The Adventures of the "Four Muskytears"

🍁 Black Hole Sprite [4/4]🍁

Stick's POV:

We had gathered outside of the house, sitting around a campfire.

Polar was splayed out on a log, pawing at the smoke.

Jester had been toasting marshmallows, setting up and eating s'mores that were still on fire or burnt from overcooking.

69 was messing around with some motor oil, chucking a few containers down whatever hatch crudely resembled his mouth.

I stood beside the campfire, leaning over and letting the flames lick at my helmet visor.

"The sunset looks nice," Polar squeaked, her stubby tail wagging as she spoke. "Kinda reminds me of Key West."

Through the fire, I gazed into the sunset, the cotton candy skies stained scarlet with the flames.

I must say, she was right about it being nice.

Looking back at my companions, I sat down beside 69. "So... What now?"

The mercenary robot reached over Jester's shoulder, picking up a s'more with one mechanical hand. "You're not yourself when you're hungry."

He handed it to me, placing it in my gloved hand. "Thanks, I guess."

"Mhm." 69 replied, going back to opening another canister of motor oil. "Anyways, we're around a campfire. Maybe we should tell stories or something? It'll make this less boring."

"Did someone say stories?" Polar piped up, excitedly squeaking. "I have a few I could share!"

"Not fanfiction, Polar." Jester butted in, promptly poking her nose. "No romance. Romance is gay, and for all I know, you're straight."

The cub nipped at the masked man's finger, causing him to reel back. "Ugh, come on! I swear it's not anything lovey-dovey or anything... Just a bit of an adventure thing."

I threw in my own two cents, taking a s'more from Jester's hand. "Let her talk, I'll listen."

"Wait, really?" Polar seemed surprised. "You'll let me tell a story?"

69 snickered from beside me, leaning over and whispering to me. "Watch her spontaneously pass out from being too excited."

Before long, the cub had already gone down a dangerously deep rabbit hole; At this point, she was just overflowing with information.

"Then I charged head-on into that serpent and I clawed out its teeth!" Polar squealed, swiftly motioning with her paws. "It was insane!"

"What's funny is that you're somehow still alive." 69 commented, taking a sip of motor oil. "Weren't you still a shapeshifter?"

"Yeah!" Polar chimed, flipping onto her back and churning the air in front of her with her front paws. "It was crazy!"

Jester stood up, approaching Polar with a can of soda in his hand. "Hey Polar, want some cola? Your mouth must be dry from talking so much."

"Oki!" She squeaked, gently cupping the can with one paw. "Thank you! Anyways,"

The cub paused for a brief second, clamping her jaws around the can, puncturing it with her teeth and ripping off the lid.

She took a sip, letting out a quiet sneeze. "H̷̹̥̾͛̇͆͠ű̶̡͙͖̙͖͠h̴̛̝̹̞͖̺̣̎͑,̶̮͇̺̝͕̇̈̓͠ ̸̹̗̖̬̬̀́̐͝͠ͅf̴̡̞̱͎͠ủ̴̳̮̌̍n̸̟̤̳̙̮̊n̴̢̡̧̖̽̿̕͝ỵ̵̼̦̓̆̑ ̶̨̣̠͔̏͌͊̽̚͠c̴̨̀́̈͒o̸̳̤͛̌͂̌l̷̢̗̟̟̫̠̒̋̏̊a̶͉̔͌̎͠.̷̰̦̈́̒̔" - Huh, funny cola. -

"What in the world?!" I exclaimed, jumping up from my seat. "Polar, are you good?"

"I̶͇̋ẗ̴̜́ ̴̆ͅt̴̓͜ȁ̵̘ṡ̸̼ț̷̿e̴̻̊s̸̻͠ ̴̥͑ļ̴̐ĩ̶͕k̵̝̍e̷̘͆ ̶̺̀S̸̱̎k̷̿͜ḭ̴̈t̸͍̍ẗ̵͎́l̵̥͘ḛ̷̂s̷̗̿,̷̢͒" Polar squeaked back, her voice oddly distorted. - It tastes like Skittles. -

Jester let out a maniacal laugh, nearly doubling over and succumbing to his humor. "It worked! It actually worked!"

"Jester, did you just try to poison her?!" 69 barked, whirling around to face him. "That's not funny!"

"S̷̟̉u̷͈͐s̸͖̒t̴̨͋ĕ̵̫n̶̡͐ã̶͓n̴̳̂c̷͔͘e̸͘ͅ," The cub replied, opening her maw and draining the rest of the can into her throat.

"Oh my goodness," 69 muttered, standing up and walking over to the small bear.

"She's okay, I can tell." I chuckled, watching as the robot scooped her up into his arms." Y'know, it'll probably wear off soon. Maybe."

"Did you make this? 69 asked, turning to Jester while gesturing to the empty can of cola.

"I found it in Stick's room. Probably a roofie." Jester replied nonchalantly, lifting his drama mask and chucking a s'more into the void that made up his face. "When I tried it myself, nothing happened to me. Of course I thought it was safe for Polar to drink."

Polar ruffled her fur, her white flanks shuddering. "Whatever that was, it had a real kick to it!"

I put a finger to my chin, pondering for a moment. "What if we name this thing?"

"Okay Mr. Sophisticated, tell us your idea." The masked man chimed in, somehow manifesting another identical can of the beverage.

"Don't drink it," I promptly snatched the can from his hand, flinching as he dared to take it back. "I... I think we should call it..."

Looking up, I expected to see Jester's drama mask contorted into a giddy, manic smile.

Instead, I stared into the void.

The void stared back.

After a long moment of silence, I sighed. "Black Hole... Black Hole Soda."

"Nuh-uh." 69 jumped in, the train of thoughts chugging through my head rolling off the tracks. "Black Hole Sprite. Whatever it is, it seems like sparkling water, but has that kick to it."

I was convinced when the mercenary robot motioned to me with two overly animated finger guns. "Any objections to that, Stick?"

I hesitated a moment before I replied. "...No."

"Great!" Jester exclaimed, coming up behind me and swinging an arm onto my shoulder. "Suppose we mass-produce more of this soda and get this into a business?"

"Pfft- Oh please," I snickered at his remark, playfully shoving him away. "As if we could possibly do that without accidentally blowing up our own factory."

"Maybe we should keep Black Hole Sprite's recipe a secret!" Polar piped up, slipping out of 69's grasp and padding over to us. "Like a family recipe! Except we're really not a family..."

"The not-family family recipe." Jester chimed before promptly flicking my visor up, shoving a s'more into my mouth, and closing the hatch.

Before I could get mad, I heard Polar's muffled laughter as she tried to hold back her giggles, attempting to keep herself together.

Eventually, we all learned the hard way that laughter was infectious.

After all, it was okay to laugh.

At least, on this occasion.

In this friend group.

Just some time to let my guard down and have a bit of fun.

The End.