"I'm alive!"
"I am Groot!"
Rocket Raccoon and Groot bolted upright from the ground, still shaken, and felt all over their bodies, carefully checking for missing arms or legs.
"Relax. Arale knows how to hold back."
"Bro, can you really say that with a clear conscience?"
Quinn gave Kraft, who had delivered that line without so much as a blush, a sidelong look and called him out.
"Hahahahaha!" Arale hadn't realized the dog was actually mocking her. She leaned her face right up to Rocket's. "Was being tossed up high fun?"
"How could that possibly be fun?!"
Rocket sprang up from the ground and pointed at Arale's nose, ready to swear at her, but forcibly swallowed the curses just as they reached his lips.
One look into her eyes confirmed it: he couldn't beat her. No matter how bad Rocket's temper was, he still had to back down when the situation called for it.
"Coward! Coward!"
Arale laughed and pointed right back at Rocket Raccoon, mocking him.
"Try going that high yourself! Any person-no, any living thing-would be scared to death, okay?!"
The great Rocket couldn't take that kind of provocation. Before his brain could catch up, his mouth had already started arguing back. Fortunately, his fear of Arale lingered, and he didn't let any nasty curses slip.
"Is it really that scary?"
Arale tilted her head, then crouched down.
"Of course..." "Hup!"
Before Rocket could finish, a fierce gust struck his face, and the little girl named Arale vanished before his eyes.
"Huh? Where'd she go?"
Rocket looked around and asked in confusion.
"I am Groot."
Groot pointed at the sky. Rocket followed his finger and looked up, only to see a tiny black dot suddenly appear in the clear sky, growing larger and larger.
"Aaaaaah!!!"
Rocket scrambled aside