Logs:Catacombs Reopening

From Megaman Mush Wiki

WHO: Bomb Man, Zero, Layer, Rock, Rush, Kalinka, Meddy, Madeline Stafford, Gaus Magrevich, Teresa Magrevich, Maximillian Rothschilde *cough Gemini Man cough*, Vincente Sumiyama, Dr. Takeshi Shinchiro, Fingers Malone, Daryn, Dynamo, Jack Krauser?, Mai Atsuki, Dr. Wily,

WHAT: Love, lust, drama, explosions, madness, Queen, dance wars, etc on the DANCE FLOOR at The Catacombs' Reopening

WHERE: The Catacombs, London, UK

WHEN: Aug 22, 2221

The Catacombs has been reopened following a blessedly short closing period.

From the entryway, not much has changed, though guests will notice that the sign that declares this to be a 'place of peace' has been re-enstated, meaning that anyone with loose weapons has to have them checked at the door.

Upon entering, guests are then allowed in to the main club area. It's busy tonight, it being the grand opening, with music playing and lights flashing.

A vampiric-looking bouncer is checking names at the entrance to the upstairs VIP Lounge, allowing the rich and famous, or just people who seem interesting, upstairs to the Martini Bar where they can hang out with the upscale clientele. Unlike the downstairs dance floor, which seems mostly unchanged, this area is new, the scents of perfume and clove cigarettes not quite enough to cover up the smell of fresh carpet glue on the stairwell.

Eddie "Fingers" Malone steps into the danceclub, removing his sunglasses in the low light. As he steps inside, dressed in his fine Armani suit, he lights up a cigarette. He heads to the bar, the blond business man making his return to the scene after months on the lam.

WHOOOO PART-HAY!

Bomb Man always loves a good party he's not really particular as to the where but eh this place seems nice enough and it's been too long since he last went out and paint-bombed the town red.

The alpha is currently at the bar, puffing a cigar with gusto and drinking a small beer, just watching the coming and goings of people. Hoping to find someone he knows but is very willing to settle he doesn't.

The alpha is pretty unmistakable even in this crowd and he's even spruced himself up a bit shining like Enker himself this evening.

This is going to be a night to remember.

A swirl of pink fur accounces the arrival of Kalinka Cossack, bouncers outside keeping the paparazzi following her at bay. She is absently fingering buttons on her Baconberry mobile device, but stashes it in her coat, not bothering to check the heavy garment. "This place doesn't look hugely different," she whines when she makes it to the dance floor. "I mean, I guess kind of, but... I dunno, I was expecting more lasers, and smoke machines, and more music, more guys kissing each other, you know? Maybe I'm just feeling tetchy I don't know, my jaw keeps, like, seizing up, like I think I have lockjaw? Can you get lockjaw from kissing?"

Maximillian Rothschilde, who is actually Gemini Man, but manages to pull off the wealthy non-criminal disguise quite well these days, is upstairs in the VIP lounge having a dirty martini. It's his first drink of what is likely to be many over the course of the night. He's wearing a fine black suit, with a thin tie, and seated with his back to the bar as if surveying a small kingdom. Presumedly, his wife is not fair from him, somewhere.

Kalinka is of course invited right up to the VIP area if she chooses.

The silver-haired devil that strides into the Catacombs has nothing to check at the door, though anyone who knows him can be certain that he's never truly unarmed. Even so, it has been a long time since Duelist Cavalier has been here. There are memories in the Catacombs, good memories, and it pangs him slightly to see the place so changed. Even so, he reminds himself, nothing lasts forever, and he decides to make good on enjoying the blace. Blade Marionette is taking care of Thunderclap tonight... it's /his/ night out.

Dynamo tosses his hair back with one hand as he walks towards the bar to peruse the drink menu, raising an eyebrow at Kalinka Cossack. "Ah, I see the glitterati have arrived with the usual pomp and circumstance. Fascinating."

Layer, herself, decided to come. Mainly due to the fact that Zero was coming, because she doesn't enjoy going to bars and clubs without having some sort of friend or ally or at the very least, Pallette with her. Typical reasons are to blame... crowds, people hitting on her, and other such miscellany. It's how she is, in reality... she enjoys social matters, just not when she's the center of attention.

So, knowing Zero would definitely show up tonight, Layer's here, in her typical getup, walking in, Pallette with her since she wanted to come. She quietly glances around once admitted in, uncertain where to go; Zero, or at least some of the Hunters would pop by the bar area, so she eventually concludes to go over there. Sight of Bomb Man, at least, hakes her a little cheerful in this uncomfortable place.

"You don't have lockjaw," Meddy says, with a hint of sadness. The purple-haired Chinese autonomation unsurprisingly wiggles into the place at Kalinka's arm, wearing a hideously flashy almost entirely backless micri-minidress with matching and equally impractical heels. She could probably get into the VIP area without Kalinka, but that's not as fun.

"Let's find someone to buy us some drinks really fast, I hate being sober at these things. Plus, if we start drinking, we can probably con other people into drinking, and then we can convince guys to make out so you can stop moping around. Seriously, that website wasn't THAT hot, I don't know why you've been bringing it up nonstop."

Teresa Magrevich-Rothschilde is also sitting at the bar next to her dear husband Maximillian. She is wearing a lavish red silk gown which cost about as much as most professionals make in two weeks. Her position is directly beneath the sign at the martini bar proclaiming the Catacombs to be a place of peace, which is lit in such a way as that one cannot look at her without being drawn to look at the sign as well.

Teresa is drinking an Absinthe Minded martini; gin, vermouth, orange liqueur, absinthe, garnished with an orange peel. Her smile is easy and bright. It is a good day.

Lurking over in the corner of the VIP area is Gaus Magrevich, who doesn't want to be here but has been coerced into going so to keep up appearances. Gaus is wearing a dark grey suit and smoking an expensive cigar 'liberated' from the Catacombs' humidor. The bartender has helpfully given Gaus an entire bottle of brandy and his own old fashioned glass to drain it with.

"You're sober?" Kalinka boggles. "Here, no, here, take this," she says, stuffing Meddy's hand into one of the massively foofy arms of her coat. "I mean I can only safely eat one of them but you're a robot so you probably need more." Someone invites her up to the VIP area, and in her thick Russian accent she shushes them away. "We're busy here, it is a medical crisis, we will be up when it is time."

Dynamo as well as the Hunters have no problem getting past the VIP guard - after all they're well known Robot Wars celebrities and this is apparently a special occasion. Meddy is also allowed without question. This may be odd, or, they just like having girls up there.

'Maximillian' looks up at the truce sign and smirks a little when he sees how proudly Teresa sits under it. He sees Zero at the base of the stairs, and chuckles. "Well, now things are getting fun. I was hoping to see some of the regulars here again. And I assume Daryn will be coming. It's not like him to miss a party."

Bomb Man watches as people enter from his stop at the bar, his foot tapping to the music. The alpha raises his glass to Layer and Pallette as they enters with a smile and a resolve to not let anyone take advantage of them. The alpha considers faintly wether to test the dance floor yet but decides to have a few more big blasters first(a type of vodka mix).

The mention of the Catacombs reopening was news for Zero. After all, the Reploid Room was always a too popular and most other bars didn't have that 'dank drinking pit' without smelling like puck. This place had it, the special magic that made Zero feel like having a few drinks in the corner. While the place had a few odd ducks here and there, Zero figured that he would check it out.

Of course, Zero's challenges begins as soon as he comes toward the door. "Suits? What the hell?" the famed Hunter asks. "I have a dress shirt and some nice slacks, that's as close as your getting," Zero replies to the bouncer, currently dressed in a nice crimson silk dress shirt with a couple of buttons left undone to reveal the beginnings of a chest. His hair is allowed to roam, usually only bound back when there's killing to be done. Presuming they let him in, the blond glances about, frowning faintly as he checks out the scene. He hasn't really given the people here much mind yet, focused on seeing what they did with the place first. Something is really 'off' about the place, that's for sure.

Fingers fetches a White Russian from the bar. But it's business, not pleasure, that brings him here tonight. As a well-connected underworld fence, it's his obligation - no, his duty - to make himself available to the criminal sorts attending this place. He eyes the VIP lounge as he leans against the bar, doubting that he's enough of a hotshot to get up there. Yet. He looks sidelong at Bomb Man, blinking in recognition. "Oh, hey there, Bomb Man," he says. Of course, Bomb Man is a Hunter now, and may have forgotten all about dealing with people like Fingers.

Meddy grasps around inside Kalinka's coat as she is beckoned to retrieve something, her expression eventually becoming bemused. "Oh come on, I just got off duty. I sewed a man back together. He was cut in half. Do you know how great that was? I need something fruity to complement the natural high of playing god."

"Evening Fingers." Bomb Man says cheerfully, he may be a hunter but he's still has ties to the underworld and he's not about to forget someone like fingers. Fingers need not worry overly much though, In the alphas mind he's not really a threat but more of a resource. "'owsit going in the business?" The alpha says, his accent showing through slightly as he has stars to drink.

Dynamo is a VIP. He tries to contain his excitement by ordering a drink. He grins as he sees Zero, chuckling as he finds something to his liking on the... eclectic menu.

"...did he survive it?" Kalinka replies, retrieving two of the pills she just said she could only take one of and throwing them both into her mouth like they were delicious candy beans. "Okay, fine," she sighs. "Let's go get someone to buy us drinks I bet, but if they want underwear in exchange again, this time it's on you, because I don't have any to give."

Fingers Malone grins at Bomb Man as he lifts his White Russian to his lips, taking a long sip of it. "I've been on vacation, just getting back to my old ways." His eyes drift across the bar, spotting Meddy and Kalinka. He gestures at them with his glass, looking sidelong at Bomb. "Pretty choice catches, huh?"

With a wave as Bomb Man raises his glass to her, Layer sits down a couple of seats from him, letting Pallette either sit next to her, or go off on her own thing. She gets comfortable, just listening to the masses of people go about their socializing, being her usual self: always there, but never in the thick of it.

As she rests her head on a hand, eyes stray to Zero with a smile. Lookin' sharp.

Nobody really minds what Zero is wearing. He's Zero, and as a former regular and a known heroic presence he generally has the run of the place if he wishes. Plenty of the drinks are fruity and colorful enough that Dynamo should have no problem at all. He may in fact experience minor candy-store syndrome.

Gemini on the one hand sometimes gets bored being in disguise, but a 'known' ID can be the best of two worlds: all the joy of being evil and all the plausible deniability of being...not. Kalinka and Meddy at least will probably recognize him in this disguise, having been to his house before.

"It looks like most people prefer the downstairs bar," he asides to Teresa. "Reploids are such creatures of habit."

"Screw you!" Meddy scolds Kalinka, nevertheless dragged along due to their completely inseperable arm-link. "Look at my dress; you wear that huge coat so you don't have any excuse. I think you're being selfish with your choice of clothing."

Bomb Man looks at Kalinka and Meddy for a moment before smiling "Oh they are bit to high maintenance for me. Besides I kinda helped kidnap Kalinka a while back and Meddy used to be my sister. Sooo.." Bomb Man shrugs remembering meddy's ways and down another shot quickly he shoots another friendly smile at Layer just a 'I got yer back if you are in trouble' kind of smile before looking at the two party girls "I'm gonna need a lot more booze before trying."

"Aren't they, though?" Teresa says, glancing down at Zero as he looks around the club with confusion bordering on alarm. She looks back up and notices Dynamo at the bar. This could very well be a robot swordsman night. Maybe they should have had a theme event.

Fingers elbows Bomb Man, sipping his White Russian. "Eh, I get whatcha mean. So, you in the market for any high yield explosive ordnance? If the Hunters don't have what you need...You can always talk to an old friend, eh?" He raises an eyebrow as he swirls his White Russian around in the glass.

