Post by Grisha on Aug 7, 2021 19:49:59 GMT -8
They had returned the evening of the next day. It had been long enough for all the Muscle Fuel to get out of Grisha’s system. When they returned home, both Tobias and Grisha had slept in. Lena had breakfast alone, while she waited for one of them to awaken and explain to her why they had lied to her and spent two days away versus one. It had been around lunch when one of them awakened. She wasn’t surprised that it was her father first. Grisha could sleep like a log. Not even the smell of flurry cakes had awakened him.
Tobias swayed down the steps, running his hand across the wall to support himself. His blond hair was splayed, having been cow-licked to death by his pillow, and his eyes were barely open. When he turned the corner to enter the kitchen, he saw Lena sitting at the kitchen table frowning at him. Tobias gave her a bleary-eyed look and muttered groggily, “Morning” as he walked over to the stove to prepare a kettle of coffee.
“It’s afternoon,” she corrected.
Tobias’s blond brows rose in surprise. “Really?”
“You said you and Grisha would only be away for one day. Why didn’t you come back?”
Tobias rubbed the back of his neck and explained, “Sorry. I expected us to return sooner but we made some money at the fight, and then some scouts took an interest in Grisha. They offered us 50,000 zeni to record a commercial.”
Lena blinked. “A commercial?”
Tobias nodded and fed some wood planks into the stove. “It’s advertising. If we had a television set, then we might have been able to see it. Grisha was helping sell a sports drink.”
“Wow; it sounds like you and Grisha had spent some good time together.”
A vein of irritation pulsed on Tobias’s forehead as he could feel Lena grinning impishly at his back—the troll. “Look, I made 50,000 zeni and that’s all that matters.”
Grisha was next to sway lifelessly down the stairs. He approached the kitchen table, removed a chair and plopped into it. His forearms rested on the table top as his head hung like a weight. He had such a headache, and he didn’t know what had caused it. His muscles had felt strange too. He was still wearing the Muscle Fuel shirt, and the seams looked about ready to tear around his shoulders. The shirt was looking smaller. It didn’t cover his stomach below his navel.
“Grisha you look terrible,” Lena said. “They gave you such a small shirt.”
Tobias glanced over his shoulder and frowned suspiciously at it. “It wasn’t that small last night. Grisha, no more drinking those strange drinks. We don’t know what’s in them.”
Had that been it? The multiple cans of that delicious drink he had been chugging last night. “No more,” he agreed. Even though he craved the taste of the Melonol watermelon flavor.
“Do you need anything Grisha? Can I get you some ice?” Lena asked.
Grisha closed his eyes and lifted his head. He sat up in his seat and answered, “Grisha okay.”
He felt something in his pocket and reached inside to remove a slip of paper. He curiously unfurled it to see some letters and numbers. It all seemed like rubbish to him. He tossed the slip on the table and his hand returned inside his pocket to remove more slips. Lena reached out to grasp the paper.
“What’s this?” she asked. Suddenly, the teenager’s face contorted. Her eyes vanished behind flames of rage and her hands started shaking.
After he finished preparing the coffee, Tobias faced the kitchen table and frowned over at his daughter. It looked as though a fit had overtaken her. He pulled out a chair and settled into it. Grabbing one of the papers Grisha had dumped on the table, he opened it and his face instantly tensed in horror. The one he held had a name, a phone number, and a lipstick kiss. Tobias’s eyes darted from Lena’s demonic face to the giant as he was on his other pocket and dumping more of those slips on the table. He didn’t even know he had them! How did he not see this? Tobias suddenly recalled himself hunched over in a dark corner and petting the wad of zeni he had acquired.
Feeling silly, Tobias nervously grinned. No wonder I missed it. He then shouted at Grisha, “Will you stop putting trash on the table!?” He quickly snatched up the slips of paper, balled them up, and tossed them over his shoulder into the stove fire.
“Who-who is…Nina?” Lena asked. Metaphorical flames were flickering from her mouth as she huffed and puffed in her jealousy.
“Nina?” Grisha obliviously repeated.
Lena’s voice dropped a devilish octave as she growled once more, “Who is Nina!?”
Grisha jerked back in his chair in fright upon realizing the danger he was in. “Grisha no know!”
Lena slammed a hand upon the table top and held the crumbled number in her fist. “Were those other slips of paper numbers?”
For some reason her voice hadn’t sounded like a girl’s anymore. It was garbled and hellish, and they somehow still understood it. Both Tobias and Grisha were baring their teeth in a mixture of feelings: fear, anxiety, and the desire to flee.
“Who are these girls, Grisha?” Lena’s gleaming eyes shifted over to her father next as she said, “I thought you said you and Grisha were doing a commercial. Was that a lie? A lie like when you said you both would be gone for one day?”
Tobias was sweating bullets as he was reminded of how psycho her mother was. How did he marry her?! “Uh, no. That wasn’t a lie. I don’t know where Grisha got those numbers. But hey, it’s not like he knew what they were. Grisha can’t read!”
