Phytoremediation

A picture of you, killing me, with deja vu

"Alright boys, sorry to interru-" Sunny cut Michelle off by throwing the condom back through her slider, accidentally hitting her in the face, stunning her.

Whoops.

She cleared her throat and continued. "Sorry to interrupt, but we're at your little friend's party. Have fun with Mitchell, hon!"

"Yeah." Basil said bluntly before existing the limousine. Thankfully, they arrived early, not stealing the thunder from The Maverick's birthday.

Can't believe he's a year older than us. He acts like a 14 year old...

"Comm-rats!" The Maverick greeted with open arms, still saying that English word he could never pronounce correctly, "are you ready to part-tie?"

"What?" Sunny and Basil said simultaneously.

"It's English for party, heh. By next year, I might be a full-on fluent speaker." The Maverick said confidently. Sunny silently paid his respects for the coming death of the English language.

Once The Maverick starts using it, it will never be the same.

The Maverick led them to the backyard, showing off a pool. "Blam. It's a saltwater pool, too, so it's better for the environment."

"Wait, this was a pool party? Why didn't you tell us?" Basil asked with an anxious tone.

The Maverick had his own confused look. "I thought you knew I had a pool. Ah well, just swim in your underwear or something."

"N-No!" Basil replied, flustered.

The Maverick shrugged. "Anything new happened in Nearburgh?"

Sunny shrugged in response, "Started school, caught a murderer, started dating Basil, the usual."

"Woah woah woah... you started school in August, too? I thought that was just in our high school district..." The Maverick said with his hand to his chin.

"Yeah." Sunny replied flatly.

"Alright, so uh -" The Maverick had a sudden moment of realization. "You're dating someone?"

"Specifically Basil, but yes." Sunny adjusted his eyepatch.

"That Basil?" The Maverick pointed at Basil

"Yes, that one." Sunny untwisted the string of his eyepatch that had gotten spun around somehow, just like how wires of all kinds do the same.

"The boy one?" The Maverick pressed.

"Yeah." Sunny moved the other side of his eyepatch to be more comfortable on his ear.

"I see..." The Maverick said, looking between them, "The true definition of a power couple. Powerful, and also a couple. Your powers complement each other, so it makes a great combo of tactical prowess and love." The Maverick said as he nodded.

Still no clue what these powers are, anyway.

"Yeah, uh... we caught Yuri, The Maverick." Basil reiterated from Sunny's initial sentence.

"Yes, as I expected from my most powerful allies. Even more powerful when together." The Maverick nodded.

His words were comforting in a weird sort of Mavericky way.

Thanks for the support... I think...

"Now come inside you two. I shall show you the people in attendance." The Maverick led them inside.

"Many powerful people will be in attendance, but with just enough civilians mixed in to not raise suspicion." The Maverick explained. Sunny felt a bit embarrassed walking past Daphne and Bowen while The Maverick prattled on about the traps he left for the Shadow Cabal.

Sunny entered The Maverick's room. Surprisingly normal. The Maverick rolled out a massive roll of paper.

"First, here is who will be at the party." The Maverick suddenly had a pointer stick in his hand, "The- I mean, Aubrey will be here, obviously, along with Kim, Vance, Angel, and Charlie. Next, I invited Kel. I also invited his best friend, Zhang, to make him more likely to come."

"I thought you didn't like Kel.." Basil thoughtfully mumbled.

The Maverick responded immediately. "I don't, but he is a target of The Shadow Cabal. A target recruit. He is one of the few people in the world that can match the speed of I, The Maverick. It is best I know where he is at all times."

The Maverick then closed the paper. "I didn't know who was coming here first, so I also wrote guidelines to not embarrass yourself in front of hot bikini-clad babes, but since you guys are together, that won't be necessary."

Basil opened the paper slightly. "No flirting with my friends, Kel!!" was underlined twice.

"Are you gonna be able to follow that rule?" Basil asked doubtfully.

The Maverick closed the paper. "Of course, I have no sexual or romantic interest with either of my female cohorts. Even if I did, it's far too soon. My goddess only died less than a week ago. I am too sorrowful for flirting." The Maverick announced woefully.

Basil looked a bit saddened, too, but for a better reason.

The three walked out of The Maverick's room. Daphne was pouring chips into a large bowl, and Bowen was placing down a different bowl with breadsticks. "Hey, baby bro!" Daphne waved. Bowen nodded in his general direction silently.

"Not in front of my frienddddssss" The Maverick whined.

Daphne giggled at this, but this was interrupted with a knock at the door, making everyone do that inherent human response where everyone faces the door as if they could see through the wood.

"I'll get it." The Maverick said to nobody in particular as he walked to the door. "Aubrey! Kim! What's shawakalackin'?"

Kim stifled a laugh as she walked in before freezing. "God damn it. Not swimming today, I guess." She said as she looked at Basil and Sunny.

"Don't worry, Kim! They're gay for each other!" The Maverick declared without an ounce of subtlety.

Basil buried his face in his hands. Guess that's one way to tell everyone.

"Wait, really?" Aubrey said with a surprised look, "I mean, yeah, no shit, Basil's gay, but Sunny?"

Sunny shrugged. "He's cute and likable. What can I say?"

Kim rolled her eyes. "Any other unexpected invites, Mikhael?"

"Yeah, just Kel and Zhang. Also, it's The-"

"Yeah, yeah, The Maverick. Those two can be such pervs, jeez. Now I'm definitely not gonna be swimming." Kim interrupted.

"C'mon, Kim, you looked so good in that new swimsuit, don't let those dumbasses ruin your day." Aubrey reassured.

"Fine, whatever, but one mention of 'booba' and I'm breaking faces."