Kalinka considers the options. Who do you hit up for a drink, Kalinka?! Fingers?! Bomb Man?! Layer?! She squints carefully as her pupils embiggen. "Hiiiii, there," she finally purrs in coquettish if absolutely rampantly drunken tone. She leans forward into... Bomb Man. "Haven't seen you in a while, Bomb Man," she says, fluttering her eyelashes just so.

"Perhaps Zero is intimidated by the idea of being a VIP. Or having to wear a jacket." Maximillian sips from his drink. "But it's so much quieter and easier to talk that I still think this was a good idea. I like looking down at the little people." He gives Dynamo a slight Hello nod, recognizing him.

"I might be I might be." Bomb Man says with a shrug and takes another sip of his vodka mix before continuing "My old supplier went rogue on me so I'm in the need of a new one. But let's not talk about it here. The walls might have ears and neither of us wants that kind of attention."

He's somewhat distracted by Kalinka who leans towards him "Oh Hey Kalinka." the alpha says cheerfully grinning "How's my favorite pretty little Russian doing these days?"

"I can actually hear people talk," Teresa says to Max at her seat at the bar. "It is a nice way to spend time out. The acoustic changes you've made have much improved the place. And the steam cleaning, of course. The walls were so very dirty."

Fingers isn't wearing his shades, so his leering eyes can be seen running over Kalinka's body as she hits up her sugar daddy. "Of course, e-mail me. We'll get in touch." He takes a deep draught of his White Russian, smirking in Kalinka's general direction.

Layer simply smiles back, relaxing... until Kalinka and Meddy show up. Oh boy. She quietly sits there, a mint julep served to her as she sips it quietly, just listening...

Meddy is finally convinced to let Kalinka off the hook when she heads for Bomb Man. This is not a good idea. Bomb Man is sitting next to that creepy looking guy. Having a little more common sense ('shame' isn't the right word) than her Russian counterpart, the nurse picks a seat that puts Kalinka between herself and the two guys. "Ew ew ew ew ew. Why can't I just get free drinks for being pretty?! It's like I work here, as decoration!"

"Cheap, goth cigarettes will do that, yes. We'll have the place fumigated regularly to keep too much from settling on the paintings. That and the designated non-smoking areas should help. I couldn't rightfully put up a 'no gothing' area." So Gemini seems to be acting as if he owns the place, which is interesting. Perhaps that explains how he's considered a VIP, though 'Max' is the type that would be able to afford VIP seating almost anywhere.

Kalinka winks over at Fingers. "I'm good, Bomb Man, I'm very good," she giggles coyly, leaning in a bit closer. "But my friend over there and I would be a lot better with something to moisten our lips a bit, don't you agree?" Her hand goes to Bomb Man's shoulder, her face right near his robot ear.

Teresa laughs softly. "No gothing," she says. "Perhaps 'no smoking cheap cigarettes'. You could make it something else the bouncers can check. There's nothing worse than the smell of /cheap/ cigarettes, darling."

Teresa, being a sinister mistress of evil, may also be able to get VIP access anywhere by means of Illuminati mind control lasers. Or maybe she's Max's guest. It is hard to say!

Fingers Malone idly puts his cigarette out in an ash tray as it comes down to the tip. He continues drinking his White Russian as he lets Bomb Man do the talking, watching the situation like your typical wingman, ready to leap in if Meddy turns out to be a bitch.

Bomb Man sighs theatrically "Very well Kal I'll buy you some drink, really girl. All you had to do was ask." The Alpha winks at Meddy and orders some drinks for the ladies. He knows he's being taken advantage of but there are two pretty girls nearby and what caaan you do. "I take it you want some too Meddy."

The swordsman is currently unaware that he's being watched or discussed by people. Even if there are eyes upon him, it's not like he isn't used to it by now. However what Z isn't used to is what they've done to the place. He moves his hand to the wall once he can get close enough. The character has been stripped away. The cuts and bumps have been sanded away and painted over. The character of his place has gone to sincere and real to elegant and superficial. He shouldn't take it this personal. "It's just a nightclub," Zero repeats to himself. Someone's going to answer for this... But first, a drink.

Moving to the crowded bar, Zero slides in up close to Layer, figuring she of all people wouldn't mind him being up close. "Hey, Layer... Didn't expect to see you here. A lot of people down here." He turns toward the bartender to give his order. "Triple of Jameson straight with a trio of rocks."

Kalinka giggles. "Bomb Man, you're such a sweetheart," she purrs through her tick accent.

For a variety of reasons, Mai Atsuki is late. Not least of this is finding something that is at least marginally appropriate to wear. This is some kind of a "goth" club; this "goth" thing confuses and consternates Mai, normally.

After declining a suggestion involving hairspray and a white streak in a bouffant, she enters in a black-on-black Chinese dress. The lower bar seems to be filled with a bunch of robots and Kalinka; she steps without any great haste towards the stairs to the fancy-dan VIP lounge higher up.

The bartender might be someone Zero recognizes from before, and he's happy to handle the order, with a nod. Zero might notice that the drink named for him on the menu is non-alcoholic. And diet (having Zero calories, you see, would be important for such a drink else it would be called false advertising, and clearly not an insult at all).

"Oh, I know," Gemini says. "I used to smoke a lot of cheap cigarettes." The fancy lounge has mostly people dressed nicely, so Mai and her non-goth attire fit in just fine. Max waves to her.

Meddy clears her throat, rolling her eyes before turning to smile brightly at Bomb Man. "What? Oh, me? You're so sweet! I'll let you for old times' sake." The second one of the bartenders slides down to take the orders, she looks away to lean forward and whisper something. The bartender immediately grabs like ten different bottles and a lighter.

Vincente arrives with Mai. Vincente is wearing his usual red hat and (for contrast) a cream-gold three piece suit, complete with diamond cufflinks, polished white spats and an ivory cane. As he does whenever he's out with Mai, Vincente has an insufferable grin on his face. He must be enduring the legal battles with the museum fairly well to be in such a cheerful mood.

Teresa gently taps Max on the side. "No more of those cheap cigarettes," she says, warmly. "You'd embarass me." She gives Mai and Vincente a smile as they arrive.

Daryn is also late. This may be for little reason at all. Or it may be for very important and huge reasons! He is in his usual gear. (He woke up late from a nap, that's his reason).

"Hallo, Hallo." He tells the VIP Dream Team, "Sorry for being late."

Fingers Malone looks at the bar keep as he fetches the bottles and lighter. He shoots a glance over at Meddy, grinning crookedly. "Ordered a Molotov cocktail?" he asks, sipping his White Russian and setting it down after emptying it. He idly wipes a froth mustache from his face.

Dynamo makes it a point to push himself away from the bar, drink in hand (a gin and tonic, not the one named for himself on the menu, shock of shocks), to approach Vicente. The fact that Mai's with him is only... too amusing. "I see that this has brought out the very finest," he says with a chuckle, tipping his head towards Sumiyama respectfully.

As Bomb Man gets suckered into buying drinks for the girls, Layer eyenarrows into a :| look with 'I see what you did there' written all over it.

But, then, Zero sits down next to her. This gets a happy reaction out of her as she's distracted from madness two seats away from her, as she greets him with a "Hey!" back, sipping a little of her drink, before replying, "I know, right? Even Pallette showed this time... dunno where she went, though. This place changed a lot..."

Oh this is going to be expensive isn't it....

Ah well the bill will go to Light anyway, or Roll rather so its not like it matters all that much.

"What can I say. I'm a sucker for girls with sexy accent." The alpha says raising a eyebrow and smiling turning to talk to fingers "Well I've already finished two so I suppose I might as well order another."

Mai's face seems to solidify, although the expression on it doesn't change, at the sight of Dynamo. He gets the smallest possible smile and the smallest possible nod, both of which expand slightly towards Max and Teresa.

Then she looks back at Vincente properly. "Get us a seat?" she asks in a low voice, rendering a secret and minor hand signal to Daryn which reads, in the pre-arranged secret tactical sign language, 'sup'.

"I know, dear," says Max, ever eager to cheap more expensive cigarettes if it makes Teresa happy. He waves to Daryn. "Hey. Don't sweat it. Glad you could make it. Sorry I've been a little unavailable the past three days. I was watching my financial prospects out here. Not a bad makeover, right?"

Daryn utilizes a secret handsign to respond to Mai: 'Word'.

"I like the paintings. Haven't seen those before." Daryn adds, rubbing his face. It still aches after the Act of Grenade Man.

Maddy has naturally come along with Daryn. Maddy, of course, started buying clothes and scheduling hair appointments a week ahead of the opening. Her long pink hair is down and has also been straightened for the occasion. She's wearing a slinky cheetah-print backless dress that stops at about mid-knee. Most notable about the dress is that its neckline plunges down to about the bottom of her rib cage. Considerable engineering keeps that dress in place; those spaghetti straps must be made out of Kevlar.

Maddy's contribution to making Daryn presentable is to have covertly slapped a tuxedo-shirt decal over Daryn's upper body armor. It has gone a little crooked.

"Hello!" Maddy directs to her friends, otherwise focused on helping Daryn along. "I'll get you something from the bar," Maddy murmurs to Daryn. "Try not to move too much, sweety, you're still hurt."

Vincente tips his hat to Dynamo when acknowledged. "Only the best," he says. "I heard this club was the best kept secret in London. I figured, hey, special occasion, right?"

"But if you'll excuse me," Vincente says, when given instruction, "I'll need to hunt down a seat. Good seeing you again, Dynamo. We'll definitely be in touch."

Vincente moves off to the booth he thoughtfully reserved for himself ahead of time on the opposite side of Gaus' corner table. Gaus, in his understated dark grey suit, continues to drink, though snorts disapprovingly at Vincente. Having the bottle of brandy and an old fashioned glass to himself is making this evening easier on him. While drinking more brandy, Gaus begins fantasizing about ordering a pizza in such a way that will be maximally disruptive.

Teresa takes another drink of her Absinthe Minded martini, crossing her legs at her seat. She reviews the bar in a particularly queenly way. It is a good day to be her.

Gemini tries not to look at Maddy's dress, but fails. He looks away somewhat quickly. "Oh, he's hurt AGAIN?" 'Max' laughs. "Sheesh, Daryn."

There's plenty of seats available for Vincente if he looks around. Max asks him, as he walks by: "So I've seen the show is going well."

Meddy puts a hand over her mouth by way of response to Fingers. The meaning is muddled, but chances are she's either shocked by something or trying not to throw up. The nurse swiftly turns around, just in time to see more people head up to the VIP area-- naturally, her eyes track them to the windowed area, spotting more than a few familiar faces. "God," she whispers to Kalinka, leaning over slightly. "This place is so boring. The VIP room is radiating polite conversation like expensive kryptonite."

Kalinka giggles, shaking Bomb Man's shoulder excitedly as she orders a drink that seriously probably doesn't even really exist. The bartender gives her a look of abject confusion, before she responds with same, and he shrugs and just pours whatever, smartly realizing that she probably can't taste it anyway.

Unfortunately, Kalinka's attention is already caught by something else. "Helloooo," she says with a sly smile and she slithers between Zero and Layer, facing the ponytailed swordsman. "I think we might have met, but I'm Kalinka Cossack. And your shirt looks great on you... or off you..."

Fingers rolls his eyes at Meddy. "Real mature." He leans over to the bar keep as he draws his pack of Marlboros. "I'll take another Russian, boss," he says as he slips a fresh cigarette into his mouth, and lights it with a gold zippo.

Dynamo nods respectfully before Vincente moves off, sipping on his drink as he watches the rich and famous move about. He raises an eyebrow at Kalinka and Zero. This should be good.

Mai drifts towards the seat by way of the bar, even if this does put her temporarily marginally closer to Dynamo. Perhaps she is expecting a relative minimum of murder. She interjects at Max's interjection, "Thus far, anyway."

