Another thermostat war had broken out. “If you’re too cold, put a sweater on!” Zirconia screamed. “Do you have any idea how much it costs to heat this place?”

VesVes, JunJun, and CereCere sneered at her. PallaPalla continued shivering. The blue haired girl was currently wearing a battered pair of bright pink mittens. “Please let us turn the heat back up, Zircy!” she pleaded.

Zirconia’s fingers tightened around her staff. “I told you, you are to address me as—“

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” snapped VesVes. “We are from the mysterious Amazon, you know!”

“It’s actually warm there, in case you didn’t know,” added JunJun.

Zirconia turned to the one thing that always agreed with her. “You don’t think it’s cold, do you, Zircon?”

Zircon thought for a moment. He was currently freezing his cornea off. Still, Zircon knew who kept him from becoming a permanent addition to the Amazon Quartet’s collection of things to torture on a rainy Sunday afternoon. The eyeball nodded enthusiastically.

“Why’s it so cold in here?” the bickering group heard Tiger-Eye whine.

The Amazon Quartet turned to Zirconia. Zirconia’s yellow eyes slowly narrowed. “So?” she snapped at the Quartet. “They’re idiots! They never do anything right!”

“How smart do you have to be to know it’s too cold in here?” VesVes replied.

“I think it’s obvious,” muttered JunJun.

“You girls need to learn some respect!” Zirconia snarled. “Back in my day, we listened to our elders! We didn’t—what is it, Zircon?” Zirconia turned around and saw the Amazon Trio huddled by the thermostat. “Amazon Trio!”

The Trio winced, then tried to look as though they hadn’t pushed the thermostat back up to 80. “Yes, Grand Zirconia?” asked Tiger-Eye.

“What have I told you three about this?”

The Amazon Trio exchanged a glance, then looked over at the Amazon Quartet, who shrugged. “It’s part of a plan to capture Pegasus,” Hawk-Eye replied. Tiger-Eye and Fish-Eye stared at him. “You see, Master Zirconia, Pegasus has clearly taken an interest in beautiful dreamers, and I’ve found that our thermostat creates vibrations similar to that of a beautiful dream, but only as long as it’s set to a temperature above seventy degrees.” The other two members of the Amazon Trio couldn’t seem to decide if they were impressed by Hawk-Eye’s improvisational abilities or frightened that the pressure had finally gotten to him.

The Amazon Quartet looked at Hawk-Eye then at each other. “What a great idea,” said CereCere.

“I’m amazed we didn’t think of it,” said VesVes.

“What a pile of—“

“Shut up, JunJun!” VesVes hissed.

Zirconia blinked several times. “The thermostat is similar to a beautiful dream?” she asked slowly.

“Yes, Master Zirconia,” Hawk-Eye replied. “At least to Pegasus.”

“After all, he is just a dumb animal,” added Fish-Eye. Zirconia briefly wondered where horses stood on the intelligence scale when compared to hawks, tigers, and fish. She had a feeling she knew the answer to that question, especially since this was the second lamest explanation the Amazon Trio had ever given her. The first lamest was any of their reasons for why they had to spend more time in a bar than they tended to spend sleeping. “Do you honestly think I believe something that ridiculous?” she snarled, pushing the thermostat back to fifty.

“No, Grand Master Zirconia,” the seven Amazons chorused.

“You are all fools! I’ve told you time and time again that world domination is the most important thing! If you’re cold, put more clothes on! Or exert some energy for a change!” Zirconia hobbled off towards her favorite mirror—the one Queen Nehelenia lived in. “Zircon, I want you to guard the thermostat!”

If Zircon had lips, he would have pouted. Not only did that leave him at the mercy of the Quartet, he would have preferred it if the thermostat was unguarded…

Zirconia looked over her shoulder and saw all seven Amazons huddled around the thermostat. Zircon, for once in his life, was looking the other way. Sighing, Zirconia raised a wrinkled hand and made a fist. The thermostat exploded, causing the seven people gathered around it to shriek like school girls. With a shudder, Zirconia began hobbling a bit faster. With nothing to guard, Zircon happily followed.

While most of the group was still slightly shaken, PallaPalla seemed utterly delighted. “That was great!” she squealed. “PallaPalla wants to see it explode again!”

“You can let go of my arm now, Fish,” said Tiger-Eye.

“Let go of mine first, pervert!” snapped Fish-Eye.

“Does anyone have a sweater?” asked VesVes.

Fish-Eye smirked as Tiger-Eye entered the bar. “The 80’s are alive!” the blue haired man announced. He and Hawk-Eye started snickering.

“Shut up, Fish,” Tiger-Eye snapped. “At least I’m not lame enough to wear earmuffs.”

“You’re wearing leg warmers,” replied Fish-Eye. He shifted the navy blue earmuffs, trying to get them to cover all of his ears at the same time. “Who designed these stupid things?”

Tiger-Eye scowled at Fish-Eye. The blond had currently traded in his boots for multi-colored leg warmers. He skidded slightly on the floor as he approached an empty bar stool. Hawk-Eye and Fish-Eye naturally started laughing at him again. “He’s wearing leg warmers too,” he snapped. “And does anyone have any shoes I can borrow?”

“At least mine match,” said Hawk-Eye. He had a blanket draped over his shoulders that was the exact same color as every other piece of his wardrobe, excluding his shoes.

Tiger-Eye looked his teammate over as he sat down. “Do you have any clothes or do you just wear whatever you find in the linen closet?”

“Rainbow striped leg warmers…are you trying to tell us something?”

“I doubt I could wear your shoes…because I have big feet.” Tiger-Eye turned to leer at Fish-Eye. “And I’m sure you know what they say about men with big feet…”

“They’re idiots?” Fish-Eye guessed.

“I’m not talking to either one of you,” Tiger-Eye announced. “And why’s it so cold in here?”

“Grand Master Zirconia turned the air conditioning on before she blew up the thermostat,” Hawk-Eye said bitterly.

In the massage parlor, the Amazon Quartet were sitting on their various tables. All of them were wearing bulky sweaters in their respective color. PallaPalla was still wearing her mittens. “Do you think it’ll snow?” she asked hopefully.

The other three-fourths of the Quartet shot her dirty looks. “I think I’m getting a rash from this thing,” CereCere complained.

“Zirc the Jerk is going to pay for this,” VesVes muttered.

Zirconia was slumped in front of a large, ornate mirror, a desperate look in her bug-like eyes. “Queen Nehelenia, I don’t want to question your judgement, but I really can’t work with these people!” Zirconia practically whined.

“Never mind that!” snapped Nehelenia. Her eyes narrowed. “Zirconia, why is it so damned cold in here?”