"You should jump off the top board," Valene dared Skye, pointing to the highest diving board hanging over the deepest end of the pool.

"Hah, you should do comedy, Val."

"Come onnn," she pleaded, playfully elbowing Skye in the side. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"It's scary! Geez, what else do you want me to say? I'm a chicken!"

"Did I hear that someone was feeling paranoid?"

That voice was unmistakable.

"No one's feeling paranoid, Zev, go on, now," Skye lied, rather pitifully.

"Ohh~?" Zev leaned over Skye, locking eyes with him. "I swear I heard you saying you were scared of heights."

"Well, not heights exactly, I just don't like the idea of falling from that high up, especially into water that deEP–"

Skye was cut off by the agile giant lifting him into the air with both hands.

"This should be fun, then," the volon snickered, taking their first steps to the ladder that led to the diving board.

"No! Hell no, let go of me right now!" Skye furiously pleaded.

Zev shifted their grip around, opting to hold Skye by their side with one arm wrapped around him, giving Zev a free hand to climb the tall ladder with. They largely ignored Skye's yelps, only laughing in response.

"I'll light you up so fast! Mark my words! Let me go...!"

"Kyeh-heh-heh! Almost there!" Zev continued.

"Hey! Be careful with him up there!" Valene happily shouted from the ground below.

"Oh, thanks, Val!" Skye angrily yapped back.

A few onlookers from the poolside – namely, Shock, Janice, and Kaori – noticed the commotion and started fervently watching to see how the whole situation would turn out.

Zev stepped foot on the top of the ladder. "Here we are! Aren't you excited, Skye?"

"Fuck you!"

Now approaching the farthest end of the diving board, Zev carefully placed Skye feet-first on end of it, free of Zev's grasp.

"I'm NOT doing this!" Skye continued, not giving up his pleas.

"Would you like to do this your way? Or would you like to do this my way? I'll give you ten seconds to decide."

"Look, Zev." Skye's attitude changed from one of terror to one of desperation. "Don't make me do this. I'll buy you some burgers! A dozen, does that sound good? Polar's got some great deals down there, hey? A-anything you want from his food booth down there, okay? I'll pay!"

"Time's up. Try not to squirm on the way down."

Zev stomped on the middle of the board, bouncing Skye into the air much higher than the board would've normally allowed.

Skye screamed wildly as he awkwardly plummeted into the pool's deep end, flailing crazily the entire time.

"What did I just say? Kyeh-hah!"

Skye surfaced from the water a handful of seconds later, panting and gasping for air.

"Skye! Are you okay?" Even with the water in Skye's ears, he could recognize the giggly voice of his sister, Cassandra.

"No! I almost died!" He started swimming to the edge of the pool. "I gonna kill that guy, I swear..."

"Better watch out!" Zev announced, preparing to jump off the board themself.

"Uh oh," Shock and Kaori exclaimed in unison, watching from the sidelines.

"Watch out, everybody!" Janice yelled from the lifeguard's seat. "Move out of the way, Cassandra."

"Okay!" she cheerfully replied, paddling over to the shallow end of the pool with her inflatable doughnut-shaped raft.

On the opposite end of the pool, Madea, Fraxi, and Daxtra were all lying on their own lounge chairs; Madea prepared for Zev's jump by pulling out an umbrella from under her seat, opening it, and facing it towards the pool.

With a running start, Zev leaped off the board with a cannonball jump, soaring through the air for several seconds.

When they impacted the water, the splash was colossal. A huge pillar of water launched up from where Zev hit the water, as well as an enormous tidal wave spraying everything in every direction.

No one was safe; anyone in eyesight of the pool was destined to get splashed, except for Madea, who was somehow ready for it with her umbrella.

Fraxi slowly leaned up, wiping the water off her face. She took her sunglasses off, only to reveal another pair of glasses, which she also took off in the same fashion. The moment she noticed Zev surface from their jump, she shot them a glare so ferocious, it'd even caught volon's attention.

She held her hands out to her side in front of Daxtra, signing them to "get the gun."

Without delay, Daxtra stepped off their seat and dragged an outrageously large minigun looking weapon from behind their seat. Dax positioned it in front of the chair, aiming it in Zev's direction.

Zev tried to dive under the water, but Daxtra was too quick. A flurry of water balloons fired from the gun fast enough to pelt Zev in the face with several balloons, sending them reeling back under the water.

Satisfied, Fraxi put her sunglasses back on (both pairs) and continued relaxing.