The sound of tears was dwarfing the crashing waves against the ship's bow. Within the captain's quarters sat a bawling Darryl, his crewmates trying to cheer up his sunken mood. "Come on captain, you knew this day was coming."

"That doesn't make it better..." he took a long sniff. His high-pitched robotic voice full of distraught garbles, "It only makes me heart hurt worse."

"She's gonna come back, captain. She has her first break in two months."

"TWO MONTHS!" Darryl fired his double-barrel shotgun upward through the deck. His crew ducked hiding from his sudden outburst and wooden debris, "I don't want to wait two months for my princess." He got up from his seat shambling towards a nearby photo. He stared longingly at the picture showing Darryl and Tick holding a small baby with pink hair swaddled up in a blue fabric. Behind them was a large fire and explosions as what looked like a raid was happening around them, "Ever since we found her alone in that burning orphanage, we knew she was destined for greatness. All the other children in that fire were screaming and crying for someone to save them. But for some reason Penny was silent as a mouse, just watching the carnage. I didn't think she would want to go to school."

"Isn't it good she wants to go to school?" a crew member spoke up.

Darryl picked up a paperweight launching it at his head, "PIRATE SCHOOL! But of course, my darling girl would make friends on land and want to go to school there. She could make friends anywhere." Darryl's mood started to shift as his eyes seemed to shut while talking about Penny, "Oh I remember her first time leading a raid. She was so excited to order you boys around." The men within his cabin chattered their agreement as they reminisced on her youthful excitement. "Remember when she first got her Plunderbuss and loaded it with coins instead of gunpowder."

"Who knew it would be a stroke of genius?!" The other crew members cheered as they agreed with the statement.

"Or when she first invented her mortar turret?" another chimed in as they all laughed thinking about her first raid land mission. "Those poor fools thought they were safe behind their little walls."

"Yarr-har-har." Darryl joined in the laughter, "Yes, Penny makes every adventure on this ship a blast. Now she be staying on land every year with her friends, miles away from us."

The mood started to get bleak once more. "Well sir, what about all the amazing things she learned. Like how to overload her mortar when it explodes for a final volley?"

Darryl picked up a random compass using it to attack the member that spoke out, "I COULD HAVE TAUGHT HER THAT!" Darryl rolled around the room knocking over random items and knocking down random crewmates. When he stopped, the hoops around his barrel body were glowing a bright golden hue. "I didn't go to no landlubber's school to learn this."

The other crew members started to calm him down by returning the story to their favorite moments with Penny. They were laughing and drinking with Darryl, the bot getting drunk on a strange oil they found during their last raid. A member of the crew came through the door announcing the return of Penny's escorts. Darryl cheered as he went to greet his first mate, Tick. When he exited the members still within his quarter started to converse. "Darryl gets way too upset this time of year."

"Yeah but give him a couple weeks, he'll be fine once Penny makes her first visit." They all cheered at the hope of Penny returning sooner rather than later, "Look on the Brightside, at least Tick is always here to cheer him up."

"WHERE THE HELL'S HIS HEAD?!" they heard Darryl slur from the top deck.

~--~

"Nothing, like, feels better than a hot shower in the morning," Emz stepped out of their shared bathroom with a green towel wrapped around her body and hair. She moved for her dresser, an oak wood table with a circular mirror to her right. She started to tend to her face before moving into her closet looking for clothes.

"I prefer my showers cold." Penny was sitting on her bed putting on her signature golden earrings. She looked to her nightstand at the snoozing head of Tick sitting beside her treasure chest alarm clock. She gave him a little pat eliciting a small gurgle from his sleeping skull. A little note beside him reminding him not to leave the room till she returned at 3:30. "It's 9:15, Emz. Better hurry up if you wanna catch breakfast."

"Like wait for me!" she cried as she hastily put on some clothes.

Penny made her way out of their shared room to the main corridor. A young robot with a hard hat and bright fluorescent eyes rode past in a miniature minecart. A girl with blue pigtails and a matching hard hat sitting in the back as they flew down the hall.

Penny started her walk for the commons room but stopped at the commotion coming from their neighbors. "Nita, no don't bite that wire!" the sound of an explosion shook the walls before Jessie walked out of her room with a black smoke cloud spewing out.

"Looks like your morning's been fun."

Nita rushed out of the room with soot around her eyes, "It's been awesome." Jessie patted the wild child's head as their room started to clear up.

"All right I have an hour before I need to leave for my class. Who wants to help me clean our room?" she looked down hoping that Nita would be happy to help but she only turned her nose up at the idea. "If you help me clean now I'll let you blow it up again outside."

