[GrayGriffin]

Nikey grinned, drawing his own water gun. "Can I get a refill, someone?" he asked. Some of the water had leaked out on the way here, and he hadn't filled it completely in the first place.

"I'll do it," growled Jikei, leaping down from the table, snatching up his medicine as well. Omouto also passed her water gun to him, as did Anne.

"How about you?" added Anne, turning to Danger.

"I have my own ways," muttered the Baby Doom Kitty cryptically, as she maneuvered a paw over the opening, causing a coating of ice to form within the gun. It melted quickly in the heat, and, encouraged, she created more, until the gun was filled.

[30, 4, 4, 4, 4]

[Fallen_Snow]

Henrietta nodded, staring at the money in her hand. Should she give it to the ref? She wasn't sure... he looked kinda... mean...

But then Dolly called the Busters to run, and Henry quickly leaped off the monkey bars, running after the siblings, only once bothering to look back at William. "C'mon, Willy!" she called, pumping her arms in time with her strides. Racing down the decline towards the field where they'd be playing, she took in their competitors, focusing hard on the Starbursts. She knew their faces well enough; the last thing she wanted to do was waste her time on the others when Dolly specifically wanted revenge on them. They were going to pay for what they did.

She touched her backpack straps protectively as they slowed, approaching the group of kids waiting for instructions. Should she put it under the table, where it could be stolen? Or keep it on her back, where it could get wet? Which was worse? She opted for keeping it on her back. That waterproof'll hold, she thought confidently, patting it with a smile.

****

"Yeah, they're probably just tired," Longshot reiterated, siding with Minty. Those kids wouldn't be mean, would they? Not if the Starbursts were here. They had acquired quite the social standing with the kids that came to the playground. Longshot brushed the negative thoughts about them away, joining the rest of the group with a smile, determination to win clear on his face.

Reverb smiled, reaching into her pocket. She pulled out two sticks of chewing gum, handing one to Pomona. "I use this stuff for 'mergencies. It works better than glue, usually. Chew it up real quick, but keep it between your teeth the whole time, and make sure it still has some flavor when you take it out--we gotta make sure it's sticky so that it holds. And then when you got it, stick it here," she said, pointing to the area where the end of the catapult touched the base. "We have to reforce it here without it gettin' too stiff, see? And the gum'll do just that. It's a miracle worker."

Woody looked at the kids that Minty and Jeremiah were talking about. "Jer's right, they don't look too friendly like," she said with a forced southern tinge, fingering her jumprope lasso as she always did when she was nervous.

[Freezair]

Dolly nudged Henrietta in the back as they walked past. She bent to whisper in her ear. "Don't worry. If the ref tries anything funny, I'll show him what for."

Lloyd twitched just a little as Minty bounded up to him. She had a little pink thought bubble trailing after her--not yet big enough to levitate on, it was just following along behind her head, slowly drifting as Minty thought. The little girl with the pigtails swung right up to him, and put her hand out. "Hi! You're one of the Busters, right? I'm Minty! I hope we have a good game today."

Hesitantly, Lloyd ran his hand through his somewhat-unwashed black hair. Trembling, he stuck out his hand. "Uh... H-h-hi. You're one of the Starbursts, aren't you? ...I've heard about how cool and powerful you guys are..." His voice trailed off worriedly.

"No powers now, 'least not normally," Minty said. "We gotta make it fair. I hope you have lotsa good luck today!" She pointed to the girl with the red shirt, talking to Henrietta. "That your sister? You guys look tough!"

Lloyd swallowed. "She, uh... She is! And... and we are!" He pulled up his chest proudly. "We're the best water fighters ever, and you're gonna see it! You--you watch out!"  

Jeremiah, meanwhile, went over to Torn. "Um... if you don't wanna get too wet, I have an extra poncho you could wear under your clothes? You can't wear it over, but under..."

Pomona took the gum and chewed frantically. She pulled it out of her mouth in the exact way her mother told her not to, testing its stickiness. Finally convinced, she took it out and used it to finish the device.

"Alright. I think we're good," she grinned at Reverb. "This is gonna be so cool!"