Then something seems to echo to her, some kind of subtle awareness. "Is the music supposed to be, you know -" She makes a vague gesture, which might be read as 'alligator' in some sign languages, but is really just what it seems: a vague indication.

Teresa politely pretends not to notice Gemini's momentary staring at Maddy's dress. It's not like she didn't look too. The things Maddy wears are often a point of discussion in the break room when she's not around.

Vincente secures a small booth by means of laying his expensive ivory cane over the table, then moves back over to chat up the wealthy Rothschilde couple. Just your garden variety social call.

Vincente tips his hat as he approaches Teresa and Gemini; Teresa gives him an acknowledgement nod while taking another tiny sip of her absinthe.

"The show's going great, very highly rated," Vincente says. "The finale's going to be explosive, and I'm already planning next year's season. Infiltration! is a summer phenomenon."

Teresa doesn't know how to interpret Mai's gesture. "Same-y?" she attempts.

"Quiet," Mai tells Teresa. "I can hear myself think."

Layer's half tempted to say something as she fights off a blush, Kalinka just completely butting herself in between them as they were talking. She doesn't, instead sipping her drink as she stares at fluffy coat for a bit.

Then she makes that comment. Her mind goes D: . Her face goes |: .

"Oh!" Teresa says. "Acoustic shielding. It's quite loud down on the dance floor."

"Goth Punk Industrial," Gemini says. "I wasn't really able to change that much of the atmosphere, but at least they got rid of that terrible Le Fay girl and her pretentious band." Some moderately not-nice phrases in German. "Daryn, you should play here some times. Change things up a bit."

"Well, /this/ time it wasn't my fault." Daryn insists, "I had no idea Grenade Man was going to explode right that minute. I mean, sure, obviously he was going to explode eventually, but I was like right out the door and blam, he blew me up."

Alligator, where?! Daryn doesn't see one.

A little more quietly he murmurs, "Alright, I'll be good." He smiles at her, "Cross my heart." He makes a d'awwworthy motion.

In another day a Hunter might be concerned about the gathering of important, highly influential people up in the VIP room but eh Bomb is neither in the mood nor in the right state of sobriety and he's in.

The alpha is in fact starting to feel real good, what with two woman near. No wait make that one woman. Ah well, easy comes easy goes I suppose. The alpha raises one eyebrow at kalinka's target but doesn't move after her Zero can handle himself and so can Layer. Instead he looks at the dance floor in some thought before turning to grin at Meddy. "So what do you say about trying to get this par-hay started Meddy?"

Daryn adds a moment later, "I'd be happy to. I haven't done club performances in a while, just to warn you."

"Any insider tips as to where you're having that finale?" Max also thinks to ask Vincente, because he's sitting down. Not that Vincente is going to tell him. Or at least probably not HERE even if he does. "It would be good for you, Daryn, to do a live show. The stage is a little smaller now. It was taking up so much space paying customers could use. But still enough."

Maddy beams at Daryn. His baldface lies about being good and not getting into trouble always work on her for some reason. She leans in, pecks him on the cheek, and bounces off from him. "Back in a second," she says, going down to the bar to start loading up on Long Islands.

"Hah, you'll see," Vincente says. "You'll never guess where. Nobody will. Air-tight planning."

Mai's nose wrinkles at the news of /acoustic shielding/. Fah. She gets a martini, quietly, before saying, "He certainly does that a lot," in answer to Daryn's status as 'mildly exploded'.

Meddy glances to the side to see that Kalinka has suddenly transformed into Bomb Man. Oh god, no! She glances between the Alpha and the VIP room as the bartender starts pouring things into a glass using an ice sculpture of a penguin. After a few moments of careful pouring and catching with the glass, he lights the penguin on fire (must be special ice) and hurries the operation up before it reaches the bomb located in the center of the penguin's frozen heart. It's a very expensive drink.

"How do you propose we do that?"

Teresa likes being able to hear herself think. She chuckles at Mai's disapproving reaction and goes back to leaning a little on Max, playing up the role of the doting wife. Who happens to be sitting underneath the truce sign. The well-lit truce sign.

Gaus leans away from his table a little, attracted to the impending doom that is Zero/Kalinka/Layer.

Sadly, Zero really doesn't have room to sit next to Layer. Despite this, he tries to have a bit of conversation while he waits for his drink. "Pallette's here? Woah... I didn't know that. Who else is here? I thought I saw Bomb Man, but the place is pretty packed." Despite his intial surprise, it's clear that Zero's not enjoying himself. Taking the drink with a "Thanks" once the bartender, he looks back toward Layer. "I think I'm gunna have to talk to the people that own this place since-"

Zero stops what he is saying as he sees Kalinka sliding up to him. He uses his free hand to prepare himself, just in case she tries to rub her hand on his shirt. It will be used to lightly pull it off. He'll try and be gentle about it though, she's still family after all. "Kalinka... I'm Zero. I just don't have my armor on," the berserker points out in a dry tone.

"Well," Kalinka replies to Zero, resting a petite hand on his chest, "You might just get /my/ armor off, too, if you play your cards right..."

Upstairs, Gaus can be heard cackling at Kalinka's line. He's leaning over the railing from his seat to watch.

Gemini Man gets another drink, also. He's here to drink apparently. He goes for another martini, this one dirty instead of dry, eschewing the drinks named after himself, at least for now.

When he turns from the bar, he raises a brow at the floor show apparently going on down below. "Is that Kalinka and Zero?"

Fingers looks at Zero and Kalinka, taking a step away. He pulls on his cigarette with a long drag, accepting his new White Russian at his new spot at the bar. This is going to be fairly messy. He idly pulls out his cellphone and turns the camera on, pointing it at the pair.

As Fingers begins sending video out, Vincente pulls out his own portable media center, tapping on it with his thumb a few times. He pulls up Fingers' own submission by means best left unknown to mere mortals.

"Yeah," Vincente says, closing the media center afterward and sliding it back into his jacket.

As her drink finishes, Layer feeling just slightly buzzed, she makes a point of slurping it briefly after Kalinka's line, loudly, before requesting another.

She's tempted to say something or just slap Kalinka, but she doesn't, letting her only disruption not be followed up.

"Like this." Kalinka turned Bomb Man says with a grin and tries to grab Meddy by the arm, dragging her to the dance floor and shouting "pump up the music." Then he grabs several unassuming little spheres from his pockets that had been hiding in his pockets and drops them to the floor, where they explode soundlessly into multicolored smoke and light. Then a few more spheres are tossed into the air where they float and release multicolored light. Bomb Man, it seems, came prepared. Then he starts to dance.

Yes dance. And let me tell you for a fat android he sure knows some moves. A lot of moves as it appears, where he learned them is unknown, perhaps guts gave him dance lessons or something.

Mai grasps the martini lightly and walks over towards Vincente as he closes down his portable office. "Ahh, you're always working," she tells him as she takes a small sip, squinting over towards the edge of the balcony and down towards THE IMPENDING DOOM.

For the time being, Daryn manages to not cause trouble. In three rounds or so will that also be the case?! That is the mystery that is Daryn Luna.

"Yeah," Daryn says, "I'm not sure the Doc's reasoning behind that was. A robot designed to explode." He rubs his face again briefly but tries to be proper.

"We're pretty doomed." He adds, spinning.

"Well, if you're going to design a robot that's going to explode, you may as well program it to like exploding," 'Max' rationalizes toward Daryn. He has after all had a lot of dealings with Grenade Man and his inherent instabilities.

Dynamo flickers over to Layer. Hey, the bar rules said nothing about teleportation! He grins at the violet-haired operator as he steps out of the distortion left by his blink, tossing back the last of his drink as he chuckles. "You look like a girl who is badly in need of some dancing."

He grins a little more broadly, eyes bright behind those rose-colored sunglasses.

Teresa Magrevich-Rothschilde is sitting at the VIP martini bar next to her dear husband Maximillian. She is wearing a lavish red silk gown which cost about as much as most professionals make in two weeks. Her position is directly beneath the sign at the martini bar proclaiming the Catacombs to be a place of peace, which is lit in such a way as that one cannot look at her without being drawn to look at the sign as well.

Talking to Teresa and Max is Vincente Sumiyama. Vincente is wearing his usual red hat and (for contrast) a cream-gold three piece suit, complete with diamond cufflinks and polished white spats. Vincente is likely here with Mai. Vincente and Max are mostly doing the talking; Teresa appears content to reign over the martini bar in relative silence.

"I'm always working, baby," Vincente says to Mai when she comes by, "24-7, that's the only way I know how to live! Media's always happening."

Teresa's father, Gaus Magrevich, is wearing a grey suit and is sitting near the far corner of the VIP area, by a railing overlooking the dance floor and lesser bar. He's got a bottle of brandy to himself and an old fashioned glass in front of him. Right now, Gaus is watching the horror below him that is Kalinka hitting on Zero (while Layer looks on). Dynamo entering the mix via teleportation prompts Gaus to pour a fresh glass of brandy. Business is picking up. Maybe he won't order that pizza after all.

Maddy is also up in the VIP area, currently at the far end of the martini bar forcing the bartender to make her an entire pitcher of Long Island Ice Tea. Her long pink hair is down and has also been straightened for the occasion. She's wearing a slinky cheetah-print backless dress that stops at about mid-knee. Most notable about the dress is that its neckline plunges down to about the bottom of her rib cage. Considerable engineering keeps that dress in place; those spaghetti straps must be made out of Kevlar.

"A long time ago... When I was a lot dumber and didn't give a s*** about my life, I would have tried to take you up on that," the blond replies, the attempt to block the hand seemingly failed. Still, he gives a stare toward Kalinka. It's not filled with hate, but he's focused on her, his blue eyes never drifting from her dilated pupils. "I still don't give a s*** about myself but I've grown up. Not the best I can be yet, but one day, I'll get there." Zero looks up to the VIP, and then back down toward Kalinka. At least he doesn't see any retarded cameras, but he knows this is going to show up somewhere. Pictures of him with anyone do. "I know you can do better, be better. If I can stop trying to be a f***-up the least you can do is try the same."

With that, Zero drinks half of his whisky. He knows Kalinka likely won't listen, but at the least, she'll call him a buzzkill and walk off, right?

Dynamo doesn't have a helmet on, but otherwise he's pretty much like he always is.

Zero actually blocked the one hand, Kalinka just tried again with the other. She stares into Zero's eyes for a long moment, cowed by his words. And as soon as he puts his drink down, she reaches up to try and grab him by the back of the head and kiss him full on the mouth.

Kalinka strikes Zero with her Grasp attack.

Bomb Man is currently dancing madly on the dance floor after having exploded a few soundless smoke bombs there and thrown up a few dozen multicolored glowing lights which blink on and off with the rhythm. He's trying to start a mood.

"This is almost worth it now," Gaus says to himself, taking a drink of brandy after Kalinka plants one on Zero.

"Of course, of course," Mai says with a small toss of her head. Then her eyes flick sharply - as Dynamo vanishes! She says aloud, since the acoustic baffles are now in the way, "Thank God," and takes a longer swig of her martini, visibly relaxing.

"So," she asks Max, "how much did you redesign that floor?"

Daryn waves down to Zero as he looks up to the VIP room, right as Kalinka is kissing him. Okay, he almost made it three rounds.

Regardless of his tempting of fate, he looks back over to Maddy because cheetahs go rowwwr, you see. He forgets briefly that he's in a conversation with Gemini Man but manages a quick, "Yeah, yeah, that's true." Kevlar Spaghetti. Delicious and practical!

...alright, sit by she can do no longer.

As Dynamo approaches her, Layer blinks, bringing her index finger up to signal she needs a moment before standing up, bringing a hand over to grab Kalinka by the shoulder.

You strike Kalinka with a glancing hit from your Grasp attack.