Lena suddenly reverted back into an innocent girl as she stared through half-lidded eyes at the paper slip. Her father had said something sensible. Grisha wouldn’t have known what these slips of paper were even if some dumb girls gave them to him. Balling the slip up, she flicked it into the stove fire next and exhaled a relieved breath. Fanning herself, Lena giggled, “I haven’t gotten that worked up in a while!”
Both Tobias and Grisha had a large sweat drop descending down the sides of their heads. The giant rose from his chair and muttered, “Grisha…go outside. Need air.”
He didn’t look so good and Lena couldn’t help but follow after him. “Grisha, maybe you should go lay down.”
Once outside, Grisha walked a little down the road. There was a sway in his gait that worried Lena as she followed behind him. The Saiyan abruptly stopped, and then dropped to his knees.
“Grisha!” she cried and ran over to his side in time to watch the giant slam his skull into the snow like an ostrich chicken burying its head. “Wah! Grisha! This isn’t good!” She clung to his hip, shaking him back and forth as she yelled, “Come out of there! You need to head back to bed!”
Lena stopped shaking him when she noticed a few village girls looking their way and giggling. Her eyes went to his bottom and she quickly threw herself into the path of their stares. Her own face was glowing red as she shouted, “Be-be gone vultures!”
The other women laughed and mocked, “She’s so possessive!”
“I’m not!”
A strange noise blared overheard. Lena looked up at the cloud-filled sky and saw a mysterious aircraft descending. Fearfully, she crouched and hid behind Grisha, clinging to his pants leg. The Saiyan lifted his head from the hole in the snow and stared suspiciously at the machine. Tobias heard the noise and quickly raced out of the house to see a blue helicopter touching down outside the village.
It had been years since he had seen one come to Kousetsu. Long ago, helicopters used to arrive regularly to drop off supplies. Ever since the White Devils emerged and started wiping out the aid volunteers, they never received supplies again. Tobias could hear the other villagers murmuring, wondering the same thing he was. Were the aid workers back?
The engine was cut and a man in a black and white fur-lined coat stepped out. His two representatives followed behind him like bodyguards as they approached the village. Tobias then recognized the man. It was Stefan Spatzleburg. He blinked in surprise. “What is he doing here? And how did he find this place?” Tobias wondered.
“Dad, who is that?” Lena asked.
Tobias’s eyes turned into flatlines as he grumbled some, “He was the one who directed the commercial Grisha was in.”
Grisha sat back on his calves as chunks of snow tumbled from his head and face. He then rose to his feet as Stefan excitedly raced over to Grisha. “Griiiishaaa~! ♥”
The director darted around him. “You’ve grown since the last time I saw you. Look at this shirt!” He tugged on it gently and heard a small rip. “We’ll have to get you a bigger one! Ha, ha!”
“Stefan, what are you doing here? And how did you find this place?” Tobias asked with crossed arms.
Stefan grinned. “This place wasn’t hard to find. You told my representatives about your home, remember? Where else is there an island full of walruses? Ha, ha! I’ve come to see my rising star. Muscle Fuel was able to make a little quake in the world of bodybuilding thanks to Grisha. Now, I have returned with another offer. I’m making another commercial, but this time it’s on my yacht. We need more girls; more sun; and more machismo!”
Lena’s fist twisted into Grisha’s pants leg. “Girls?” she asked.
“Yes! We have some famous fitness models who took an interest in meeting Grisha after seeing his last commercial.”
“Oh, really?” Lena asked innocently. However, her fist was twisting so tightly into Grisha’s pants that they were starting to come down. Grisha grasped his pants, holding them at his hips as he gave Stefan an anxious look.
“Uh, no girls,” Grisha said.
Lena released his pants then and crossed her arms as she hmphed. Stefan arched a brow at the giant, and then looked down at Lena. He gave her a once over (that she noticed) and reached a hand out to one of his representatives. A can of brawnberry-flavored Muscle Fuel was placed in his hand. He tossed the can over to Grisha. “Here; you could use this. It’ll make you feel better I promise.”
“Hey! We told Grisha he wasn’t going to drink anymo-”
A banded wad of zeni flew and slapped Tobias in the face. The wad peeled off and plopped on top of his crossed arms. Tobias trembled as he felt his willpower tremble like walls prepared to crumble. “Drink it Grisha. It’ll make you feel better.”
Lena glared at her father. “Isn’t that the stuff that made Grisha feel bad to begin with?” She watched Grisha crack open the can and gulp it down. It had felt like a sudden wave of euphoria spreading throughout his skull, washing away his horrible headache and filling his body with refreshed energy.
Grisha’s shoulders rose and then sank as he sighed pleasantly, “So good…”
Stefan grinned. “There’s more on the helicopter. Come on guys! Let’s go make another commercial!”
Lena growled at Stefan with clenched fists: “Grisha and my father aren’t going anywhere. You can’t just come here and try to manipulate everyone with your stupid drinks and money!”
Suddenly, Grisha and Tobias were walking away with him and leaving Lena slack-jawed and abandoned. She stared at them in shock as they all headed toward the helicopter. “You…you jerks,” she growled. Lena marched over to an ax that was embedded in a stump and she marched after the group. “You think you can ignore me?”
