Heroes Rising Fiction: Tug-of-War Volleyball

 The tropical sun blazed over the crashing ocean waves. The salty aroma of the sea was joined by the sizzling scents of hotdogs, hamburgers, and suntan lotion. Director Nova, dressed in his usual black attire, walked out with EB hopping alongside him.

“You sure you aren’t like sweltering under all that?” EB asked.

“I’m fine. I got a message this morning that the International News Network was sending out some photographers and journalists to do a puff piece with all the heroes having a fun vacation at the beach.”

“Is that why you got this whole beach to ourselves?” EB hopped around the sand.

“Yes. Let’s just hope nothing goes wrong. We’ve had enough bad publicity this year.”

EB froze in his jovial hopping, “oh, uh, I’m sure everything will be just fine, perfect, peachy, a-okay.”

“What did you do?” Nova grimly asked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” EB put his little paws on his hips.

Just then, the female heroes arrived from the changing area. Every one of them was in the skimpiest bikinis Nova had ever seen.

EB jumped up so far that he was about ten feet in the air. “WOOOOOOW! NOW THIS IS A BEACH PAR-TAY! COME TO PAPA!”

Macia’s Daughter folded her arms over her chest as she gave EB a glare, “stop staring.”

“I can’t.”

Nova said, “what on earth? Why are you all dressed the same and like that?”

Krystal Fae held up her comm unit. “You ordered us to. Something about some beach photos for the press.”

“I did no such thing.” Nova muttered and then turned to EB with steam coming from his ears. “EB! What did you do?”

EB grinned like a kid caught with a hand in the cookie jar. “I...may have...possibly...used your personal command code to send out an official BADGE order to the ladies.”

“YOU DID WHAT!”

EB hid behind Macia’s Daughter. “Uh, well, I was just, you know, making sure we get some good photos for the press.”

Krystal held up her comm. “You didn’t just send them to us, I hope you know.”

“I most certainly did...oh, wait...did I send to the ‘all heroes’ button? Then that means....OH MY GOD!”

All the male heroes arrived, sporting skimpy swimming briefs and nothing more. Some were quite pleased with their appearance, especially Craig. Some looked like they were about to roast Nova alive.

EB covered his face. “MY EYES!”

Nova let out a long sigh, controlling the rage. “Okay, the press will be here shortly, so why don’t you change as quickly as you can.”

Craig said, “wait, I don’t think we should. I mean, we all look awesome. You wanted great publicity. Trust me, the public loves some sexiness.”

A volleyball hit Craig in the head. Fuma said, “speak for yourself, I look like an idiot in this.”

SapphireRay, a blue female super, said, “Craig is right. We look like a typical beach party.”

“No, we don’t!” Tri-Blade retorted.

Furious Squirrel said, “no, she’s right. This isn’t all that bad.”

Soon, two sides formed: those who wanted to change, those who liked the look. They argued louder and louder, a few charged up super powers. Finally, Nova pressed a comm button that sent out an ear-splitting whistle. Everyone shut up quickly.

“The media will be here soon and I want to show them some peace and unity among this group. If we have half looking like this and half dressed in full body suits, it might be odd. Frankly, I don’t care what you look like as long as you are acting like mature people. So, instead of listening to this debate for the next five hours, I have a better idea.” He kicked two volley balls into the hands of two of the heroes. “Two teams, one choice to be made. Everyone will play and the winners will decide what we present to the media. The losers won’t argue and they will grin and bear it no matter the choice. Got it!”

The heroes knew when not to argue with Nova. They gathered up into their respective sides and the nets were stretched over the sands. EB grabbed a bucket of popcorn and a pair of binoculars. Nova, Gar, Justin, and Chase made up the judges. With a whistle, the tournament started.