"What, the downstairs?" Max asks, not quite picking up on the question right away. "Mostly cleaning, new apoulstry, same dance floor but larger and refinished. And then there's actual dining in the back; that's new. More daytime business that way."

"I didn't realize there would be entertainment as well," says Takumine Yoshida, who is at that moment sitting himself at the VIP bar. They may or may not have seen him arrive; if they didn't, it wasn't because of any sort of stealthy maneuvering, but simply because in a crowd of Japanese men (which he brought with him, and which have remained in the /plebian/ section), Takumine doesn't tend to stand out terribly much. Particulary when more than one of them are wearing white suits. Without him having to order it, the waitstaff brings him a cup of sake, since it is a well known fact that this is the only alcoholic beverage whose existance the Japanese are aware of.

"That was getting kind of awkward," Teresa asides to Mai.

Vincente chooses that moment to go over and get himself a mojito, already getting more system alerts from his media center about Breaking News. It can wait for his drink, though. He's going to need it. Takumine almost sits right next to him and Vincente still doesn't actually notice him right away.

Maddy is wonderful to watch when she's slightly bent over the bar. She is giving very specific instructions about proportions and intermittently throwing 5 zenny notes down into an empty tip pitcher to clarify how things are to be done.

Untrue! Sometimes there is also Japanese beer. But sake is much more refined.

Max isn't really startled by Takumine. Maybe he's getting used to him appearing out of nowhere, though it's actually been a while. "Zero is apparently the entertainment. I didn't even realize he was so attached to this place until the waitstaff mentioned it."

Meddy lets herself be dragged out to the dance floor, watching with reserved judgment as Bomb Man begins tossing his fabled Disco Bombs. The little display, despite Bomb Man's clear jovial fatman archetype, caused a general clearing of the area just in case they were bombs-- but hey! They aren't! The security guards hold off on calling in the Hunters because no one trusts Repliforce.

"I have to admit, Bomb Man, you kinda--ohshit"

Using psychic robot powers, Meddy spins around to stare at Layer with the crazy eyes. She's a little early, though, and waits for the inevitable socially awkward bitching out to happen before she rides in superhero-style like a pornographic version of Batman, perhaps called Bat Dude and Throbin'.

"Hello, Mr. Yoshida," Mai says with a dip of the head, before raising an eyebrow at Max. "Really? Did you get the place behind this, too, or did you just move a lot of operations upstairs?" Or perhaps replaced a normal kitchen with an /enslaved Reploid chef/.

Kalinka's head grab succeeds, Zero's lips soon meeting Kalinka's. While he can't really fight the kiss (a reflexive pull from Zero likely able to snap her neck), he does keep his teeth together. The pearly gates are closed, Paris Cossack... Beat on the Gates of Heaven as you like with your tongue, but you're on Zero's Book of Life. He holds a hand up to Layer as she tries to pull Kalinka away, not wishing this to escalate. If he gets thrown out tonight, he wants it be doing something he ENJOYS. Once Kalinka pulls away, he speaks in a tone as dry as Death Valley, "Done yet?"

Fingers Malone keeps the glorious camera running. At the very least, he might have some blackmail material. But Zero would probably just snap his arm, so he'll settle with posting it on YouTube.

Bomb Man seems obvious to the trouble that seems to be happening with Layer and Zero and seems completely focused on dancing. Coming up from a three sixty on his Mohawk and rolls up to his feet smoothly to do the Reploid. Then he notices his partner in crime seems to have left and there seems to be some sort of commotion against the bar. The alpha does not stop dancing though he does so with a little less reserve. It's really amazing what a android or reploid can come up with in a dance given their unique builds.

Gemini shares a knowing look with Teresa and keeps drinking.

"You know I thought Zero was supposed to be a ladies' man, but he's not doing so well at this."

Zero's gesture is a little late for Layer, as she takes the liberty of pulling Kalinka off of him, with or without her consent.

Vincente returns to Mai's side with his mojito, fishing out his media center again and watching the horror unfolding below on it. Occasionally he channel-flips to catch another feed of interest to him, but for the most part is watching the goings on downstairs via Fingers' phone camera.

Teresa meets Gemini's gaze around the same time the WilySchool is announced. Afterward, she starts staring out into space, absently nipping at her martini now and again.

Gaus keeps watching the horror on the dance floor unfold. Alcohol makes it even funnier.

"Miss Atsuki," replies Takumine cordially, returning the gesture. "So, how did you manage to acquire the establishment, Rothschild-san?" he asks, while actually facing the dance floor rather than the subject of his inquiry.

Dynamo doesn't even step back. He wants to be up close for this one.

"Aaa!" Kalinka squeaks as she's pulled out of her futile kiss by Layer. "Stop it! Didn't you hear what he said?!" Kalinka flings herself at Zero again. "He... he understands me in a way no one else ever has! It's like he saw directly into my soul!" She tries to inappropriately caress the ponytailed Hunter. "It's clear... we're soul mates! It's destiny!"

Daryn is distracted from the universe for a while as he ogles Maddy (he can't blame himself, it's not his fault, for all his willpower--it is just not great enough). With almost audible effort, he turns back to face the horror. It's freakish.

On one end, Paradise, the other Hell. The Catacombs?! MORE LIKE THE AFTERLIFE!

"Money... is all," says Max quite flatly. "After branching out significantly enough in my father's banking ventures, I had enough to move in to real estate. This club wasn't considered so prime anymore so getting an all right price to renovate wasn't too difficult."

Ever since Tartarus was blown up, Gemini has had some small urge to reinstate the 'evil' bar, hence, purchasing. And really the Reploid room would be too obvious. And... it had reploid smell.

"But I have a board of investors. I don't want to manage these little things day to day."

Mai's head cranes around a little to peek at Vincente's secret camera feed. "Oh, you're getting a good view," she says, before adjusting her posture once more to get a better view down on the dance floor. She feels momentary despair for the young women of the future, as /Zero/, of all people, gets fussed over.

Layer doesn't let go. Zero or Dynamo might see the frustration in her eyes from their proximity. "First, you blatantly interrupt a conversation, then you advance on him when he's clearly telling you no. I don't care if you have no respect for yourself, but the least you can do is have a little respect for other people. Back off." She sternly replies, not retracting the hand, firm but not painful.

Maddy is ideal eye candy. She's very easy to find and difficult to ignore. The cheetah-print does not act as any kind of camo in an urban environment. She bends over a little more when Daryn approaches, then straightens up with her pitcher of Long Island Ice Tea. Half a tray of ice cubes has been emptied into it. Two tall glasses are held in Maddy's other hand with her fingers.

"I got us some drinks," Maddy says, pleased as punch. "Sorry it took a while but I really hate getting up."

Vincente keeps watching the feed, drinking his mojito. Even when he goes out he's watching TV. "You think he's gonna get slapped?" he asks Mai, not taking his eyes off the feed.

Gaus uses his own eyes to do the same thing, taking a puff on his cigar while waiting to regain enough stability to pour another glass of brandy.

"Dynamo? I sure hope so," Mai answers Vincente.

"HEY LAYER," Meddy shouts, her hands cupped around her mouth, "REMEMBER THAT ONE TIME THAT YOU KICKED ME IN THE FACE WHEN WE WERE PLAYING SOCCER BECAUSE YOU'RE COMPLETELY PSYCHO? DON'T BE A PSYCHO, LAYER, YOU'RE ALREADY TOO AWKWARD TO BE AROUND FOR ANY EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME." She dusts the front of her dress off and nods, satisfied, to Bomb Man. Work well done.

"You know, Layer could be all right looking if she maybe cut her hair and cleaned herself up," Max says, kind of out of the blue and not really all that far from his wife. "Unless she has some kind of growth on her forhead. She might."

"A third eye," Teresa says, distractedly.

He thought that not flirting with women would keep things like this from now happening anymore. It would seem that it isn't the case as Zero seems to be destined to have lady troubles. "Layer... Just let it drop. She's drunk and irresponsible, she'll find someone else to move on to when-" Zero pauses for a moment as he glances down. "If you want to grab down there, Kali, find a human who'd enjoy it. Or Meddy, I'm sure she's around here somewhere."

Despite the growing conflict, Zero doesn't move much and his tone remains calm. The only sign of tension comes from when the reaches for his glasses with three fingers, a crack forming in the rim from the hidden pressure he places on it. It's fine though, they'll likely just charge him double for it like they usually do for broken glassware.

While Wily starts to rant like a lunatic, Rock decides to drop by. It isn't hard to hear about a gathering where Vincente Sumiyama is. He figures Wily needs at least a week to come up with something and then another week to scream about it, at which point he can run in and shoot Metal Blades. Until Wily provokes, Rock decides this is the opportune place.

He enters without armor or helmet, dressed in what is definitely a suit that is ten years behind the times. He isn't very hip. His hair is well groomed under a wide brimmed hat, he is wearing a black dress jacket with a blue shirt underneath, as well as one of those low key animated ties and a pair of casual black slacks. Not quite garish, but subdued. Rush has no such dress, he is stylish where ever he goes.

Rock makes his way to the VIP bar and orders a club soda with a bit of lime.

"Well no, one simply doesn't have the time," agrees Takumine, sipping from his fermented rice beverage. "Enjoying yourself?" he asks, trying to look over Vincente's shoulder at his teevee, without much success.

"In some places, that's considered a sign of enlightenment-"

Mai trails off momentarily as /Rock Light/ walks into the VIP area. She looks briefly consternated at this sight, although she doesn't say anything. Not even at the dog.

"Ew," says Gemini. A third eye. He's picturing it; definitely not attractive.

... Wait a second, is that Rock coming up to the bar? Hell, it must be. No one orders a club soda at a VIP bar. "Designated Driver?" he asks the celebrity.

Bomb Man is continually head butting ,a little off beat to the music perhaps, and enjoying every second of it. The alpha seems to be having fun at least and he's so dancing so joyfully that more people start to dance along with him. He's almost in his own world by now, fully focused on the music and ignoring everything else. Except for the fact that he's keeping a half closed eye on the situation with Layer. Bomb man is having a lot of fun but Layer is his friend and if she's going to get upset he'll be ready to intervene.

Vincente thumbs around his media center, getting new alerts that Rock is entering the club. He doesn't look up, watching Rock move by in the backgronud on his device instead. "Hey, that's Mega Man," he says at Mai, though he keeps watching the screen.

Teresa snaps back into the present, finishing her martini and setting the empty glass down behind her. She takes a moment to pop a compact out of her purse, assess her current condition, then closes the mirror up and puts it away. It is important to look your best in front of rivals.

For now, Teresa lets Max do the talking, looking over at Mega Man from her position underneath the truce sign.

"And his little dog, too," Mai murmurs back to Vincente.

Daryn hears someone order a Club Soda. He doesn't have to look to know the identity. <Maybe,> He tightbeams to Gemini Man, <We should call the club soda the Rock Soda. Because srysly.> He says it like that too. Srysly.

His focus however is on Maddy. "Oh it's okay." He says, "I'm the cripple here." He rubs Maddy's back a little, a teeny tiny massage. He takes one of the Iced Teas but doesn't immediately sip it, "I should be the one apologizing all the time. Sorry sorry." He grins.

Rock takes his hat off, smiling. "Never did like drinking." He sets it on Rush's head with a little chuckle. The robodog just barks happily and turns around. He starts to slip underneath the chairs and tables, casually walking around. "I hope it's okay if I brought him. He's house trained, don't worry." The dog is rather casually seeking out Vincente's area via another table. He seems to roam around a bit longer before deciding the area is a good place to flop down and look into nothing and totally not record what Vincente is doing.

Rock lifts the club soda as it comes. "Just thought I'd come down and see the reopening of a club." He nods, turning towards the wall. "You know, I think Bass gave up his helmet in here." He looks over at Theresa, smiling casually as before he sips before looking back at Max. "Glad to see it open."