The three looked back and tensed in alarm.
“Get to the chopper!” Tobias screamed.
The Muscle Fuel crew sprinted to the helicopter as Lena chased them swinging her ax. “You’re going to go play with some pretty girls, aren’t you!? I’m not cooking for you anymore! Ask your stupid girlfriends to cook!”
The crew quickly piled into the helicopter and the engines were started. The gust from the propellers blew Lena back as she fell on her bottom in the snow. She crossed her arms before her face to guard it from the snow and ice that swirled about. “ASSHOOOO~LES!” she screamed.
Grisha was peeking out the window at her. He sighed in relief as though they all had escaped death. Stefan was wiping away some nervous sweat with a handkerchief. “She’s a fiery one, huh?”
Tobias slumped in his seat, feeling just as relieved. “She gets it from her mother.”
“You’re into some scary women.”
“Tell me about it,” Tobias said with narrowed eyes.
“Lena say no cook no more,” Grisha fearfully told Tobias.
“She’ll cook. She was just trying to make us go back. We won’t be gone long.”
Grisha sighed. He had a bad feeling about all of this. Stefan kicked a cooler over to him that opened to reveal more cans of Muscle Fuel. “This ought to cheer you up, Big Guy!”
The Saiyan dropped to his knees and happily hugged the cooler. Tobias stared suspiciously at it and asked, “Hey. What’s in Muscle Fuel anyway?”
Stefan held up a finger before his lips. “It’s a secret formula. Sssh!”
“Ssssh!” Grish copied, holding a finger up to his own lips as he shushed Tobias.
Tobias frowned at Grisha and the cooler. He didn’t like any of it. It seemed to create an addiction. Even in someone like Grisha who could drink more beer than any man he knew.
When they reached the yacht, Grisha was practically radiating with energy. The helicopter had landed on the ship, while it was in the middle of the Southern Ocean. There were fitness models fishing, posing for photographers, scuba diving, and playing on board. If Tobias were a younger man, it would have been paradise.
“Hey there ladies! I brought along the Man of the Hour,” Stefan announced.
Grisha was suddenly surrounded by girls wearing almost nothing. His eyes were darting all over, capturing things he didn’t know girls even had.
He’s so handsome!
And strong!
Flex, big boy!
Steam shot from Grisha’s nostrils and he closed his eyes. His brows crashed together upon his red, glowing face and he curled his arms upward causing his chest, arms, and lats to swell. The Muscle Fuel shirt finally exploded off of him, causing all of the fitness models to squeal in delight. Tobias, all of a sudden, felt like Lena. He raced over to slide between the models and Grisha.
“All right. That’s enough. Let’s calm down ladies!” he growled. Stefan lobbed another wad of cash at the side of Tobias’s face, and Tobias quickly caught it before it fell to the deck. Walking away from Grisha, he bade over his shoulder, “See you around Grisha. Don’t cause any trouble.”
Grisha gazed at Tobias in confusion before Stefan approached him with a glass of Muscle Fuel and ice. A tiny umbrella was resting on the side of it. “This is great, huh? I bet you’ve never been on a boat as nice as this one, and with all of these beautiful girls!”
Grisha recalled that one time and blushed. Stefan saw the rose rise to the giant’s cheeks and shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever! Let’s make a commercial. We’ll start with you lifting some heavy weights. The ladies around you start taking interest in you. You drink a can of Muscle Fuel, and then they’re suddenly all over you, and you start lifting them!”
Stefan’s arm shot out dramatically toward the water. Grisha glanced off in the direction it happened to be pointing before glancing back at the director. “Jet skis! You’re in the water. You got girls riding jet skis, and then when they see you drink some Muscle Fuel. Now you got hot girls on the jet ski with you! Yeah! It’ll be great. Let’s do it!”
The Saiyan looked around at everyone else who seemed to understand what was going on. He thought Stefan was trying to tell him a story. He was a terrible storyteller.
“All right; over here!” Stefan led Grisha and the fitness models over to a barbell stacked with pure 45s. He looked at Grisha and the weight and scratched his head. “I figured you being a big guy that this wouldn’t be too difficult.” Even though I don’t lift, and so I don’t really know what would be considered too heavy, ha!
Grisha walked over to the barbell and grasped it with one hand. He picked it up as though it were made out of hollow plastic and Stefan’s mouth dropped while the fitness models cheered in admiration. The Saiyan gave them all a bewildered look. Had he done it right?
“Wow; you’re strong! You’re making that barbell look like a baton. Use both hands Grisha. We want our viewers to be convinced that they can get that strong by drinking MUSCLE FUEL! You stand there and pump iron! All right everybody; positions! 3, 2, 1…ACTION!”
The commercial began with a gold-blonde fitness model staring at the muscular Saiyan while he performed a series of barbell curls. She was performing her own curls with dumbbells. The corner of her lip quirked in intrigue as she watched him set down the barbell to grab a can of Muscle Fuel. After Grisha took a few gulps from it, there were four fitness models suddenly around him. Grisha crouched to pick up the barbell again and there were two models sitting on each end posing, while one was posing in front of him with her hands pressed against his hard stomach, and another standing behind him with her hands against his back. The girl behind him looked at the camera and asked, “What fuels your muscles?”