[HunnyBun]

William growled lightly under his breath when Dolly called him "Willy" He always hated that nickname. His step father always called him that. His name was William, William, can't they ever just say the whole thing? But he just shook his head and ran after them. Maybe if he was lucky he would get taken out first and could just go home?

~~~

Aur stopped a few feet from the rest of the other groups. He stood up proudly, or at least as proudly as a kid would consider, and looked at the others. His expression was stern and unwavering, as if he was trying to hide any secrets or weaknesses he might have.
Behind him the rest of his group waited. Y danced around awkwardly, he was so excited to get started. Jack was checking his pump super soaker, making sure it was full and worked properly. And Torn crouched in the back, shy and trying to be as invisible as possible. They were all ready to get started, or at least everyone but Torn.

((So, are you just going to shout "Go" and we'll start? XD ))

[GrayGriffin]

(I'd think so, HUN)
Jikei came trotting back, several guns held in his mouth. He dropped them gently on the ground, and the others scrambled to pick them up.

"Alright! Everyone's here and ready! Time to kick some butt!" cheered Anne. She pumped a fist in the air excitedly, but then yelped when her sunglasses slipped sideways. Quickly, she clapped a hand over her face and slid them back into place. She couldn't risk it...

"Yay!" squealed Danger, bouncing up and down. Omouto was too, and she seemed even more hyper than usual. Nikey just grinned, but his gun was held at a threatening angle...

[31, 5, 5, 5, 5]

[Fallen_Snow]

Longshot curled his fingers into fists excitedly, trying to hold back the energy that was quickly building up inside him. Just a few more minutes, and then they would begin... he touched the handle of his squirt guns in his pockets, thankful that Woody had a fairly large supply of them. She had stated to him matter-o-factly, "They're for playing Sheriff," but Longshot didn't exactly understand what Sheriff was or why it required squirt guns.

After making a few adjustments, Reverb smiled and nodded at Pomona's statement. "Yes, it's perfect! I can't wait to try this thing out!" Reverb said loudly, cradling it in her arms carefully as she ran to merge with the rest of the kids already gathering around the ref. Woody picked at the price sticker that was still present on her water gun, another water pistol similar to Longshot's borrowed ones. All her water guns were pink and purple and sparkly, her favorite colors.

***

Henrietta nodded at Dolly's comment, but still wasn't convinced. She wanted to play; what if the ref kicked her out for trying to bribe him? Chickening out, she shoved the change back into her pocket, frowning at her decision. She hoped that Dolly didn't mind too much.

((Ack! Sorry guys--Junior year kind of ate me and my muse. It's been exactly a month since I last posted. Yikes! I'll try to keep up from now on. D:))

[Freezair]

Pomona made one last quick dash to fill up a few water balloons to load into the cannon. She rushed back, arms full up with jiggly wet spheres, just as the official in charge of the event came back.

He stood next to the ref, handed down the whistle, and looked over the kids. Minty, at least, was grinning back with a smile to pierce the clouds. "Alright, kids, you ready?"

Minty, Jeremiah, and Pomona all shouted back: "YES!"

"Then LET'S GO! START!"

What wonderful words! With a growl, Dolly pounced. She whipped around her huge squirt gun and aimed straight for Jeremiah. What was going on with the ref? She glanced over to Henrietta, but nothing seemed to have happened! Grr! Maybe she'd have to go for him... but why get her hands dirty when she had Lloyd?

She fired off a special goo-shot towards Minty while swerving for Lloyd. "Lloyd! Take care of the ref. Somehow.  I got bigger fish to fry."

"Got it!" Lloyd said. At that moment, his foot snagged on a rock, and he fell. But he was able to turn it into a plan. "Ow! Uh... HEY! REF! I NEED SOME HELP OR SOMETHING!"

Dolly managed to tag Jeremiah with some stringy goo, but her shots fired off in all directions. They could have hit anyone! The glob of slime hit him right on the side of the face. He stopped short and wiped at it.

"Huh...? Ewww! Gross! What's going on? Somebody's got slime or something!"

[140, 90, 5]