"Robot dog isn't a problem," says Max, forgetting a definite article somewhere in there. His German accent seems to get thicker as he drinks, which may be a sort of programming quirk. Though he's in a good disguise, he wouldn't be surprised if Rush just started growling at him and his evil wife. Dogs just know. He's always hated dogs. But he won't kick out Rush.

"Bass and his helmet? That must be an interesting story. I knew the place had a rich history," he adds. He hadn't heard the story about Bass. Really, anything to hold over him would be funny.

Fingers Malone has left.

Rock calls Wily's bluff, and the Maddest Doctor responds in his finest method.

The sky of London darkens as a massive brownstone building descends from the eternal cloudy sky over London. It looks like... A grade school. It even has a playground on it. It's also hovering on massive jets. The school name is 'DR. W ELEMENTARY SCHOOL'. Complete with insignia and shutter-doors at tne entrance.

Just when it seems like Wily is about to rain death on the area... an escalator folds out, and Wily steps down to the entrance of the club, dressed to impress in a finely-cut suit with a DR. W monogram. His tie is a tasteful Met-print.

Once he reaches the ground, he turns and taps the top of his ivory and ebony skull-cane.

The Wilyschool bwip-beeps, and proceeds to 125-park. Thankfully, no one who matters' vehicles are crushed.

Wily steps inside with a flourish, the lights of the dance floor gleaming from his cybernetic monocole. He doesn't need to say anything. His presence is enough to get all kinds of neat reactions.

Also, Gemini adds to Daryn, "I agree and we're probably going to name it that as soon as we print another menu. Tomorrow even."

Vincente is looking intently at a media center showing Rock sitting at the bar and himself in the lower corner of the screen as a speck. Vincente has no particular reaction to Rush, focused instead on watching Mega Man in one window and the Zero Dating Drama in the other. He puts down his empty mojito glass on a passing server tray and gestures for another one.

Maddy hands off one of the Long Islands to Daryn, keeping the pitcher and her glass for herself. She takes a drink while Daryn rubs her shoulder. "No, no, it's fine," Maddy says, relaxing a little more. "Don't worry about it, everything's under control."

And then things entirely stop being under control as muffled sounds of chaos are heard outside, accompanying Dr. Wily's arrival.

Teresa smiles back at Rock. She doesn't seem at all evil. Right now.

Dynamo seems to be waiting for something. He watches Kalinka and Layer curiously, if not with a little hint of boredome.

Meddy's words only aggravate Layer, a blush staining her cheeks as she gets pretty angry at Meddy bringing that up. Her pent up frustration's not quite at its peak, but she's pretty agitated at this point, bent on getting Kalinka off by this point.

Zero's words cut her off, though, as she halts, frowning. It's not an angry frown this time, though, more a confused, embarassed one. (What am I doing...?) Layer wonders, as Zero tells her to just let her be, several lines of thought cycling through her head as she eventually just releases Kalinka, going to get her drink and sitting down, turning away from them to let them deal with each other. If there could be one word defining her mood by this point, it's an indifferent 'whatever' as she just sits, losing herself in thought, forgetting about Dynamo's request for the moment.

Mai gives the robot dog a baleful look. The approach of the doctor's screaming jet-school outside makes her glance towards the entrance, and she drains her martini, probably out of necessity.

As Layer continues to hold her, Kalinka tries to cling to Zero's shirt as if it were somehow sturdy enough to prevent her from being moved. This leads to, of course, her death-grip on his shirt being a risky proposition. "No! No! It was fate, it was f--ugh oof" Layer then releases her and she ends up falling to the floor, inadvertently attempting to take Zero's shirt with her.

Kalinka strikes Zero with her Grasp attack. RRRRRRRRIP.

"Are you going to let her do that to your man, English girl?!" Gaus yells over the jet turbines at Layer. He's very surely drunk.

Layer just looks back at Gaus. Wrooooong time. "Shut up. He can deal with her." She snaps back with a cold, uncaring tone.

Gemini sees this and starts laughing immediately. He sets his empty glass on the bar and the tender refills it without comment. It's basically straight gin at this point going in to that glass.

Gaus believes Layer cares, or is so far in the tank that he doesn't mind getting into trouble. "You better get her flowers, blondie!"

"Why would I get her flowers?!" Kalinka calls back from the floor.

"Not you! The other one!" Gaus yells.

Dynamo turns away from Layer. At least Kalinka is being interesting. "Zero, /how/ ungentlemanly," he chides with a smirk.

"Oh! Sorry!" Kalinka yells.

Bomb Man keeps dancing to the beet, seemingly all absorbed into it. Then....

WILY!!!

From a theme plays and the action slows and the camera zooms to Bomb Man's eyes. He doesn't stop dancing of course but rather he starts dancing a bit closer to wily. Making his way semi smoothly towards him.

Another sip. "Yes, Massimo cornered him in here." Rock casually remarks to Max. He doesn't seem bothered by Teresa. The Devil's greatest ability is to make people empathize with him, isn't it?

Rush seems bored. Even cute with that hat on his head. He slowly rolls onto his side, sniffing around the ground as if something more interesting could be found there. He finds a peanut shell and starts to chew on it.

Rock turns his head towards the door as he hears Willy. "Odd. I thought for sure he would be gloating for a long time now." He nods to Max. "Please excuse me." He takes his club soda along, not trusting the glass with the others, and finds a better vantage point to see Wily on the dance floor.

"Oh screw this," Meddy says, throwing up her arms in exasperation. Killjoys are not worth being in close proximity to Dr. Wily, which she has conspicuously done without for like forever. The nurse makes a beeline for the back door, which is through the kitchen, which she can completely get through because she doesn't talk to anyone on the way. Employees are like t-rexes.

"Rock! Can you hear me!" Alia blurts over Rock's radio. "Remember, don't drink and dance! People will do silly impressions of you later behind your back!" She knows... from experience.

Layer takes a sip of her drink, which admittedly does not help her somewhat cynical mood. "He's not my boyfriend or anything like that, just stay out of it!" She calls back to Gaus.

The Devil wears Prada. Or in this case, Just Cavalli. (The bag is Prada.) Teresa watches Rockman leave, getting another Absinthe Minded martini. This will be her second martini to Max's ... however many. She is a slow social drinker.

Vincente is vaguely aware of Rush, but he can't peel his eyes from his screens now. This is great television! Vincente watches, occasionally sending feeds back to the N1 servers to be mixed into tomorrow's gossip news magazine shows.

Maddy sees Dr. Wily now. She puts the pitcher down on a table for a moment to wave at him. Maddy lifting her arm and waving is something everyone can appreciate.

Gaus knows Wily is here but is not too inclined to do anything about it. Watching couples fight is much more entertaining to him. That and causing problems. "I'm not in it! /She'll/ be in it, though."

Mai lets out a brief alto cackle at Layer's affected poise of disdain, and then looks at her martini - which is empty. She gives Vincente a momentarily pleading look, offering the glass. This may be to punish him for focusing on television.

Daryn twists the little straw around the iced tea. "Sure? That's--" There is some chaos. Daryn is an injured man! He can't keep up! But, in general, he understands that the opening day is a success.

He sips his tea gratefully. Slurp.

"Dynamo, don't hate because I get more action accidentally then you do on purpose," Zero offers with a cheerless smile. While normally he wouldn't mind the banter, the situation surrounding it has made taking it easy tonight a bit more difficult. The shirt is ripped, but most of it stays on. Kalinka has most of the front now though.

Wily is, for once, totally ignored by Zero. Count your blessing where you can.

Layer and Kalinka get most of Zero's attention. "Layer..." Zero offers softly as the purple haired beauty turns to attempt of apathy before he watches Meddy run off. Sighing, he bends down to help Kalinka up. "Your Beebeef ran off... Should likely see if she's doing okay. Maybe we'll have a real conversation when you aren't trying to feel up my junk." Unlikely, but there's a chance of it. Zero's trying to be the big man in all of this without just going on instinct and hedonistic urges. Life was somehow easier when he did though, strangely enough. "Hey, Gaus," Zero offers with a tired sigh.

Vincente blinks a few times when a martini glass crosses his field of vision. He looks up, closing the media center mechanically and putting it in his jacket pocket, then takes the glass with a grin.

"I can't say no to those eyes," Vincente says, kissing Mai on the forehead before moving over to the bar to get a refill. He fortunately does not trip on Rush.

Gaus takes another swig of brandy before talking again. "Pick one of them, Zero!" Gaus calls down at the blonde killbot. "The English girl looks sad! Go dance with her if you don't want the drunk! C'mon! Be a dude!"

Kalinka looks up at Zero with big, pleading puppydog eyes as she tries to stick most of the front of his shirt back to his chest. It is not happening but she is still trying. "Will you call me, at least, Zero?" Max is probably on his fourth. But then again, he is tall and also a robot. He can probably handle it.

On the other hand, he's a Robot Master, a race of robots not known for holding their liquor terribly well. But on the other other hand, a Professor-bot frame? Clearly, there are a lot of variables in play.

Dynamo raises an eyebrow at Zero. Beebeef?, he mouths silently, rolling his eyes at the crimson berserker. He snaps his fingers at the bartender. "More gin, less tonic."

Rush seems casual of Vincente. He doesn't go out of his way to attack him. But he does take a long soul searching look at Mai. And then he starts chewing on another peanut shell rather noisily.

Mai gets a slightly lopsided smile as she's kissed on the forehead, and Vinecnte departs. She looks over the edge of the balcony again - and then downwards towards Rush again, eyes narrowing. "What," she asks the dog, perhaps expecting him to produce a sassy hologram.

In response to Mai, the Rush hacks up the peanut shell in her direction. He stares at her and then shuffles over a bit to chomp on the shell again and lean under his table to chew on it again.

Daryn sweats. That dog. He feelts the urge to kick it. Control yourself Daryn! CONTROL YOURSELF!

"No, you'll call me when you're sober." Zero reaches for the shirt, trying to take it to toss into the nearest trash can. If there isn't one around, he'll just throw it out to the dance floor for some groupie to steal and sell on E-Bay. "The conversation will start with an apology to me and to Layer, though if you want to give the one to her now, that would be great. From there, we'll have a discussion, not a date... If you're not interested? That's fine, but that's how it's gunna be if it's gunna be."

Zero owes a lot to Dr. Cossack. Trying to help his wayward daughter is the least he can do, even if Pavel himself has given up on her. He glances back to Layer, not really saying anything to her for the time being. Gaus' commentary cause him to get a twitch in his brow, but he takes it. Once he gets done talking to Kalinka, he can move on to other matters.

Zero misses Kalinka with his Grasp attack.

Kalinka snatches the shirt away when Zero tries to grab it. "No! I'm keeping this!" she blurts. "What you said to me, Zero, you don't even know how much it... I'm... I'm going to keep this shirt and smell it and every time I smell it I'll think of the amazing things you said..."

Vincente is a dog person. Animals don't bother him; he just doesn't have enough time in his day to have a dog, and he micromanages everything so much that he couldn't leave the care of one to one of his goons. He retrieves Mai's martini and steps back over to her carefully, handing it over. He doesn't seem to have noticed the peanut shell thing.

Gaus figures he's given enough fatherly advice to Zero. He sits back a little more and nips at his drink, letting Zero 'be a dude' all on his own.

Bomb Man finally exits the Dance floor and makes his way back towards the bar. Were he human he would probably be sweating but he's not so he just looks pretty normal except perhaps for a faint ozone smell.

Walking back to the bar the alpha buys himself another molotov cocktail and looks around, noticing that Kalinka has Zero's shirt the alpha blinks a bit and wonders out loud. "What on earth did I miss?"