CUT!
Stefan was frantically kicking his feet in his director’s chair. “I LOVE IT; LOVE IT; LOVE IT! YES, YES, YES! THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AT THE TOP! TO BE A MASTERPIECE OF MANLY CREATION! ONWARD! ONWARD TO THE NEXT COMMERCIAL WHILE MY MUSE IS STILL STROO~NG!”
Tobias was lying in a lounger with his arms crossed behind his head. The boat staff had provided him some sunglasses and sunscreen as he watched from the balcony the crew moving over to some jet skis. He sipped on a red margarita and sighed, “They’re about to learn that Grisha has never operated a jet ski in his life.”
With two stacks of bills in his lap, he felt too rich to care. Tobias grinned and shook with laughter. It felt so nice to not give a damn.
Stefan walked with Grisha over to the side of the boat. There was a ladder leading down to a jet ski, bobbing in the surf. “Have you ever operated a jet ski before?”
Grisha stared at the machine and smiled sheepishly, “No.”
Stefan frowned and grasped his chin. Good thing I asked first. I wouldn’t want him making a fool out of himself in front of all of these models.
Yahoo! Looks like we got ourselves another treasure trove!
All eyes darted to three bandits racing by on monstrous sharks. Tobias sat up in the lounger as he remembered Old Man Flurry telling them once about some bandits riding sharks. He thought Grisha and Barlei had handled them. Grisha was also frowning at the bandits with his hands on his hips.
Stefan shook his fists at the bandits. “Hey you punks! Knock it off! We’re trying to film a commercial.”
Film this!
One of the bandits pointed his harpoon gun at Stefan and fired the spear. Stefan paled and before the harpoon could reach him, Grisha reached out and snagged it by the shaft. The director blinked and squeaked in fright when he saw the spade an inch from his face. The giant saw that there was a line trailing from the end of the harpoon and with one strong yank, he jerked the bandit from the back of his shark with so much might that he went soaring skyward. The bandit screamed as he went flipping over the yacht to land on the other side of it with a splash.
Stefan’s mouth was hanging open. He glanced over at his cameraman and said, “Please tell me you caught all of that?”
The cameraman tensed and decided to follow Grisha as he briskly walked along the side of the boat, watching the two remaining bandits circle it. A second bandit turned and started charging toward the boat. He and his shark dove under water, traveling like a torpedo toward it only to immediately emerge. The bandit and his giant shark jumped over the deck. The shark’s teeth splayed to bite Grisha, while the bandit pointed his harpoon gun at one of the models. The Saiyan’s lips rolled back as he bared his teeth in anger. A growl rumbled from behind his teeth and exploded into a roar as his large fist hooked around to slam into the shark’s jaw. The harpoon struck the deck as the shark and rider went wildly spinning off to the side.
All jaws but Tobias’s dropped upon witnessing the spectacle. The remaining bandit cringed in panic before he and his shark fled the scene. Grisha glanced down at his knuckles as though checking them for blood before he turned to face the others. Stefan was suddenly before him hands raised up toward his face. He grasped Grisha’s cheeks as stars shined in his eyes.
“That…That was the most macho thing…the most beautiful thing…I have ever seen. Thank you.” Stefan abruptly startled Grisha by locking his arms about his waist. He started to cry tears of joy. “O Kamisama thank you! It was exactly what we needed! The commercials are finished!”
The second commercial had been a short. They had managed to cut and add a scene of Grisha drinking some Muscle Fuel before a giant monster shark suddenly flew out of the ocean to try and bite him. Grisha, in dramatic slow motion, punched the shark and sent it flying back into the ocean. It ended with, “Muscle Fuel, is it in you?”
After the successful filming, Grisha and Tobias were dropped off back at Kousetsu Village, and the days following their return had been a struggle. Tobias had been rich, but there weren’t any stores in Kousetsu for him to spend his money. He would have needed to travel to South City every time, and the logistics weren’t easy even with Grisha’s help. Grisha had been trying to recover from the Muscle Fuel withdrawals. He was lying in bed out of commission and Lena wasn’t caring for him. She had warned them that she wasn’t going to cook anymore, and they had thought she was lying. Tobias tried to cook for both of them but with Grisha being unable to hunt, they didn’t get much food. He entered Grisha’s room, staring at the Saiyan who looked like a shriveled-up husk.
“I told you not to drink it,” Tobias said before he sat down and sprawled across the guest room floor.
Grisha coughed, a dry cough and rasped, “Lena cook?”
“No,” Tobias answered weakly. “I could eat a whole walrus right now.”
“Grisha too.”
Lena marched over to the doorway with a frown. She gazed at the two pathetic men, holding two plates of grilled fish with rice. “Geez, you two are pathetic. What would you do without me?”
