Aira tio sole Laenie, who had been in an upset mood all day. The two had just officially joihe pnt club.

  “I’m sorry, Aira,” Laenie said. “You should be out having fun. Not babysitting me. I be so weak sometimes…”

  “Hey, g doesn’t make you weak.” Aira said. “You wanna see weak, you should see my neighbor bae, he’s on recenuine legal record, telling everyone he refuses to show aions ever. Like he went to court to say it. Now that’s weak.”

  Laenie giggled a bit.

  “Silver lining, you ’t go full Exa when you’re g,” Aira said. “I think. That’s how that works, right?”

  “I don’t know,” Laenie said. “At least, it’s never happened before when I’m g. I don’t know if it’d be like a super wimpy version of my big monster form.”

  “Ah, crap,” Aira said, looking ahead.

  “What? What is it?” Laenie asked.

  “Ovie Chirhart alert.” Aira said. “You want a get out of here quick word?”

  “I trust you to know when,” Laenie said. “She might go somewhere…ah, of course she sees us.”

  Aira nodded.

  Ovie tio approach, solo at least so they didn’t have to deal with her minions at least.

  “I don’t eve a hello?” Ovie asked.

  “You have to earn those,” Aira said.

  “I like to think I earned an apology,” Ovie said. “Thanks for ratti to Dr. Diast, Laenie. My family got my unjust punishment turned down from suspension for ‘theft,’ to suspension for ‘borrowing.’”

  “Great, you leave us alohen?” Laenie asked.

  “I just wao show this off,” Ovie said in a cheery voice. She held a out in front of Laenie.

  “A…?” Aira asked.

  “I’m showing it to Laenie.” Ovie said.

  “You are aware she and has punched you like into the horizon and I was the one who saved yht?”

  Ovie didn’t say anything to that.

  “This is called minivan in a ,” Ovie said, clig the top of the and tossing it onto some empty spa the beach. With a “BWOMP”, the unfolded, turning into a little cart.

  “It’s not really a minivan, is it?” Laenie asked.

  “More like a…tiny little car…if that.” Aira said.

  “Yes, but this baby drive really fast and if you ram it into someo’d really hurt, especially if they’re a big stupid wolf monster.”

  While threatening to hit Laeh a car retty awful, the sight of the stupid little cart retty doofy to Aira.

  “If you’re such a strong i, don’t you have like powers you use against her? Buying a whole unfoldable cart thing seems dumb.”

  Ovie pondered for a sed.

  “…stop speaking.” Ovie said.

  “Hey!” Laenie yelled. “Don’t tell her to stop talking!”

  Laenie smmed her fist on the booth table, and Aira immediately reized the veins in her arms past her ched hand.

  “Alrighty, I’m just goncha out of here!” Aira said. She grabbed Laenie’s arm and teleported her away.

  They nded way further down the beach, right under a little roation. Laearted her breathing exercises, that kept her inner beast in check.

  “Thanks,” Laenie said. “ I take back that I said I feel sorry for her before?”

  “You do anything, Laenie.” Aira said. “I’m not in charge of anyone’s free will but my own. Unless my i power was free will trol, of course, but I think I just have telep, but they did tell me it’s possible to have multiple powers that could show up at any time, so that’s fun.”

  “Right,” Laenie said, falling ba the sand as Aira tio specute on the idea of free will trol as a i power. “You rock, Aira.”

  “Aw, you do too.” Aira hugged Laenie, which also always helped pre-full-wolf-monsterening.

  “Are you…rumbling?” Aira asked. “Like really hungry or something?”

  “I was going to ask you that.” Laenie said.

  The two realized the rumbling was beh them, and quickly moved aside.

  “Something’s…there.” Laenie said.

  The two stood ready to attack if things got weird as a big silvery object rose from uhe sand.

  “Is it like…a mini tank in a ?” Aira asked. It looked like a bigger version of Ovie’s stupid cart thing, at least.

  “I don’t see any writing on it,” Laenie said. “You don’t think this is a bomb, do you?”

  Laearted to run away immediately, but Aira grabbed her arm.

  “If it’s about to explode, I’m quiough to get us away.” Aira said.

  “Right,” Laenie said, deg that grabbing onto Aira’s arm was the safest option at that moment.

  “It isn’t tig, so probably not a bomb,” Aira said. “It rose up at our voices…”

  “So maybe we get it to do something else then?” Laenie asked. “Preferably not exploding?”

  “Let’s do it!” Aira said. “Alright, how about, go away! Go bader the sand!”

  The big silver object didn’t obey that.

  “Hrm,” Aira said. “That didn’t work.”

  Aira poked at it with her toes as she and Laenie kept a dista had a few grooves on it, but no obvious opening or joint on it.

  “My theories right now are weird art project, underground mole Kanibari, or aliens.” Aira said.

  “I only like one of those options,” Laenie said. “You know my aversion to weird art projects.”

  “Uh huh,” Aira said. “If this thing opens, and it’s aliens, all I’m saying is we’re gonna have to get wyers. Space wyers.”

  “What?”

  “Outer space aliens are always ing to our po sue us in all the shows I watch.”

  “Hm, good point,” Laenie said. “Know any wyers?”

  “A few, but none I’d trust with my legal wellbeing.” Aira said. “There’s about nine good ones in this eate, if I’m remembering them all correctly and not ting the striped cat guy, he’s a rip off.”

  "Really?"

  "Yeah, his stripes are dyed!"

  The silver object started to rumble.

  “Oh no, is this from the striped cat guy wyer?” Aira said. "Did he hear me?!"

  Suddenly, ‘09’ appeared as a proje on the front of the strange silver thing. The ter split between the numbers and opened. Aira and Laenie coughed and waved the steam ing out of it away. It definitely wasn’t a bomb, but there was something inside of the pod.

  “What…is that?” Laenie asked.