Dynamo retrieves a fresh gin and tonic, ostensibly with less tonic in it this time, and decides that the Zero-Layer-Kalinka threesome has run out of steam. Instead, he decides to teleport back to the VIP lounge (after drinking and discarding his lower-level drink), walking up to the Blue Bomber with one of those grins you'd like to hit with a brick. "Why, the legendary X, back from the dead. I'd hardly believe it if I hadn't seen it myself. And here I said such nice things at your funeral."

(Idiot,) Layer thinks of Gaus as she just sits, occasionally sipping her drink and just thinking over things. Was it wrong for her to interfere?

Downright upset by this point, she considers just leaving, finishing up her drink. (Hopefully Pallette wouldn't have seen this,) she fears, her face reddened significantly between alcohol and her embarassed, upset mood as she sits there.

Zero, shirtless, with his hair unbound, at a Goth bar. Gemini is apparently still sober enough still (and married enough) to resist the urge to try to out pretty him or something. But he's kind of thinking about it.

Teresa (and for that matter Maddy) surely wouldn't object to a man pretty-off.

Takumine isn't programmed to actually find any of this entertaining, in spite of his comment earlier to that effect. He's somewhat surprised his older brother is, but, reflects to himself that perhaps he shouldn't be.

Dynamo is so not obliging anyone in a man-pretty off. Though if one were to start...

Bomb Man is already shiftless so haha. Of course he doesn't ever wear clothes but still...

Daryn brushes his forehead and finishes the rest of his long island ice tea. He was thirsty, and needed the willpower boost. He sets down his glass and checks out the window--what the. What's he doing? He's being all...weird.

He narrows his eyes slowly.

Kalinka is, naturally, two drinks away from toplessness herself at any given moment.

Mai doesn't get the peanut shell thing. Is the dog even chewing it? Is the dog going to turn into a submarine or something? Mai has no idea, that dog is kind of freaking her out. Mai isn't a big pet person either, although she might enjoy a bird.

"Why thank you," she tells Vincente, sipping the martini and glancing finally over her shoulder for a moment, towards the art gallery.

People flee. Some begin to advance. Others stare. The Doctor glories in it. His ego will accept no less, really. Wherever he goes, he will not merely fade into the background. Doctor Wily casually steps forward, merely chuckling to himself as Meddy escapes. Maddy waves to him, and Wily waves back, appreciative indeed of Maddy's waving. The doctor continues to terrorize the plebians as he waltzes himself up to the bar and orders a Robot. Go figure. As the highball glass is filled up with mixed liquor, the Doctor gazes over those present. Bomb Man's advance is certainly noticed, since the Alpha Master does not blend in well. He blames the mohawk.

Zero is ignored as he usually is unless he's annoying Wily. His gaze, however, seems to almost directly seek out the Blue Bomber.

He smiles, and sips at his drink. What now, Rock. WHAT NOW?

All things considered, Gemini is more entertained by Dr. Wily trying to take on Rock, since he can't really fight back all those Robot Master 'genes.' But nothing has started quite yet in that department, even though the dance floor is politely parting for Wily to pass.

Vincente is totally unprepared for whatever it is Rush may do. This kind of super robot stuff is not part of his normal experience. Rush could turn into a submarine RIGHT NOW and Vincente wouldn't know what to do.

Maddy waves to Dr. Wily and then lets him get to the business of being an evil mad scientist. She refills Daryn's glass of Long Island Iced Tea before taking a long pull from her own, settling in to watch the confrontation.

Teresa collects her martini and stands, moving over to the railing with many other people to watch the confrontation. She is drawn to such things -- indeed, she has always been.

Gaus finds the Wily/Rock confrontation uninteresting. He wants to see if the English girl gets together with Zero or not.

Thankfully, there are no bricks in range. Rock's tie blinks slowly as Beat is animated flying over it. He keeps an eye out on the dance floor, eyeing Wily. He turns his head back at Dynamo, sipping at his drink. "Sorry. I really was dead. Roll is the one who saved me." He waggles the glass. "If you like, you can have back any funeral gifts you made, I don't mind." He sees Wily sit down and gasps, holding his hand over his eyes dramatically. "The glare! Dr. Wily's head must be in the open!"

Rush looks up at Mai, noisily chewing on his peanut shell some more. He just sort of slides it back and forth, chewing on it like one might a toothpick. He even narrows his eyes for a moment just to make her comfortable.

Bomb Man glares at Wily a bit muttering certain words that would make Layer blush, but he doesn't go after him. Not at this time any way. Not unless he can get him to dance floor into a DANCE OF DEATH competition but that seems somewhat unlikely. So he just turns away from Dr. wily and pointedly ignores him. Turning to the Layer/Zero/Kalinka confrontation which he has a few ideas how to solve but which would only get him slapped by at least two of them.

A tired sigh is given to Kalinka as she takes in the message but doesn't seem to understand it in the least. He tried, maybe he'll have better luck another day. "Of course, Kalinka... My gift to you then. The cologne is my personal line that I approve, unlike the piss poor drink they attach to my name here." Look, Gemini, he DID notice. Awwww. His farewell made, Zero finishes the rest of his glass signifying that the conversation is over. The cracked glass is set down and Zero moves around Kalinka to get to Layer.

Still standing, Zero moves to speak behind Layer. Whispering into her ear (or her purple hair which covers any auditory sensors), Zero says, "I'm really sorry about all of that. Stuff like that just kinda happens with me. I'm going to the VIP; need to find out who's running this joint. You wanna come with?" Zero only turns briefly at the mention of someone passing by of Wily, but Zero just sighs as he turns back toward Layer once more.

Even as Zero makes it clear the conversation is over, Kalinka continues to stay in the same spot, body turning to follow Zero with an expectant gaze as he moves around her and talks to Layer.

As Wily approaches, Layer, pretty much set in a downward spiral by this point, gets up, her empty drink settled on the bar previously behind her. Giving her thanks to the bartender, she pays and leaves a tip, heading out, simply shaking her head no to Zero as he approaches her. "No, don't worry about it, my fault anyways. Gonna head home, I'll see ya later, alright?" is all she really offers him. She seems a little wobbly, but a bit of typing on her right arm to adjust her calibration and she rights herself well enough to not look drunk, more tired.

Unsure of what to say or do by this point, she heads out, avoiding all eye contact from... well, just about everyone, tapping on her headset. << Gonna head home, Pally, be sure you head home with Zero or Bomb Man. You know how it is around here at this time. >> She tightbeams, tuning out the whining from her sister about her being old enough to take care of herself with a weak smirk before waltzing out, provided she isn't stopped.

Dynamo chuckles. "No, no. I was considering hating you, but hate takes so much work. And you're a very hard man to hate." He turns his gaze out at the crowd, and the glare from Wily's head. "Why don't you go down and say hi? I'm sure he'd love the attention. He gets out so little these days."

Dynamo is still talking to Rock, for the record.

They're coming up? Oh golyl. Daryn smiles, takes his refilled glass and says, "I'm thinking they're going to do a walkoff." to her. "Maybe a danceoff. What do you think?"

Even without a shirt, nobody stops Zero from coming up to VIP. Some things they aren't going to mess with even if the club is under new ownership.

Gaus momentarily seems hopeful when Zero whispers to Layer, but that hope is cruelly dashed by Layer's antisocial behavioral disorder. She starts walking out, prompting Gaus to grumble to himself and take another drink.

Maddy considers Daryn's question, looking down again at Wily and Rock. "Does Dr. Wily dance?" she asks Daryn, quietly.

Vincente takes out his media center again in preparation to watch the feed of whatever happens downstairs, cycling through new system messages. "Zero's coming," Vincente says to himself, reaching out blindly to take the mojito coming his way from a tray and taking a quick swig.

Teresa decides to move back to the bar, leaving the direct observation of Wily and Rock to others. She moves back to her old seat directly beneath the truce sign, crosses her legs demurely, and sips her martini. She is the queen of the world.

"Layer, wait!" Zero reaches out as the woman leaves, trying to grab the operator by the hand. Should he get it, he'll continue on. "It wasn't your fault, you just tried to help. If it was anyone's fault, it was mine. If you have to go though, I'll understand... Will make it up to you later, I promise." If he doesn't grab the hand or she still walks out, he'll just get another drink for the road up to the VIP lounge.

The music stops. This is a traumatic experience; you get used to the music, and then it's suddenly gone and you feel like the silence is trying to choke your ears to death with huge scary metaphysical arms. Even the annoyed yells and catcalls that rise up to fill the void don't ease the pain. Several people near the DJ booth accost the poor man in bright red sunglasses and a shirt made out of woven gold chains behind the table, but he has no answers. What happened?!

The only thing that can be construed as an answer is few taps of an unseen piano. It plays a string of notes in time with the curtain at the live stage opening, ever so slowly, revealing a shadowed figure sitting at the piano bench. "Tooooniiight, I'm gonna have myself a real good time, I feel aliiii-iii-iii-iiiive--"

The voice is very pretty. It's also very familiar. Almost... Broadway-ish. The mere fact that you have to describe the singing with such an abstract concept is a signal that it's goddamn Meddy, again. The lights go up, the nurse dressed in a leather jacket and a pair of tight jeans that looked to have been vacuumed-sealed on. Her fingers expertly dance across the ivories, because she plays every instrument known to man due to being a superior robotic form of life.

"--and the woooOOOOOLRD turning insiiiide out, yeah, and floating around in ec-sta-sy, so don't--" a few lights go up in sequence, revealing several cooks that have been press-ganged into the show so quickly they're still clutching spatulas and the like. The fat Mexican guy on the end has an amazing voice and will use this event as a springboard to an opera career afterwards. "--stop me now, don't stop me now, 'cause I'm having a good time, having a good time~"

Meddy violently explodes to her feet, kicking the bench over and slamming her fists into the keys so hard it somehow comes out as melodic. "I'M A SHOOTING STAR LEAPING THROUGH THE SKY, LIKE A TIGER DEFYING THE LAWS OF GRAAAAVIIIITTYYYY!" she yells, ripping off her leather jacket with superhuman strength, revealing a tiny spandex vest underneath with FREDDIE stretched across the front.

Also there's fireworks.

"MEDDY!" Kalinka squeals, having tied Zero's shirt around her neck in the style of Rachel Ray's noted symbol of jihad toward the American Dunkin Donuts Capitalist Machine. "You came back for me!"

Well people seem to be mostly going to the VIP room about now, Bomb Man doesn't he watches Layer with a frown on his face. Perhaps he shouldn't have gone dancing back there. Then...

MEDDDY!

Bomb Man cheers and whoopies along with just about every male in the group under seventy. "YOU GO GIRL. WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO."

Gemini blinks with shock as Meddy starts breaking out in to a song and dance number. Now there's something you don't see every day. "... I guess she WAS keeping up with her singing. Who knew."

"God /damn,/" Mai says in wonder, taking another sip from her martini. "I didn't know she had it in her." She wasn't present for Meddy's 'design meeting'.

Which involved Dr. Wily coming back with a copy of a Broadway playbook and a big net.

And at the Bar, who should emerge from under the bar but a man in a dashing outfit of a powder blue shirt, white tie and matching suspenders and fedora, composed entierly of high grade polyester, stirring some unfathomable drink with a celery stalk and singing in the rapid fire candace made popular in 1980s New Wave videos and illegal Government interrogation methods.

"Smoooooth, like ice, cold to the touch and it isn't very nice when you're left, alone, you'll let her treat you bad leave you hanging on the phone, take off gather up your will put the pedal to the floor cause you're heading for the hills got to get away, can't take it no more, men don't need this leave her at the door!"

"The door! The door! The door! The..." Takeshi pauses, scratches his head, and opens the side door, allowing the ice delivery robot to get in. "Sorry about that, was just getting into the atmosphere."

