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Chapter 8

A distant fracture in a land of green.

       "Dexter? I thought you said you'd be too busy to come!" (Y/n) dashed over from the dressing room and towards the pair of boys. Suddenly, she didn't mind the chill that pricked the overly exposed parts of her body and instead focused on their swimsuits: Ben was wearing nothing but black swim trunks with a singular green line on their side while Dexter wore the same, except his was only a plain dark blue. 

        The redhead's face immediately flashed the exact shade of his hair color, and his pupils kept jumping as if he forced them to stay glued to her own gaze. He tried sputtering out an explanation - was what (Y/n) guessed; it was more like his voice was gurgling out things that almost sounded like words, while attempting to choke up the ocean of bundled-up sentences that seemed to have flooded his throat. Her smile began to fade until Ben's face jumped into her view. 

       "You can thank me for that," he quickly asserted, puffing out his toned chest. "What kind of a friend would I be if I left one of my best buds out from an awesome beach day?"

       Dexter clamped his mouth shut and pushed him back to his side. "Yes, thank you for showing up unannounced, stuffing me in a bag, bringing me here against my will whilst I was clearly protesting, locking me in one of the changing rooms, and threatening to keep me in there until the twilight hours unless I abided by your demands. You are truly everything I look for in a platonic companion." 

       The rest of the group blinked at him for a second before Ben busted into a fit of loud, strange-sounding laughter. "This guy, right?" he shouted, leaning against his friend and pointing to his deadpan face. "Almost a genius with comedy as he is with science!"

       Switching glances between the two guys, (Y/n) cocked her head and cleared her throat. "Aaaaanyway, should we head down to the beach?" 

       Buttercup jumped to her side and flung an arm around her. "Ugh, never thought you'd ask! Come on, I've been DYING to destroy you guys at volleyball." She practically dragged her by her neck as they both scrambled onto the sun-blazed sand.

       "Buttercup, don't be so rough!" Blossom called as she hurried after them. Bubbles squealed and did the same while the boys followed from behind. 

       A ball was plummeting from the sky.

       "Bubbles, on your right! On your right!" 

       The blonde heeded her sister's instructions and sped to the right of the sand court, a baby blue light following close behind her. A wave of sand sprung from her feet as she slid to a halt and dashed up in the air. Right as the volleyball plunged to the tip of her nose, Bubbles' hands curled into a jointed fist and whacked it from below, sending it flying to the other side of the court. 

       "Is that even fair?" (Y/n) called. Heavy sand curled over her feet, knowing all too well that her human limbs didn't stand a chance catching a ball that was flying in that fast.

       "Maybe not for you-!" With one twist of his watch, an emerald spirit encased Ben's body. Through her fingers that shielded her from its bright, (Y/n) could see the light morphing and twisting into something larger - too large for him to even be human anymore. Four arms sprouted from envy's sunlight's cocoon, and the devil's red bled from his stretched head to toe. "-but this is right up our alley!" 

       All the color drained from (Y/n)'s face. "A-And is that really necessary?!" she shouted to the creature towering over her

       "Gimme all you got, Tennyson!" Buttercup yelled from the other side. Her feet refused to touch the golden sand.