"YAY!" she cried as she ran back inside. Jessie waved at Penny before closing their door behind her. Penny continued her walk down the hall watching as some people slowly started to wake up and others were already leaving for their morning classes. She took the stairs down to the main lobby where she saw a girl with shiny blonde hair cooking breakfast for a cactus and bubble vest-wearing robot.

Before she left, she heard a child's sneeze followed by glass shattering. As she walked outside, she could see through the glass window a few of the cactus' thorns piercing through the microwave's glass.

Penny took a deep breath; she loved the salty smell of the Phantom Seas but the fresh air on land was a nice substitute. "I love Rantō Academy." She made her way towards the nearby Serine's diner. A twenty-four-seven restaurant made for the students just a short walk away.

She swiped her card making her way into the main lobby. Around the edges of the building were different themed bars. She went to a custom omelet making station before looking for a place to sit. Most of the tables were already filled with different friend groups and random strangers she had never met. She found her saving grace in the large black pompadour and bright pink earrings of her buddy Bibi.

"Yo, fish outta water, come sit with us," she called when she saw Penny approaching. Penny noticed sitting across from her a short girl with curly orange-tinted hair. The new arrival was strapped in yellow and purple apparel with a matching bee themed backpack. "Penny, meet Bea. Bea, this is Penny."

"Pleasure to meet you, Penny," Bea said reaching out a hand to greet her, her aloof British accent like warm honey on a freshly baked biscuit.

"Aye put 'er there matey!" Penny responded with some comical pirate slang.

Bibi scooted over for her to sit beside them, "We was just talkin' bout you." Penny was interested in the details. "Yeah, Bea here is a big nature buff. Said she wants to travel the world to see all the different bugs an' plants an' stuff."

Bea's eyes lit up, "I heard you travel all over the globe since you live on the sea. Tell me, during your travels have you ever come across the rare Megachile Pluto?"

Penny looked to Bibi for a translation, "Raja ofu, aka Wallace's Giant Bee." Penny was still confused, "It's a really big bee."

"Sorry don't think I've seen it."

"Oh fooey." Bea prodded her food a bit at the disappointment. "Well, what else have you seen during your travels?"

Penny took a second to ponder the question, "Eh the usual things you would expect. Big waves, beaches, booty."

"Booty?" Bea seemed flustered by the statement.

"She means treasure," Bibi translated.

"Well with all that travel you must have visited some pretty wealthy islands. What was that like?" Penny stared off into space, her eyes bugging out as she registered the question. "Penny?" Within her mind, she saw a slideshow of their raids on the wealthy islands across the Phantom Seas. She saw the horrors of countless innocents caught up in their attacks. The different organizations they had to flee after a messy job. "Penny!?"

"Hm?"

"I asked what the wealthy islands are like?"

"They're nice," she said with a twitchy eye.

"Penny! Why didn't you wait for me?" Emz whined as she ran to their table.

"Oh, thank the Jolly Roger. What's up E!" She made a mental note to repay Emz for the unintentional save later. Now it was Emz's turn to be questioned by the curious newcomer. The question to break her being whether she sees a lot of dead bodies? Though Emz handled it much better by looking down at herself and saying, "Every time I look in the mirror. Like, look at me. I'm drop-dead gorgeous."

The group had their share of laughs as they talked the morning away. They lost track of time until Bea checked her phone, "Oh dear, Bibi we should leave our class starts in fifteen minutes."

Penny and Emz started to put their plates away, "Yeah we should probably get going too."

"Oh, your class starts at 10:15 as well?"

They froze, "Umm... say what?"

"Your class... you said it starts soon right. Well, it's 10:00 right now. So your class starts soon, right?"

Penny and Emz looked at each other, a cold sweat forming on their brows. They dashed out the cafeteria in a cloud of pink and purple smoke. "This is, like, the worst first day ever," Emz cried as they rushed down the sidewalk.

"Of all the bilge-sucking, lily-livered things we could do."

"We're Late!" they screeched as they ran to their first class.

~--~

Penny took a long slurp of her peach smoothie. The frozen crystals freezing her overloaded brain. "Ugh, there is nothing like a smoothie from Barley's to make my day better." She and Emz had just finished their first class, History of Brawltopia. They didn't pay much attention since it was the first class of the semester, but they got the info they needed.

"Huuh, you're telling me. That was way too stressful." Emz turned around looking out into the lobby. There was a swarm of people jumping from one shop to the other. She watched as a group of girls left a clothing store giggling to themselves as they made their exit. She made a mental note to drag Penny, Jessie, and Nita to get some new clothes for the girls. "Speaking of class, what do you have next?"

"Chemistry."

"Booo..."

"What about you?"

"Combative Cooking."

Penny was intrigued by the response, "Combative Cooking? Didn't know you liked to cook."

Emz just shrugged, "Figured it'd be fun to learn."