She set the plates on the floor and Tobias immediately rocked forward to lunge at them. He didn’t care if one had been for Grisha. He shoveled handfuls of fish and rice into his mouth. Grisha sat up next and lunged at Tobias. The two snarled and barked at each other like two dogs fighting over a kill. A sweat bead slid down the back of Lena’s head as she stared at them both in disbelief.
WC: 4,028
Tobias swayed down the steps, running his hand across the wall to support himself. His blond hair was splayed, having been cow-licked to death by his pillow, and his eyes were barely open. When he turned the corner to enter the kitchen, he saw Lena sitting at the kitchen table frowning at him. Tobias gave her a bleary-eyed look and muttered groggily, “Morning” as he walked over to the stove to prepare a kettle of coffee.
“It’s afternoon,” she corrected.
Tobias’s blond brows rose in surprise. “Really?”
“You said you and Grisha would only be away for one day. Why didn’t you come back?”
Tobias rubbed the back of his neck and explained, “Sorry. I expected us to return sooner but we made some money at the fight, and then some scouts took an interest in Grisha. They offered us 50,000 zeni to record a commercial.”
Lena blinked. “A commercial?”
Tobias nodded and fed some wood planks into the stove. “It’s advertising. If we had a television set, then we might have been able to see it. Grisha was helping sell a sports drink.”
“Wow; it sounds like you and Grisha had spent some good time together.”
A vein of irritation pulsed on Tobias’s forehead as he could feel Lena grinning impishly at his back—the troll. “Look, I made 50,000 zeni and that’s all that matters.”
Grisha was next to sway lifelessly down the stairs. He approached the kitchen table, removed a chair and plopped into it. His forearms rested on the table top as his head hung like a weight. He had such a headache, and he didn’t know what had caused it. His muscles had felt strange too. He was still wearing the Muscle Fuel shirt, and the seams looked about ready to tear around his shoulders. The shirt was looking smaller. It didn’t cover his stomach below his navel.
“Grisha you look terrible,” Lena said. “They gave you such a small shirt.”
Tobias glanced over his shoulder and frowned suspiciously at it. “It wasn’t that small last night. Grisha, no more drinking those strange drinks. We don’t know what’s in them.”
Had that been it? The multiple cans of that delicious drink he had been chugging last night. “No more,” he agreed. Even though he craved the taste of the Melonol watermelon flavor.
“Do you need anything Grisha? Can I get you some ice?” Lena asked.
Grisha closed his eyes and lifted his head. He sat up in his seat and answered, “Grisha okay.”
He felt something in his pocket and reached inside to remove a slip of paper. He curiously unfurled it to see some letters and numbers. It all seemed like rubbish to him. He tossed the slip on the table and his hand returned inside his pocket to remove more slips. Lena reached out to grasp the paper.
“What’s this?” she asked. Suddenly, the teenager’s face contorted. Her eyes vanished behind flames of rage and her hands started shaking.
After he finished preparing the coffee, Tobias faced the kitchen table and frowned over at his daughter. It looked as though a fit had overtaken her. He pulled out a chair and settled into it. Grabbing one of the papers Grisha had dumped on the table, he opened it and his face instantly tensed in horror. The one he held had a name, a phone number, and a lipstick kiss. Tobias’s eyes darted from Lena’s demonic face to the giant as he was on his other pocket and dumping more of those slips on the table. He didn’t even know he had them! How did he not see this? Tobias suddenly recalled himself hunched over in a dark corner and petting the wad of zeni he had acquired.
Feeling silly, Tobias nervously grinned. No wonder I missed it. He then shouted at Grisha, “Will you stop putting trash on the table!?” He quickly snatched up the slips of paper, balled them up, and tossed them over his shoulder into the stove fire.
“Who-who is…Nina?” Lena asked. Metaphorical flames were flickering from her mouth as she huffed and puffed in her jealousy.
“Nina?” Grisha obliviously repeated.
Lena’s voice dropped a devilish octave as she growled once more, “Who is Nina!?”
Grisha jerked back in his chair in fright upon realizing the danger he was in. “Grisha no know!”
Lena slammed a hand upon the table top and held the crumbled number in her fist. “Were those other slips of paper numbers?”
For some reason her voice hadn’t sounded like a girl’s anymore. It was garbled and hellish, and they somehow still understood it. Both Tobias and Grisha were baring their teeth in a mixture of feelings: fear, anxiety, and the desire to flee.
“Who are these girls, Grisha?” Lena’s gleaming eyes shifted over to her father next as she said, “I thought you said you and Grisha were doing a commercial. Was that a lie? A lie like when you said you both would be gone for one day?”
Tobias was sweating bullets as he was reminded of how psycho her mother was. How did he marry her?! “Uh, no. That wasn’t a lie. I don’t know where Grisha got those numbers. But hey, it’s not like he knew what they were. Grisha can’t read!”
Lena suddenly reverted back into an innocent girl as she stared through half-lidded eyes at the paper slip. Her father had said something sensible. Grisha wouldn’t have known what these slips of paper were even if some dumb girls gave them to him. Balling the slip up, she flicked it into the stove fire next and exhaled a relieved breath. Fanning herself, Lena giggled, “I haven’t gotten that worked up in a while!”
