Aru started out of her bedroom window as the sun started to go down. "Mini, Brynne, that boy is back!"

Brynne shot a look at her. "Calm down. Just because he's been following Jemisha every night doesn't mean something bad."

"You're making it sound like he's stalking her," Mini informed her politely.

Aru stood up as an idea started to take place. "What if we follow them tonight? Then we could finally find out what they're doing!"

"No way," Brynne said. "We'd have no time to prepare unless we went by ourselves and I want to finish cooking this lasagna- Aru, who are you on the phone with?"

"She called Aiden while you were talking," Mini replied, sighing. "I guess this means we're going on an adventure tonight. I'll see if Rudy can come."

Brynne stared at Mini and Aru in shock. "Am I the only one with any common sense left? What has this world come to?"

"Okay, Aiden should be here in about a minute, so let's get a move one!" Aru reported.

"And Rudy should be here in-" Mini paused. "I just told him to track our location on our phones since he'll probably be late again."

Brynne gave up. "Fine, but at least let me get the lasagna out of the oven first!"

~

Aru, Aiden, Brynne, and Mini stood outside the museum doors. "If we hurry, we can still catch him," Aru said.

"Why does spying involve so much running?" Mini asked as she struggled to keep up as they headed in the general direction of where Aru was pretty sure she saw the boy go.

"You'll survive," Brynne told her as she jogged pass without breaking a sweat.

"Easy for you to say," she complained.

All too soon (but not soon enough for Mini), they arrived at the park entrance and saw the boy and Jemisha greet each other. They hid behind some nearby bushes.

"You took a while to get here today, Ezra," Jemisha noted.

The boy, Ezra, Aru reminded herself, gave her a small smile. "Sorry about that. I lost track of time. There's something I wanted to tell you. I've been trying to find the right words ever since we met."

"Really?" Jemisha asked curiously. "Do I get a hint to what it might be?"

"Let's start our walk first," he offered. She nodded and walked in ahead of him. Ezra cast a nervous glance behind him as if he knew Aru was watching him.

When Ezra and Jemisha disappeared from sight, Brynne started to speak. "Maybe you were right, Aru."

Aru pumped her fists up in the air. "The most horrifying sentence in the English language," Aiden commented, dodging a punch from Aru.

"Whether or not Aru was right, that kid is definitely up to something," Mini said, trying to get the conversation back on track.

Aiden frowned. "What if he just wants to tell Jemisha he has a crush on her or something? He might not be evil."

Aru pretended to consider this. "Nah, he's definitely bad news. Let's go in before we lose them."

The Potatoes stealthily made their way into the heart of the park until they found Ezra and Jemisha again.

"Listen," Ezra was saying. "You might not know believe what I'm about to tell you, and you might laugh at me and call me crazy, but-"

"Ezra, there is no way you could be more mentally unstable than me," Jemisha reminded him not unkindly.

Ezra released his breath. "Then you have to listen when I say this. Jemisha, I-"

His sentence was cut short by something giant scuttling nearby. Aru and the others readied themselves by touching the ordinary accessories that doubled as weapons. Electricity ran over her arm from Vajra, her bracelet/lightning bolt/ping pong ball. It's a long story so don't even bother asking. Ezra had pulled out a bronze knife that had been concealed in his boot while Jemisha looked like she might bolt at any moment.

As they watched in wonder and horror, a giant scorpion appeared from behind the trees. He roared and eyed Jemisha as if thinking yummy, what a tasty snack before I devour all the other delicious humans here too!

Ezra went on the attack seconds after the monster appeared. Seeing him fight that thing made her remember that she was supposed to be doing that too. The potatoes rushed out of the bushes to help, but Jemisha held Aru back. Her gaze seemed to freeze her in place, and it seemed to be getting darker around her. "Explain this now," Jemisha demanded.

Aru squirmed like she was in trouble. "So I might have, um, been spying one you? And I- uh- I might have followed your friend here?"

Jemisha scowled. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't be plotting your death right now?"

"Um, well, there's kinda a giant scorpion that might do that for you," Aru replied nervously.

"Aru, what are you doing?" Brynne asked/yelled. "We need your help!"

"Go," Jemisha commanded. That seemed to spur her on because Aru was gone in a moment later, Vajra already in her hands.

"Come and get be, you big oaf!" she taunted. Sure enough, the overgrown scorpion turned to her and started attacking her.

They did a strange dance of a while, the Potatoes, the scorpion, and Ezra with Jemisha observing from afar. Try to get a hit in, block, parry, don't get stabbed by the tail. This went on for a while until Ezra was able to stab it in the eye with his knife. The monster dissipated into dust.

"How'd you do that?" Brynne asked in amazement.

Ezra shrugged. "My weapon's made out of celestial bronze. It does a wonder on monsters. Nice mace."

Brynne nodded her thanks as Jemisha approached. "Who are y'all and what just happened?"

"I was trying to tell you earlier," Ezra explained.

"And them?" she asked, pointing at the Potatoes.

"We're not with him," Mini offered.

"We're Aru, Brynne, Aiden, and Mini," Aru replied.

Jemisha glared at everyone as Ezra responded. "We have to go now. I'll explain on the way."

"On the way to where?" Aiden asked.

Ezra glanced at them. His face was twisted with worry and anxiety. "You all should come too."