Penny would have pried more but the sound of a stampede of footsteps took her attention. They both looked behind them to see a large group of youths heading their way. At the front of the group (rubbing the crust from her eyes) was Nita with her bear pelt on top of her head.

Penny and Emz smiled at the tiny titan. Deep in their hearts, they envied her. She wasn't even paying the boys any attention, yet they were swarming her as if they were moths and she was their light.

Nita took a seat beside them placing her face down on the countertop. The boys started to take seats beside her before she growled at them scaring them off. Some of the boys still smiling and waving as they ran away. Emz and Penny used all their restraint just to keep smiling at her. "Hey, Nita... rough morning?" Penny asked through gritted teeth.

"Why do all those boys follow me everywhere," she took off her bear pelt scratching her shaggy hair. In the distance, Emz could hear a few boys chattering under their breaths in Nita's direction. One honestly falling into his burger as he lost grip of his chin.

"Like, who knows?" she grumbled.

Penny saw Emz losing her cool, so she redirected the conversation, "So Nita what classes do you have today?"

"Combat Cooking?"

Emz perked up, "You mean Combative Cooking?"

"Yeah, Leon told me it would be fun. Plus, I get to eat food in class."

"Nita we're, like, classmates."

"Really!?" Nita was standing on her stool now.

"Ma'am please don't stand on the stool," the bartender asked.

Nita sat back down, "Oh, can I get the Koalas' Kiss?"

"Coming right up miss," the bartender went to his ingredients allowing the girls to continue conversing.

"Looks like me and Nita get to eat lunch together every Monday," Emz and Nita high fived while Penny voiced her discourse. To her, it wasn't fair that Emz got to have two classes with her friends.

They talked randomly for another five or so minutes until Nita finally got her drink. The green liquid peppered with little black specs and Zoreos on top. She turned around looking out into the lobby as she drank. "Whatcha looking for matey?"

"My brother."

Penny turned around so fast Emz's hair flipped to the opposite side of her head. "When's he supposed to get here."

"He said he would meet me before his next class. He should be here now."

Emz chuckled as she watched the two girls. They both seemed so excited about his arrival. She decided to let them have their fun focusing on her drink and the few minutes she had left before she would need to leave for her next class.

As she refocused on her drink, she noticed a strange oddity on her right. Beside her, she noticed the cashier for a sandwich shop talking to the air. She thought her eyes were playing tricks until she noticed him push a bag forward. The bag started to crumble at the top before it floated away, disappearing behind a wall.

She let a muffled giggle escape her lips alerting Penny, "What's so funny?"

"Uh... nothing. Just saw some guy drop his sandwich." Penny brushed it off deciding to focus on finding Leon. Emz looked towards the wall he vanished behind. He could have this little victory, he wouldn't be able to run for long.

~--~

His heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest. That was too close. He told Nita that he would meet her for brunch, but he never expected Penny to be there. He was just about to turn the corner and call her name until he saw the pink strand of hair leaking out from under her skull cap. He was thankful his invisibility and small stature combined were able to keep him hidden until he was able to grab his food and leave. He would make it up to Nita later, for now, he just wanted to enjoy his sandwich in peace.

"Whatcha' doin'?"

Leon almost dropped his sandwich at the disembodied voice. He looked up to see Jessie staring at him. His heart started to beat twice as fast. If Jessie were to tell Penny of his position, he would have to leave the entire center.

Jessie looked past the corner towards the three girls. Leon could see her thinking about what to do next. He knew that he was done for, so he slowly started to place his sandwich back in its bag. He watched as Jessie leaned against the wall beside him and took a seat on his left. "Don't worry... I won't tell," she said with a smile.

Most of Leon's face was covered by his lime green chameleon hoodie. He preferred it that way, keeping his face hidden from the world. Today he did something rare, something only his family had the luxury of seeing. He reached under his hood and pulled it up just enough to show a single eye. A glowing green crystal color within his iris, "Thank you..." His voice was soft like he was on the verge of tears. Jessie had taken his side and saved his lunch.

Jessie was mesmerized by the sight. She had never seen anything past his mouth. Her mind was focused solely on his iris, those beautiful green orbs. Jessie's trance-like stare was stopped when he put his hood back down choosing to enjoy his sandwich beside her. She joined him in consuming her lunch on the lobby floor.

They exchanged schedules and talked about how their first classes were, Leon, revealing that he only signed up for Geometrical Design on Monday. "Geometrical Design? Isn't that for the game design course?"

"Yeah... figured it'd be fun."

Jessie thought about where to take the conversation next. Her mind drifted back to her friends, "Hey Leon, can I ask you a question?"

Leon took a bite of his sandwich, "...shoot."

"...Do you not like Penny?"

Leon choked before taking a breath of fresh air. He looked to Jessie, her eyes inquisitive and patient. "She's... okay."