Both Tobias and Grisha had a large sweat drop descending down the sides of their heads. The giant rose from his chair and muttered, “Grisha…go outside. Need air.”
He didn’t look so good and Lena couldn’t help but follow after him. “Grisha, maybe you should go lay down.”
Once outside, Grisha walked a little down the road. There was a sway in his gait that worried Lena as she followed behind him. The Saiyan abruptly stopped, and then dropped to his knees.
“Grisha!” she cried and ran over to his side in time to watch the giant slam his skull into the snow like an ostrich chicken burying its head. “Wah! Grisha! This isn’t good!” She clung to his hip, shaking him back and forth as she yelled, “Come out of there! You need to head back to bed!”
Lena stopped shaking him when she noticed a few village girls looking their way and giggling. Her eyes went to his bottom and she quickly threw herself into the path of their stares. Her own face was glowing red as she shouted, “Be-be gone vultures!”
The other women laughed and mocked, “She’s so possessive!”
“I’m not!”
A strange noise blared overheard. Lena looked up at the cloud-filled sky and saw a mysterious aircraft descending. Fearfully, she crouched and hid behind Grisha, clinging to his pants leg. The Saiyan lifted his head from the hole in the snow and stared suspiciously at the machine. Tobias heard the noise and quickly raced out of the house to see a blue helicopter touching down outside the village.
It had been years since he had seen one come to Kousetsu. Long ago, helicopters used to arrive regularly to drop off supplies. Ever since the White Devils emerged and started wiping out the aid volunteers, they never received supplies again. Tobias could hear the other villagers murmuring, wondering the same thing he was. Were the aid workers back?
The engine was cut and a man in a black and white fur-lined coat stepped out. His two representatives followed behind him like bodyguards as they approached the village. Tobias then recognized the man. It was Stefan Spatzleburg. He blinked in surprise. “What is he doing here? And how did he find this place?” Tobias wondered.
“Dad, who is that?” Lena asked.
Tobias’s eyes turned into flatlines as he grumbled some, “He was the one who directed the commercial Grisha was in.”
Grisha sat back on his calves as chunks of snow tumbled from his head and face. He then rose to his feet as Stefan excitedly raced over to Grisha. “Griiiishaaa~! ♥”
The director darted around him. “You’ve grown since the last time I saw you. Look at this shirt!” He tugged on it gently and heard a small rip. “We’ll have to get you a bigger one! Ha, ha!”
“Stefan, what are you doing here? And how did you find this place?” Tobias asked with crossed arms.
Stefan grinned. “This place wasn’t hard to find. You told my representatives about your home, remember? Where else is there an island full of walruses? Ha, ha! I’ve come to see my rising star. Muscle Fuel was able to make a little quake in the world of bodybuilding thanks to Grisha. Now, I have returned with another offer. I’m making another commercial, but this time it’s on my yacht. We need more girls; more sun; and more machismo!”
Lena’s fist twisted into Grisha’s pants leg. “Girls?” she asked.
“Yes! We have some famous fitness models who took an interest in meeting Grisha after seeing his last commercial.”
“Oh, really?” Lena asked innocently. However, her fist was twisting so tightly into Grisha’s pants that they were starting to come down. Grisha grasped his pants, holding them at his hips as he gave Stefan an anxious look.
“Uh, no girls,” Grisha said.
Lena released his pants then and crossed her arms as she hmphed. Stefan arched a brow at the giant, and then looked down at Lena. He gave her a once over (that she noticed) and reached a hand out to one of his representatives. A can of brawnberry-flavored Muscle Fuel was placed in his hand. He tossed the can over to Grisha. “Here; you could use this. It’ll make you feel better I promise.”
“Hey! We told Grisha he wasn’t going to drink anymo-”
A banded wad of zeni flew and slapped Tobias in the face. The wad peeled off and plopped on top of his crossed arms. Tobias trembled as he felt his willpower tremble like walls prepared to crumble. “Drink it Grisha. It’ll make you feel better.”
Lena glared at her father. “Isn’t that the stuff that made Grisha feel bad to begin with?” She watched Grisha crack open the can and gulp it down. It had felt like a sudden wave of euphoria spreading throughout his skull, washing away his horrible headache and filling his body with refreshed energy.
Grisha’s shoulders rose and then sank as he sighed pleasantly, “So good…”
Stefan grinned. “There’s more on the helicopter. Come on guys! Let’s go make another commercial!”
Lena growled at Stefan with clenched fists: “Grisha and my father aren’t going anywhere. You can’t just come here and try to manipulate everyone with your stupid drinks and money!”
Suddenly, Grisha and Tobias were walking away with him and leaving Lena slack-jawed and abandoned. She stared at them in shock as they all headed toward the helicopter. “You…you jerks,” she growled. Lena marched over to an ax that was embedded in a stump and she marched after the group. “You think you can ignore me?”
The three looked back and tensed in alarm.
“Get to the chopper!” Tobias screamed.
