"Cheer Up Ane Operation"

Ane opened his eyes to MM punching him in the stomach. "You're useless!" MM yelled; chuckling. Ane spat blood and looked terrified as he fell into a pool of what seemed to be his blood. Linx stomped on him; frowning.

"Me? Your teacher?" Linx inquired; laughing and holding his face. "Too weak. Too weak. Too weak. TOO WEAK!" Linx yelled as he continuously stomped on Ane.

"S-stop it!" Ane screamed as he woke up underwater. He quickly swam up to see the dragon hovering over the water; glaring down.

"Do you need my power again?" the dragon taunted; chuckling. "Weak...Ane Nickerson." he remarked.

"Shut up!" Ane exclaimed before waking up; terrified. He looked around at his unusually empty room and limped to the door to then suddenly stop.

"Ane...he's gonna be super bummed about not being able to defeat the masked man back there." Ene stated; sighing.

"We have to do something to cheer him up." Faith suggested.

"We'll call it the "Cheer Up Ane Operation"." Lana remarked. Ane turned away from the door silently and hopped out the window; eyes shielded.

Ane lifelessly walked through the park. "Heyyy Ane!" s feminine voice yelled. Ane turned to see it was Mandy running to him; smiling.

"Oh, it's you." Ane whispered.

"What's wrong?" Mandy asked; eying Ane closely. Ane shook his head.

"It's nothing." Ane lied. Mandy's eyes became shielded.

"You're lying." she said.

"I'm not!" Ane yelled; turning away furiously. Mandy watched Ane silently and smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry for digging further than I needed to." she said. Ane turned quickly to see Mandy gone and he sighed before sitting on a bench; with a dry expression. Rain began to fall but he made no effort to leave and he slowly drifted to sleep.

Ane shot awake to see Lana next to him. "Finally awake." she said; smiling as she dusted the water off her lap that Ane was resting on. 

"Why are you here? Wasn't the bench wet?" Ane inquired.

"WE...didn't care about that." Lisa said from behind Ane.

"You two didn't have to come you know. I heard all about that "Cheer Up Ane Operation" nonsense." Ane said dryly; watching away.

"Me and my big mouth." Lana whispered. Ane shook his head.

"It's okay. Thanks for trying." he said. Lisa frowned.

"Don't you get it? The two of us don't get along yet we're working together...for your sake." she remarked.

"And we didn't come here because of an operation. We came because...because we care about you Ane." Lana said. Ane clenched his knees.

"Well...I care about you girls too but..." he said. "What's the use of caring for someone so weak as me." he continued.

"Weak?" Lisa asked; chuckling.

"Plenty versions of you destroyed entire alternate dimensions, galaxies and universes; including you." Lana teased; poking Ane who looked away quietly. Lana and Lisa eyed another and smiled before hugging Ane.

"We will stay with you forever, Ane." Lisa whispered.

"Ane never scare us like that again." Lana scolded. The two smiled gently as they snuggled closely to Ane. 

"Cause we're the strongest together." Lana and Lisa said simultaneously. Ane blushed and then burst into tears before embracing the girls.

"I'm so sorry." he said. 

Mandy was washing her hair in the bath while humming until her doorbell rang. "Coming!" she yelled as she ran to the front door while wrapping her towel firmly around herself. 

"Hey." Ane said as the girl opened the door.

"Ane? How did you get my address?" Mandy inquired; blushing while holding her towel.

"It's a long story but I just came by to apologize for earlier." Ane replied.

"Hey; it's okay." Mandy said with a smile. She then smirked before pulling Ane in and closing the door behind him. Ane rose an eyebrow and Mandy then pinned him to a cushion; both of them blushing. "What was I thinking?" Mandy thought as she stared down nervously at Ane who gulped before gripping the girl's neck. Mandy moaned and Ane blushed.

"S-sorry." he said as he pulled his hand away but Mandy pulled it back to her neck.

"It's okay." she whispered before leaning in closer to the boy and kissing him. Before they pressed on for much longer; a throat cleared in the doorway as it creaked open. Ane and Mandy turned to see an old woman standing there; swinging a key.

"Is that?" Ane asked.

"Oh um...miss landlord. This is...um..."Mandy stuttered.

"You don't pay my rent and you're never even here when I come looking. The one time you here you bring boy! OUT!" the old woman yelled.

Ane was walking next to a sulky Mandy. "I'm so sorry...again." Ane said; sighing.

"It's not your fault." Mandy replied; sighing too. Ane looked at Mandy nervously and then looked away.

"You uh...you can come live at my place." he suggested.

"I-I can?" Mandy asked enthusiastically. Ane nodded and Mandy hugged him. "Apology accepted!" she yelled; chuckling.

"Oh boy." Ane thought.

Ane pushed opened his front door to find his entire house without light. "Nobody home?" Mandy asked.

"It seems not." Ane replied. The light shot on and everyone came out.

"Surprise!" they yelled. Ane summoned all three of his elemental weapons and backed up to Mandy who was also ready to defend.

"G-guys?" Ane asked; loosening up.

"Mandy?" Ene asked; raising an eyebrow. He grinned as he made eye contact with Ane. Lisa and Lana glared at Ane who looked away; laughing guiltily.

"Mandy...is moving in with us...everyone." he announced; clearing his throat.

"Oh really?" Ene asked as he took out a notepad and began taking notes. "How much rent shall we charge her?" he asked.

"You technically don't even live here!" Ane scolded as he slapped the notepad away. Everyone else laughed and Ene grinned. Ane smiled.

"The past few months have been a pain but I must admit..." Ane thought as he looked around. "My friends have helped me pull through it all." he continued.