. "C'mon, Starbursts--the fight awaits!"

The edges of Reverb's smile touched her earlobes. "Oh wow, yeah! That'd be great--hold on, I have the things that we'll need in here..." she said excitedly, trailing off as she shoved her hands into her backpack. Pulling out some rubber bands, a faded blue bandana, and some plyable popcicle sticks, she placed them neatly beside Pomona's drawing, pulling her catapult close so that the two could work on it quickly. "We'll be there in a minute!" Reverb shouted to Jikei, quickly remaking the catapult with Pomona.

Woody was itching to break in her new sneakers, bought just for the occasion, as the leather of her usual cowgirl boots would stain if they got wet. She jumped up and down, excited by the whistle. "Right behind you, Longshot!" she shouted, racing after him with the others towards Jikei.

[Freezair]

"Oh, crud!" Dolly bit. Lloyd gave her a sideways "I'm tellllling!" look, but his eyes skipped away too quickly for it to register with her. "We gotta run! Busters, out to the field! Give the ref the money," she said to Henrietta. "You can handle the blackmail if you like, or I can get Lloyd to do it. We gotta run. Get yet guns and let's head out to the field."

"Right, sis!" Lloyd jumped up squeakily. He swung down the firepole and whipped a large water gun off his back. He was ready for the fight.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Hey, look, there come some kids!" Minty pointed across the playground as she ran to the assigned starting point. She had her gun primed with Pomona's disappearing ink so that she'd know when she got her targets. "They look nice!"

Jeremiah hurriedly filled his gun at a water fountain. "They look... OK," he said. His hair began to stand on end. "I dunno... their faces don't look so nice..."

"They're probably just tired 'cuz they're runnin'," Minty said. "Don't worry." She and Jeremiah joined the others.

Pomona threw the various parts together with Reverb. "Alright, if we do this... Oooh, I don't know how long that'll hold... I wish we'd thought of this sooner! Oh well. It'll have to do, unless you've got a quick fix," she asked Reverb. "But I know you, so!" She winked ludicrously.

[138, 88, 3]

[HunnyBun]

Aur looked around, it seemed like the party was getting started. He grinned widely as he whipped a super soaker around from behind his back. He examined it, making sure there wasn't any holes or leaks. It seemed alright, smiling again, he nodded his head to signal the others to head for the field.
"Yay! We're gonna get wet!" Shouted Y, taking off for the field.
"Oh no...." Sighed Torn, hunching over and slowly following behind.
"Ah, don't be like that Torn, just have fun." Jack shouted as he ran after Y.

~~~

William jumped up, all the sudden the others were running away. What had just happened? One minute he had just gotten here, now he was running after them? This seemed like it might end up being a bit frantic, but he just swallowed his thoughts and ran after them.
Gripping his water gun, he hoped it would be enough. It was so small, and seemed like he would be out gunned.
"I'm not going to make it through this for to long..." He sighed lightly.