The Muscle Fuel crew sprinted to the helicopter as Lena chased them swinging her ax. “You’re going to go play with some pretty girls, aren’t you!? I’m not cooking for you anymore! Ask your stupid girlfriends to cook!”
The crew quickly piled into the helicopter and the engines were started. The gust from the propellers blew Lena back as she fell on her bottom in the snow. She crossed her arms before her face to guard it from the snow and ice that swirled about. “ASSHOOOO~LES!” she screamed.
Grisha was peeking out the window at her. He sighed in relief as though they all had escaped death. Stefan was wiping away some nervous sweat with a handkerchief. “She’s a fiery one, huh?”
Tobias slumped in his seat, feeling just as relieved. “She gets it from her mother.”
“You’re into some scary women.”
“Tell me about it,” Tobias said with narrowed eyes.
“Lena say no cook no more,” Grisha fearfully told Tobias.
“She’ll cook. She was just trying to make us go back. We won’t be gone long.”
Grisha sighed. He had a bad feeling about all of this. Stefan kicked a cooler over to him that opened to reveal more cans of Muscle Fuel. “This ought to cheer you up, Big Guy!”
The Saiyan dropped to his knees and happily hugged the cooler. Tobias stared suspiciously at it and asked, “Hey. What’s in Muscle Fuel anyway?”
Stefan held up a finger before his lips. “It’s a secret formula. Sssh!”
“Ssssh!” Grish copied, holding a finger up to his own lips as he shushed Tobias.
Tobias frowned at Grisha and the cooler. He didn’t like any of it. It seemed to create an addiction. Even in someone like Grisha who could drink more beer than any man he knew.
When they reached the yacht, Grisha was practically radiating with energy. The helicopter had landed on the ship, while it was in the middle of the Southern Ocean. There were fitness models fishing, posing for photographers, scuba diving, and playing on board. If Tobias were a younger man, it would have been paradise.
“Hey there ladies! I brought along the Man of the Hour,” Stefan announced.
Grisha was suddenly surrounded by girls wearing almost nothing. His eyes were darting all over, capturing things he didn’t know girls even had.
He’s so handsome!
And strong!
Flex, big boy!
Steam shot from Grisha’s nostrils and he closed his eyes. His brows crashed together upon his red, glowing face and he curled his arms upward causing his chest, arms, and lats to swell. The Muscle Fuel shirt finally exploded off of him, causing all of the fitness models to squeal in delight. Tobias, all of a sudden, felt like Lena. He raced over to slide between the models and Grisha.
“All right. That’s enough. Let’s calm down ladies!” he growled. Stefan lobbed another wad of cash at the side of Tobias’s face, and Tobias quickly caught it before it fell to the deck. Walking away from Grisha, he bade over his shoulder, “See you around Grisha. Don’t cause any trouble.”
Grisha gazed at Tobias in confusion before Stefan approached him with a glass of Muscle Fuel and ice. A tiny umbrella was resting on the side of it. “This is great, huh? I bet you’ve never been on a boat as nice as this one, and with all of these beautiful girls!”
Grisha recalled that one time and blushed. Stefan saw the rose rise to the giant’s cheeks and shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever! Let’s make a commercial. We’ll start with you lifting some heavy weights. The ladies around you start taking interest in you. You drink a can of Muscle Fuel, and then they’re suddenly all over you, and you start lifting them!”
Stefan’s arm shot out dramatically toward the water. Grisha glanced off in the direction it happened to be pointing before glancing back at the director. “Jet skis! You’re in the water. You got girls riding jet skis, and then when they see you drink some Muscle Fuel. Now you got hot girls on the jet ski with you! Yeah! It’ll be great. Let’s do it!”
The Saiyan looked around at everyone else who seemed to understand what was going on. He thought Stefan was trying to tell him a story. He was a terrible storyteller.
“All right; over here!” Stefan led Grisha and the fitness models over to a barbell stacked with pure 45s. He looked at Grisha and the weight and scratched his head. “I figured you being a big guy that this wouldn’t be too difficult.” Even though I don’t lift, and so I don’t really know what would be considered too heavy, ha!
Grisha walked over to the barbell and grasped it with one hand. He picked it up as though it were made out of hollow plastic and Stefan’s mouth dropped while the fitness models cheered in admiration. The Saiyan gave them all a bewildered look. Had he done it right?
“Wow; you’re strong! You’re making that barbell look like a baton. Use both hands Grisha. We want our viewers to be convinced that they can get that strong by drinking MUSCLE FUEL! You stand there and pump iron! All right everybody; positions! 3, 2, 1…ACTION!”
The commercial began with a gold-blonde fitness model staring at the muscular Saiyan while he performed a series of barbell curls. She was performing her own curls with dumbbells. The corner of her lip quirked in intrigue as she watched him set down the barbell to grab a can of Muscle Fuel. After Grisha took a few gulps from it, there were four fitness models suddenly around him. Grisha crouched to pick up the barbell again and there were two models sitting on each end posing, while one was posing in front of him with her hands pressed against his hard stomach, and another standing behind him with her hands against his back. The girl behind him looked at the camera and asked, “What fuels your muscles?”
CUT!