"Just okay?"

"What do you want me to say? She's cute, funny, and an amazing fighter. Not to mention that she doesn't let her grades fall just to goof off with her friends. She's one of the coolest girls I know."

Jessie felt a little better hearing that. It meant that Penny's constant chasing of him wasn't in vain, but she was still confused. "Then why don't you tell her you like her?"

Leon twiddled his thumbs, "It's just... she's so aggressive." Jessie didn't understand. "She's just... too honest. Like she isn't scared of putting herself out there. Don't get me wrong, it's one of her best traits, but I don't think I can handle it." Leon pulled his knees up to his chest, "It's intimidating. Like I don't think I could keep up with her. Worse, like she would just get bored of me." Leon thought to himself about the times her feelings scared him but was too embarrassed to tell her.

Jessie understood his feelings, "Leon..." He towards her, "She's not gonna get bored of you. She might be a popular girl, but that doesn't make her like those snobby popular girls. She's super patient and loves to help others, just look at how we take care of Nita." Leon chuckled at the thought of them trying to control her. "Yeah she can be kinda intimidating but you shouldn't fear her. She's super down to earth, plus she really likes you."

"Down to earth? That's easy for you to say, look at you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you're just a younger, chiller, popular girl." Leon turned to face her, his eyes still shielded, "You're smart, funny, cute, and from what Nita says you're a reliable shoulder to lean on. You're even sitting here with me so I can complain about my emotional problems."

Jessie was starting to blush from the onslaught of compliments, with each word he said he seemed to get closer. The lollipop he kept in his mouth getting closer to her nose.

"You can cook, you can clean. I haven't seen Nita clean her room in years but now she tries to keep it neat saying that you taught her how. You're even a genius in combat, that Energizer power was such a stroke of genius. I'm sure you'll come up with something even cooler this year." Leon's lollipop was practically touching the tip of her nose. He backed off nonchalantly allowing Jessie to breathe again. She could feel her heart beating out of her chest from their proximity combined with the onslaught of compliments. She couldn't remember feeling like this before in her life. "I honestly look up to you, both of you. Meanwhile, I'm just the quiet kid that learned how to turn invisible and run away from fights faster."

Jessie took a few deep breaths before taking over, "As nice as that was, you really shouldn't look down on yourself. You have one of the most powerful attacks out of any of the brawlers in this school. And just because your invisibility gives you a speed boost doesn't mean you have to use it to run away." She looked up to the main clock, 12:45. "Oh no, I'm gonna be late for my next class." Jessie shot up about to make her exit. She turned back to look at Leon. He looked like he folded in on himself even more as she began to leave. In a final effort to cheer him up, she wrapped him up in a warm hug. "You're gonna do great, I know it."

She got up running back the way she came out of sight of Penny and her pals. She couldn't tell while making her exit, but Leon was blushing beneath his hoodie. As she made her way outside, she slowed down when she saw her building in the distance. She reached into her backpack pulling out a bottle of water, taking a long swig.

When she felt her temperature cooling down, she thought about all the things Leon was saying. It was nice to hear someone compliment her from time to time. She blushed as she thought about how pretty his emerald green eyes were, "Penny is a really lucky girl. Leon is really cute when he's upset." She snickered as she had an interesting thought, "I wonder how cute he is when he's happy?"

~--~

"Phew. Aye barkeep, the usual," Penny groaned.

"Two weeks in a row. Mr. Barley would be very happy to know he has such regular customers." The bartender dipped behind the bar pulling out some ingredients. Emz laughed as she watched her best friend complain about her day.

"Like what kinda quack of a teacher gives a test on the second week of class?!" Penny took an aggressive sip of her strawberry shortcake smoothie.

"I thought Tuesday & Thursday were your favorite days?"

"Aye tis the best day. But math is the worst," she responded in a high-pitched pirate's voice. "2 o'clock be me saving grace."

They could hear the marching of a crowd approaching them. A large group of girls was making their way towards Penny and Emz. The girls closest to them had their backs turned as they talked to whatever was at the center of the swarm. From the masses burst an enraged Nita yelling at all the girls to go away. They said their goodbyes as they dispersed into the lobby.

"You're pretty popular bucko?"

"Ugh, I don't know why." She took off her bear head, scratching her messy hair. From behind they heard a few girls giggling until Nita turned around growling at them. "They're so annoying," she huffed in her seat.

Emz stabbed at her salad, "You poor thing."

Jessie approached next, "Heard a crowd, figured Nita wouldn't be far behind. What's up?" She took a seat beside the three girls.

Penny spoke up, "Just waiting for our next class."

"Oh, you must mean the best class."

Nita jumped into the conversation, "My favorite class!"

Emz stood up with a drink in hand, "We talking bout~"