Layer pauses, a look of surprise coming across her face. This is visible as she turns around, letting Zero take her hand for a moment as he speaks to her. She can't bring herself to look him in the eye, keeping her gaze fixed downward before she closes her eyes, mentally steadying herself to relax. Trying to, anyways.

"I..." She stammers, "...we'll talk later at home, alright? I just need to go..." Trying to rein in her emotions so she doesn't look like even more of an idiot than she thinks she does, she offers him a weak smile, before turning away, slipping her hand out from his hold and walking off. Fortunately, she'd be out the door by the time Meddy begins bursting out into song like a lunatic.

Vincente looks up when the music stops. He blinks a few times in confusion, then hears the old standard ramping up below him. He looks back down at his console and starts thumbing more quickly through it to get the proper feed. When he finds him, he is consumed by watching it.

Maddy watches, knowing this song all too well. She does not sing very well but Goddamn it she can dead lift a car, so she feels like she can scream out the next verse of the song along with Meddy, if Meddy continues on that path. "I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva! I'm gonna go! Go! GO! There's no stopping meeeeee~~!! I'm burning through the sky, yeah, two hundred degrees -- that's why they call me Mr. Fah-ren-heeiiiiiiiit! I'm traveling at the speed of light! I wanna make a super-sonic man out of yooooooouuuu!" And into the chorus!

Teresa snaps out of her surprise to hum along with the song. She knows the standard, just not all the words. It brings a smile to her face. Such cheerful music! She does wave to Takeshi when he appears down below.

Gaus forgets all about Layer when Meddy starts the song number. He whistles crudely at her when she whips off the leather jacket.

Rock drains the glass. "I think he-"

Rock nearly falls over as the music explodes. He stumbles against the railing, grabbing it tight. He holds tight onto his class as he slowly stands up again. "Ahem. Well. It looks like Meddy needed the attention more than Wily. Wow." He turns down towards the dance floor, lifting his eyebrow. "That Mexican guy has a great voice."

"Oh he dances," Daryn murmurs, "He dances." Except he pronounces it Dahnces.

But it seems that Meddy is the dancing death god today, Daryn spills some of his drink--in shock! What is that mysterious voice? Meddy! Where is it coming from? OVER THERE!

Stunned, he claps.

Dynamo laughs at Rock, though he strokes his chin as he looks down at the stage. "Yes, he does. Positively sexy." He smirks.

Meddy grabs the microphone stand, leaping to the edge of the stage while the piano continues to play itself through her latent powers of robo-telekinesis. She is the perfect rockstar, gyrating her hips so hard that several camera phones explode, injuring dozens. But they don't care, because the tiny bits of plastic embedded in their skin is a small price to pay to gaze upon this glory.

"I'M A RACING CAR PASSING BY, LIKE LADY GODDIIIIVVAAAA, I'm gonna go, go GO THERE'S NO STOPPING MEEEEEEE!" Meddy sings with the force of a billion supernovas lighting an alien planet with equal parts beauty and danger. "Esteban, GUITAR ME!"

The fat chef reaches behind the curtain, tossing a fire-engine red electric guitar to the nurse. It has a picture of Meddy, reclining naked in the style of WW2 bomber nose art, painted onto the side for extra mind-screw. She hops up and down, wailing on the strings as she continues. "I'M BURNING THROUGH THE SKKIIIIIIESSS, TWO HUNDRED DEGREES, THAT'S WHY THEY CALL ME MISTER FAHRENHEIT! I'M TRAVELLING AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT!"

The Chinese robot falls to her knees, holding out a hand to the tiny Russian girl. "I'll always come back for you, Kalinka! BECAUSE I WANT TO MAKE A SUPERSONIC MAN OUT OF YOOOOOU!"

Gemini full-on gaffaws at this last line. He nearly drops his drink. "Man, nobody builds attention whores like Dr. Wily. Or steals them. ... Yes, well, she's part Jane you know, in some weird programming way."

"Man!" Takeshi snaps, "Not only do I do a Darkplace reference and no one notices, but /another/ robot girl is a lesbian! God, what kind of people /make/ these other, robolesbian people?!"

"Men," Teresa says, with a little disdain.

Vincente, almost a minute later, "Darkplace, totally underrated, awesome show."

"This might be a Takarazuka kind of thing, Doctor," Mai says, looking over at Takeshi, who she is now noticing. (Blame the martini, which may have been kicked up a notch (BAM) by Vincente.) "You know, like, they're dancing with each other for the sake of art. Not..."

She looks back out towards the dance floor with dawing trepidation. Did Gemini Man create a /secret lesbian bar/?

"Are you all right?" Vincente asks himself. "Not really."

"SCREW YOU I'M ROBOT-BISEXUAL BY CHOICE, STOP OPPRESSING ME!" Meddy shouts, slamming a chord on her guitar so hard that the forcefield seperating the VIP lounge from the other room explodes. The energy field seriously explodes and luckily no one is hurt.

Bomb Man continues to cheer, stopping only occasionally to pick pieces of shattered glass from out of his drink with a grin.

Gaus dives under his table when the forcefield explodes, fortunately grabbing his bottle of bourbon on his way down. He waits for the shockwave to pass before taking another bolt from the bottle itself, poking his head out from cover to look for signs of ninjas, pirates or zombies.

Maddy is about to keep singing when the forcefield explodes! She squeals and dives down, tackling Daryn onto the floor to cover him with her body. This is not an undesirable position to be in.

Vincente, not paying attention, will probably be victimized by the shockwave, or at least by the people who flee the VIP area in a panic. But the camera view is so interesting!

Teresa helpfully has Gemini Man for cover.

Mai /whips into action,/ grasping Vincente and turning him around roughly, doubtless spilling his drink and replacing his view with a more familiar one. The shockwave of bursting energy strikes her - slightly staining her dress!? And knocking her forwards hard enough to, in turn, knock Vincente down.

She looks down from her new position, saying with a wry smile, "Hi," before rolling offwards. (Did she have to do it in such a rush?)

Rock takes a moment to go back over to the bar to fill up on more club soda. He glances over to Takeshi. He sips. "And you should be more tolerant. Robots have free choice." He squeezes a bit more lime into the soda. "It's a very open life style now for robots! Dynamo is very open. Many hunters and Repliforcers are open. Why, I've even heard that Gemini Man favors larger men. You should be a more respectful crimi-" Rock's first impulse in the explosion is to grab the nearby table and upend it, protecting a few patrons behind him.

"Men?" asks Gemini, honestly curious why that was an issue. "Well, yes, I guess programming robot girls to like other robot girls is a little purile, but--" he drinks a little more. "I'm entertained."

... WHAT did Rock just say? Ooo, the Blue Bomber was trying to bait him, apparently. He ignores it. Willfully.

"No, honey," Takeshi puts a brotherly hand on Mai's shoulder, "When you're quoting Freddie Mercury while gyrating provocativly, it ain't gay-for-show, it's gay-ta-go. There are some things you just can't fake, if you know what I mean?"

Then he is challanged for Alpha Loud Guy and looks up at Meddy! "I'll oppress anyone I want, fool! For I am..." Oh hey that is Mega Man and Zero over there. "...the bartender! And not an infamous super-criminal."

Close up on Takeshi's dark expression, as his left hand clenches into a weird evil half-fist thingy, and his eyes narrow sinisterly. "Not at all."

And then there's an explosion and...ah jeze. "One of these days, I'll get an evil girlfriend to take advantage of me." Takeshi offers philosophically, whiping the glass off and going, "Ahh!" when Rock speaks to him because Rock once beat the crap out of him for stealing an origional copy of the US Constitution.

It's with Meddy's amazing proclamation that Kalinka picks up the song, doing a spin in her fur coat -- she came in wearing a kind of skanky glittery black dress but when the spin completes, she's wearing a tight red tanktop (and let's face it she doesn't have enough to really warrant a bra there, or so she thinks at her own peril) and red flare-leg leather pants with a yellow hammer and sickle emblazoned on her thigh. Like everyone with a funny accent, said accent disappears when she sings, and she has a throaty, diva-esque voice -- the kind of voice that suggests that she either has wisdom beyond her years or has burned her lips on a crack pipe at least once in her life.

"DON'T" Kalinka begins, pausing for a beat nearly as pregnant as she was until her appointment yesterday.

"STOP ME NOOOWWWWWW," she sings in unison with the line cooks, before adding in a coquette teen-idol vamp, "I'm havin' such a /good time/ I'm havin' a ball so DON'T"

"STOP ME NOOOWWW," and she belts in maybe the most honest thing she has said all night, "If you wanna have a /good time/ just gimme a CALL-ALL-ALLLLLLL!" Kalinka throws her coat off, and keeps her ushanka on. What were pink fuzzy boots when she came in are now red pumps. She built a machine for this sort of thing years ago. "DON'T STOP ME NOOOWWW," the line cooks demand, and she reponds, "'Cause I'm havin' a good tie-ee-yi-ee-yime!" They call back: "DON'T STOP ME NOOOWWW," and she can only turn to them with a grinning finger-waggle and sing back, "Yes I'm havin' a /good time/ -- an' I DON'T WANNA STOP AT AAAAAALLLLLLLLL!"

Gemini Man also serves as cover for when the energy field bursts, and Teresa steps behind him. Honestly, he doesn't notice for a second. Then he frowns, and puts in a call to maintanance to reboot the damn thing.

Wily squints at Rock, a mocking expression on his face as he shouts up to Rock. "Is that the best you have, Mega Man! You'll never defeat me with such weak attacks! Clearly, you're not operating at your best!"

And then the music begins. Wily rises from his seat, draining off the Robot and slamming it down on the bar with a dramatic note of defiance. He turns to watch the production by Meddy, grinning in that perfectly malevolent Wily way as he observes.

And foottaps to the music, before whipping his cane up towards Mega Man, dramatically standing as the field explodes past him. He staggers a bit, but holds on through sheer willpower. "Come down, Rock! And face me... ON THE DANCE FLOOR!"

Dynamo stands there with his terrible robotic endurance as the forcefield explodes. It does, however, shatter his drink and cover him with the less watery upstairs gin and tonics. "Now I say," he says, not moving to protect anyone, but looking more amused than miffed.

He reaches up for his glasses. They're... broken! He drops them onto the counter, producing another pair from one of his belt pouches.

Zero watches as Layer wanders off. And there she goes, Zero getting the sense that his life got more complicated. Again. Sighing, he takes a drink for the road and moves around the music number as best he can as he gets up the the VIP Lounge, using his prowess in battle to get there unharmed. Suddenly, the Anti-Zero-ness of the Nightclub all makes sense to him when he sees the people in the VIP Lounge. Guy Zero Doesn't Like lying on the ground along with a Large Chest (attached to Some Woman Zero Wants to Kill), here with as Evil Brother Killing B**** who's with Random Boytoy That Zero Isn't Sure If He Wants to Kill or Not. There is also Rocker Zero Wants to Kill being protected on the ground by Misguided Woman Zero Doesn't Know Enough About. And among all the rest of them... Dr. Takeshi, Wily, and Rock.

"What the f*** is going on up here?"

Daryn says, "WH--!" as the forcefield explodes--oh no! His guitar, it's on vacation today!

But this turns out to be a good thing because Maddy tackles him to the ground a moment later. He'll write Meddy a small thank you note later, even though he's pretty knocked for a loop due to his head banging against the ground. For a moment he worries Maddy is putting herself in harm's way--but no, it seems that it's a perfectly fine day minus the forcefield after all.

"Hey Maddy!" He says in greeting.

Overcome by the music and full of alcohol Bomb Man waves his arms madly along with the music and he isn't the only one, people all around the floor are starting to dance. The alpha even sing with the music with abandon, his voice being both deep and vocal. This was turning out to be one fun night out.

Vincente, this is your friend Gravity. Let's introduce you to my friend, Floor. Floor, this is Vincente. Vincente, this is Floor. Thank you, Gravity, for introducing me to your esteemed colleague.