Stefan was frantically kicking his feet in his director’s chair. “I LOVE IT; LOVE IT; LOVE IT! YES, YES, YES! THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AT THE TOP! TO BE A MASTERPIECE OF MANLY CREATION! ONWARD! ONWARD TO THE NEXT COMMERCIAL WHILE MY MUSE IS STILL STROO~NG!”
Tobias was lying in a lounger with his arms crossed behind his head. The boat staff had provided him some sunglasses and sunscreen as he watched from the balcony the crew moving over to some jet skis. He sipped on a red margarita and sighed, “They’re about to learn that Grisha has never operated a jet ski in his life.”
With two stacks of bills in his lap, he felt too rich to care. Tobias grinned and shook with laughter. It felt so nice to not give a damn.
Stefan walked with Grisha over to the side of the boat. There was a ladder leading down to a jet ski, bobbing in the surf. “Have you ever operated a jet ski before?”
Grisha stared at the machine and smiled sheepishly, “No.”
Stefan frowned and grasped his chin. Good thing I asked first. I wouldn’t want him making a fool out of himself in front of all of these models.
Yahoo! Looks like we got ourselves another treasure trove!
All eyes darted to three bandits racing by on monstrous sharks. Tobias sat up in the lounger as he remembered Old Man Flurry telling them once about some bandits riding sharks. He thought Grisha and Barlei had handled them. Grisha was also frowning at the bandits with his hands on his hips.
Stefan shook his fists at the bandits. “Hey you punks! Knock it off! We’re trying to film a commercial.”
Film this!
One of the bandits pointed his harpoon gun at Stefan and fired the spear. Stefan paled and before the harpoon could reach him, Grisha reached out and snagged it by the shaft. The director blinked and squeaked in fright when he saw the spade an inch from his face. The giant saw that there was a line trailing from the end of the harpoon and with one strong yank, he jerked the bandit from the back of his shark with so much might that he went soaring skyward. The bandit screamed as he went flipping over the yacht to land on the other side of it with a splash.
Stefan’s mouth was hanging open. He glanced over at his cameraman and said, “Please tell me you caught all of that?”
The cameraman tensed and decided to follow Grisha as he briskly walked along the side of the boat, watching the two remaining bandits circle it. A second bandit turned and started charging toward the boat. He and his shark dove under water, traveling like a torpedo toward it only to immediately emerge. The bandit and his giant shark jumped over the deck. The shark’s teeth splayed to bite Grisha, while the bandit pointed his harpoon gun at one of the models. The Saiyan’s lips rolled back as he bared his teeth in anger. A growl rumbled from behind his teeth and exploded into a roar as his large fist hooked around to slam into the shark’s jaw. The harpoon struck the deck as the shark and rider went wildly spinning off to the side.
All jaws but Tobias’s dropped upon witnessing the spectacle. The remaining bandit cringed in panic before he and his shark fled the scene. Grisha glanced down at his knuckles as though checking them for blood before he turned to face the others. Stefan was suddenly before him hands raised up toward his face. He grasped Grisha’s cheeks as stars shined in his eyes.
“That…That was the most macho thing…the most beautiful thing…I have ever seen. Thank you.” Stefan abruptly startled Grisha by locking his arms about his waist. He started to cry tears of joy. “O Kamisama thank you! It was exactly what we needed! The commercials are finished!”
The second commercial had been a short. They had managed to cut and add a scene of Grisha drinking some Muscle Fuel before a giant monster shark suddenly flew out of the ocean to try and bite him. Grisha, in dramatic slow motion, punched the shark and sent it flying back into the ocean. It ended with, “Muscle Fuel, is it in you?”
After the successful filming, Grisha and Tobias were dropped off back at Kousetsu Village, and the days following their return had been a struggle. Tobias had been rich, but there weren’t any stores in Kousetsu for him to spend his money. He would have needed to travel to South City every time, and the logistics weren’t easy even with Grisha’s help. Grisha had been trying to recover from the Muscle Fuel withdrawals. He was lying in bed out of commission and Lena wasn’t caring for him. She had warned them that she wasn’t going to cook anymore, and they had thought she was lying. Tobias tried to cook for both of them but with Grisha being unable to hunt, they didn’t get much food. He entered Grisha’s room, staring at the Saiyan who looked like a shriveled-up husk.
“I told you not to drink it,” Tobias said before he sat down and sprawled across the guest room floor.
Grisha coughed, a dry cough and rasped, “Lena cook?”
“No,” Tobias answered weakly. “I could eat a whole walrus right now.”
“Grisha too.”
Lena marched over to the doorway with a frown. She gazed at the two pathetic men, holding two plates of grilled fish with rice. “Geez, you two are pathetic. What would you do without me?”
She set the plates on the floor and Tobias immediately rocked forward to lunge at them. He didn’t care if one had been for Grisha. He shoveled handfuls of fish and rice into his mouth. Grisha sat up next and lunged at Tobias. The two snarled and barked at each other like two dogs fighting over a kill. A sweat bead slid down the back of Lena’s head as she stared at them both in disbelief.
WC: 4,028