It wasn't long before the waitress returned with what they ordered, or more correctly, what Rose ordered and what Luca had chosen to tag along with.

Luca's eyes were as wide as saucers when he set his eyes on the food. He even gulped while looking like he was seeing something terribly terrifying.

The so called 'usual' was something he hated so much. It was Five-alarm chili, served with jerk chickens as the side dish. They were one of the spiciest dishes in the world, and Luca had zero tolerance for peppers.

He kept staring at the steaming hot chili and jerk chickens like they were his sworn enemies, until Rose broke the silence. "The food wouldn't eat itself up. Dig in already!" She said in a taunting voice.

Luca looked up at her with pleading eyes and begged. "Can we order something else? Please!"

Rose shook her head and replied. "No, we cannot. There are two choices for you to choose from though. You either man up and eat this up, or we end this 'date' before it even starts, and then you stop making advances at me."

Luca stared at her for a while and seeing the challenging look in her eyes, he tightened his fists into curved balls. "How about we make a deal? If I'm able to finish this up then you will give me us a chance, but if I'm not able to, then I'll stop making advances at you."

A voice in Rose's head whispered to her that she should not entertain the deal at all, and just cut it off, but her stubborn self didn't listen. She knew how much he hated peppers and was sure that he wouldn't be able to eat all of the food. "It's a deal." She said in a challenging tone.

Luca didn't expect her to agree so quickly, and he smiled at the golden opportunity that had been granted to him. 'It's just a stupid bowl of chili and jerk chickens. You can do this!' He chanted this in his head to give himself the courage he needed.

He slowly reached for the spoon with his slightly shaky hand, and when he got hold of it, he took a deep calming breath and breathed out, before scooping the chili.

The journey from the bowl of chili to his mouth took a long while, but alas, it still got to his mouth. Forcing himself to open his mouth, he slipped the spoon of chili past his lips and ate it.

His eyes contracted immediately, getting red and a little teary. His face was equally red as well and the veins on his forehead were threatening to pop at any moment from then.

Rose smiled unbelievably at him. So he would rather choose to eat spicy food than to end the lunch date and stop making advances at her? Was his feelings for her real after all?

Rose also picked up her spoon and began to eat as well. She was eating it like it was nothing, and in no time, she had eaten almost half of her jerk chicken, while Luca had barely eaten one.

Her face was also as red as his. Her eyes were also teary, and she would sniffle once in a while as she ate and this got Luca looking at her in disbelief.

"If you aren't enjoying it, we could just order something else. You don't have to be stubborn, you are even crying already." Luca spoke with concern in his voice.

But Rose laughed at him instead. "I'm not crying because I can't stand the spice, it is just a reflex reaction action when eating a food this spicy. I actually love it. There is something about the burning sensation which makes me feel thrilled and alive."

Luca slowly nodded with his mouth agape, looking at her like she had lost her mind. 

"Stop looking at me like I've lost my mind, and just give up already! The pepper could really kill you. Do you think I'm worth it?!" She fired at him, but instead of looking mean and commanding, she looked so cute especially with her puffy red eyes and face.

Luca couldn't help but smile at her, but his smile immediately vanished when he looked back at the barely eaten chili before him.

After a very long and torturous time, Luca was finally done with the food. He looked like he was going to go mad. He couldn't even breath properly and kept on wheezing. He literally looked like he was at the brink of death.

It was then Rose's turn to look at him like he crazy. She couldn't believe he actually did eat it all despite his despise for spicy foods. Her eyes twitched as she remembered that she had made a stupid deal with him. 'You are so dumb, Rose!' She scolded herself in her mind.

Luca looked at her and gave her an almost lifeless smile, before speaking with so much difficulty, "I.. won." After he said that, he started to feel dizzy and then his vision began to slowly darken until he couldn't see or feel anything anymore.

….

Axle transformed back to human form, and then he followed Noah who had said he was taking him to a place called city Z.

They walked for a very long while, and Axle could already feel his legs getting tired. He was about to complain, but to his utmost relief, Noah said, "We are finally here."

Axle looked around and realized that they were standing not far from the ocean. "This is the place?" He asked.

Noah laughed and replied, "No no no. This place can't be compared to City Z in any way. We are just here to get a free ride." He smiled as he looked at the ship port that wasn't far from them.

It was very busy and bustling with people as they went about boarding ships for transportation. "We are going to sneak in for a ride." He whispered mischievously to Axle.

A smile formed on Axle's face when he heard the word 'sneak'. If only Noah knew how he was a master sneaker back in the ocean. "Sounds exciting." Axle said, not trying in the least to hide his excitement.

Noah looked up at him and then frowned a little. "The only problem we could have would be your… your everything. Your face would surely attract attention especially if Luca's fans accidentally see you. Even if there are no fans of Luca around, your hair and eyes would surely be a problem."

Axle subconsciously touched his soft and silky hair as he asked, "So what do we do?"

Noah began to think hard for a solution and then he saw a house not far away. "Wait here for me, okay?" He said to Axle before running to the house.

After a minute or so, he came running back with a shawl in his hand. "Bend your head forward." He told Axle, and when Axle did as told, he wrapped the shawl around his head, perfectly covering his hair. "I've solved the problem with your hair, now all you have to do is to never look anyone in the eyes, okay?"

"Okay." Axle nodded like an obedient child.

Noah then held Axle by the hand as he sneakily walked towards the crowd. "Now all we need to do is to cause a distraction."

Axle was about to ask Noah what he planned to do, when Noah shouted, "A shark is on the dork!!!"

Noah's words immediately caused a ruckus at the port. The people began to run around without confirming what Noah said to be true, and Noah saw this as a golden opportunity.

Holding Axle's hand more firmly, Noah sneakily ran past the crowd and the security personnels that were trying to put the crowd back in order. He headed straight for the ship that had gotten ready to sail, and they both got to the deck of the ship without being seen.

Noah immediately found a part of the ship where they could hide with a low risk of being found out by the operators or staff of the ship.

It didn't take long before the ship started sailing and they turned out to be lucky as the ship they entered had a very good speed. "We would be there in no time." Noah grinned at Axle as he spoke and Axle responded with a smile of his own.

The ride was going so smoothly until one of the staff of the ship happened to walk in on them. He froze with a start when he saw a person whose face was half hidden with a shawl and was also wearing a robe, together with a little boy hiding in an unexpected part of the ship.

"Who are you two, and what are you doing here?" He asked them with a stern voice.

Noah who was already so happy that they were about to have a clean ride all the way to City Z, didn't know what do at the moment. "Err… I-I don't know how we got here. We are even surprised to be here." He lied through his teeth.

Noah's response only made the staff angrier. "Do you think this is a joke? We could actually get you and your accomplice arrested for boarding the ship illegally." He threatened them, and Noah immediately panicked at the sound of the word 'arrested'.

Noah quickly stood up and hit the staff on the groin, before running while holding Axle's hand.

The staff hissed in pain and quickly called for backup. The others immediately showed up and when they found out what was going on, they began to chase after Noah and Axle.

Noah and Axle kept on running around the ship until they got blocked on both sides.

Axle didn't know what to do at that point, but he surely didn't want to get in trouble with the humans on his first day on dry land. He was lost in thoughts when Noah yelled, "We have to jump into the ocean!…" he then paused and looked at Axle. "I'm trusting you to save me." And with that being said, Noah jumped without hesitation into the ocean.

Axle was surprised at how brave Noah was to have jumped into the ocean, but he didn't have the time to think about it. He couldn't afford letting the boy drown because of him, so he quickly jumped along with Noah.