Vincente's mojito flies out in an arc from his immediate vicinity. Rush is probably going to be wearing it. It was a pricy drink. Vincente is then pinned underneath Mai, which is indeed pretty normal for him. His hat is knocked off on impact. He blinks a few times as Mai rolls off of him, blindly groping back to collect his hat as he scoots over near the railing so to be out of a traffic lane. Still not exactly sure what is going on, Vincente fumbles around with his media center, half-looking down at the show, half-looking at the readout.

Maddy grins at Daryn. "Hi Daryn," she says, skittering off of him and back up to her feet -- a little unevenly, as that maneuver isn't supposed to work in heels. She kneels to help Daryn up as Zero arrives. "Captain Hammer's here, sweety, no time for lying down now."

Teresa, who was shielded from the consequences of the explosion by Gemini Man, looks dispassionately at Zero. She takes a sip of her martini and continues listening to the rock opera. That line chef /is/ really good.

The alpha also grabs more of his little party blasters and tosses them onto Meddys makeshift stage. Creating smoke and pyrotechnics over all the room with one hand and a flash of party bombs which make it rain small ribbons of multiple colors every time th word bomb is uttered.

Hm. "Alright, Wily. If I have to." Before the forcefield goes back up, Rock sets the glass abck down. He looks at Takeshi. "My apologies, you are not at all evil." Rock turns around towards the dancefloor. He then spins around really fast and makes a rapid step at Takeshi before he turns around again. Rock starts over to the railing. Rush shifts his weight so that the mojito at least hits him on the side and not in the leather hat. It's an expensive leather hat. He pulls out of the table and into the open.

Rock leaps down onto the dancefloor. "Hello Wily." He holds his hand out into open space, leaving it there for a moment. "I see you need to be taught a lesson." Rush starts shaking off the mojito. The hat is thrown off into the air. It lands right into Rock's hand where he slips it onto his head, straightening out the brim.

Rock's tie animates again, Beat flying over it.

"Doctor Wily and Mega Man are dance fighting, and Meddy and Kalinka are one vodka martini away from making out on the cover of The Sun." Takeshi explains to Zero, a horrible metal arm grabbing a cup to make said vodka martini. "Want a drink? I make a mean appletini!"

As for the explosion? Takeshi's the bartender. Bartenders are never worried about this sort of thing.

Mai sighs theatrically as Vincente is /still watching the screen/.

'Maximillian' also looks down at Zero. Meanacingly, no longer protected by the force shield that was there a second ago, and with a half-empty martini. "Yes," he says. "I think this place will do."

Vincente is surely not looking at his media center as part of a devious supervillain-esque plan. He does manage to straighten up after a few seconds to stand more properly next to Mai. He idly takes some napkins off a table and begins carefully daubing at Mai's dress with them. Apparently not paying attention to what he's doing, he daubs at Mai, spending more time on some areas than others. Hey! He's not looking, right? Right.

Meddy lifts Kalinka onto the stage easily, playing a premature bridge while she go-go-gadget transforms. "I'm a rocket ship ON MY WAY TO MARS!" the nurse continues, leaping up onto the top of the piano in a single bound. "ON A COLLISION COURSE! I AM A SATELLITE, I'M OUTTA CONTROL!"

Seemingly unwilling to be outdone by Kalinka's slut-tronic magical makeover, Meddy further ups the ante; she tosses the guitar up into the air, spinning around and ripping off her jeans and vest in a single motion, revealing MERCURY written across the back of her panties. The guitar lands perfectly in her hands as if it were Excalibur (it is, she had it melted down to make it), the nurse spinning around to reveal that the PG-13 rating is being kept in place by a pair of tassles. She's a little bit Las Vegas too, and immediately shows her talent by somehow getting them to spin in opposite directions.

"I'M A SEX MACHINE READY TO RELOAD, LIKE AN ATOM BOMB ABOUT--TO--OH OH OH EXPLOOOOODE!"

The kitchen backup singers really get into it, chanting "Don't stop me, don't stop me, don't stop me!" while stealing a couple of moves from the Pips. They practiced beforehand, but swore they would never tell anyone of their love for R&B... until now.

Meddy focuses on the guitar, her concentration so legendary that she is unphased when the piano transforms underneath her with a familiar UNK ENK ONK ENK UNK noise, forming a giant fifteen foot tall robot with the nurse balanced in its palm. "I LIKE IT," it booms in a robotic voice.

"Pianotron, everyone! Give him a hand!"

Dr. Takeshi Shinchiro feels bad, but not as bad as he could, because he has a science casino to build so he can find a cure for being brainwashed by sparklypoo. Takeshi blames this because he is kind of crazy, if you haven't noticed.

He also works up a saucily named fruity girl drink to drown her sorrows into.

"He's Not The Hammer." Daryn murmurs, helping himself up with the use of Maddy's arm (he's getting thrown through things a lot lately), "Is his Beamsabre." He gives Zero a long, terrible look. The rage of a thousand suns!--well actually it's more like mild to moderate irritation.

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ATOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOOOMBBBBB!" Bomb Man shouts, having gotten really into the music again and sending up more fireworks and smoke bomb into the air. "EXPLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODE!" He Continues with wild abandoned meddy never having looked so sexy before and not because she was just in panties on the stage..Well not only because she was just on the panties on the stage.

Mai allows herself to be daubed. "So," she asks him, "if we get a third round, are we drinking up all their profit margin, do you think?" Mai is assuming she gets free drinks, anyway; this may, of course, be misapprehension. She looks over at Takeshi, hopefully.

Axl has left.

Gaus, once he's sure that nothing's attacking, goes back to leaning over the railing. He whistles approvingly at Meddy and Kalinka's Slutacular Reunion, as loud as a crazy old retired superhero with a constantly upgraded super suit can be.

Vincente daubs. Daub daub daub. He's slowly starting to see how much daubing he can get away with before she tries to make him stop, allegedly still watching his media center. "Let's go for five," he says. "I had to drop one."

Meddy isn't a problem, but Gemini, being practical about the condition of the place, says, "We may have to cut Bomb Man off. Or out."

The epic music continues on, Zero silent even as Maddy and Daryn banter about him and the drink offer for an Appletini comes. He ignores the offer for now, just glancing toward the one whose comment that entered his mind. The one that gave him a clue as to whose responsible.

Turning toward Max, Zero offers simply, "You are the one that bought this place and changed it?"

Mai shifts a little, which puts her out of casual daubing range. This may be a warning, like the stains of the juice of sapho. Or it just lets her look over the balcony again. "You had it dropped from the music, that totally doesn't count."

Dynamo decides, now that Rock is engaging in a Dance Dance Revolution, that he should bother someone else. He wanders in Zero's direction, but doesn't interrupt him. Yet.

Vincente comically daubs the air for a few seconds before moving over closer to Mai. This has nothing to do with an imminent Zero attack. No sir, Vincente Sumiyama is fearless in the face of attack robots that can turn him into salsa in one strike. He's just standing by Mai and looking for more things to daub, that's all. Yeah.

"Okay, six rounds," he says. "Especially for you, you metabolize it faster and don't get as drunk."

Bomb Man seems thankfully to have stopped throwing those 'party bombs' around and settle down to drink some more. Having applauded madly for the twin girls. "Hey was that appeltiny still available mister" peer "Tak-hass-hi?" The alpha says somewhat drunken but oh so happy.

Jack Krauser was behind the curtain on the stage, moments ago.

Now he is in the kitchen, behind one of the line cook backup singers.

There was a knife in Jack Krauser's hand, moments ago.

Now there is a knife between the third and fourth vertebrae of said line cook, who is staring straight ahead in shock. His comrades sing on, oblivious. Jack slowly twists the knife, expression remaining neutral, as he whispers into the middle-aged man's ear. "Shhh. Sleep now. Sleep."

Gently, he pulls the man backwards, out of the line of singers. There is no blood on the floor. Calmly, methodically, he sets above folding the now-dead man into an unused cooling cabinet.

By the time the bridge of 'Don't Stop Me Now' is done, so is Jack Krauser. Raising his radio to his mouth, the Soldier rasps two words: "Phase one complete. Proceeding to phase two."

Jack Krauser walks out onto the dance floor, straight past the revelers, and up onto the stage. There is a flash of metal, and the knife is in the karaoke machine, cutting off the song with a wretched *SQUAARRRRKK*. Impassively turning towards Kalinka and Meddy, he goes :|. "This is an inefficient use of your time. I tasked each of you with killing a polar bear using the swiss army knives I sent you last week." An eye twitches. "And yet here you are, /singing/. And there are still two too many polar bears in the world."

Wily smiles at Rock. "You're the one who's going to be taught a lesson, Rock. Because I'm the Principal... And in Wilymerica, the school is brought to /you/!" He finishes this with no small amount of satisfaction, having successfully perverted Yakov Smirnoff for his own evil ends.

He twists, spinning the cane behind him as the music goes on, and Wily nods to Rock. Epic battle, GO! He turns, shaking his booty and spinning around in some unexpectedly spry moves from the old man. In fact, he drops into a six-step and cuts into a handspin... What? Wily is BREAKDANCING?

Dr. Wily then promptly falls over when Krauser shanks the music.

During the absolutely fantastically wonderfully supernaturally hypoglycemically farmworthily frothily pithily pathfinderly avuncularly nuclearly atomically tanktastically skankarifically epic bridge, Kalinka is suddently surrounded by Statues of Liberty -- or, at least, women dressed as the Statue of Liberty, circling her as she shrinks down, blocking the Princess from view.

The Statues then rip off their robes to reveal gaudy Communist USSR Showgirl glitter swimsuits beneath, looking like some sort of insane Stalin Whore Action Squad -- they even have body glitter applied to their high foreheads in the shape of Gorbachev's birthmark. They lift Kalinka up in a Bubsy Berkeley flourish so that she can sing along with stupid attention whore asshole Meddy.

When Krauser appears, the faux-Russian showgirl platoon are shocked enough that they drop Kalinka, whose mic squawks horribly with brutal feedback on impact. She gets up, dusts herself off, and tries to decide who she's madder at: Krauser, or Meddy. "You know, you both didn't have to steal the spotlight like that," she pouts.

The music abruptly stops, which is odd considering that no one was using the kareoke machine. Meddy's tassles come to a rest, the nurse giving Jack an incredulous look. "Wh-what!? I'm done killing polar bears! I'm pretty sure they're endangered now, especially after you made us construct for you a house out of polar bear bones! We're too busy ROCKING OUT, OKAY, GRANDPA?! Hit it, Pianotron!"

"COMMAND ACKNOWLEDGED, EMPRESS MEDDY." Pianotron transforms back into a piano, starting to play again. Meddy gives Kalinka a sheepish look. "Heh heh, I, uh, convinced him that I'm Empress of Earth. Long story--anywayHITTHEMUSICPIANOTROOOOONNNN"

"One second." Takeshi says, sticking an arm back to look in the kitchen just as Jack Krauser shanks someone. And then the music. The music Dr. Wily was dancing to. Takeshi looks, for a second, absolutely horrified, stepping back and finishing the appletini. "Um, here you go." Takeshi offers.

And then, a temporal anomoly hits, and Takeshi finds himself at the destroyed stero system, laughing evily and possibly having ranted viciously about stealing his groove. "W-what?" Takeshi looks out at the crowd, "Did I just get made the villain to let Wily and Rock do something cool together when the other guy wimped out because he didn't get to randomly kill some NPCs to feel tough?!"

"Snap!" Takeshi winces, because seriously. "J-just be gentle, okay?"

I PITY THE POOR FOO WHO THOUGHT TO KILL THE MUSIC AND STOP THE PRETTY GIRLS FROM BEING PRETTY!" Bomb Man shouts and jumps onto the stage himself, pointing accusingly at Dr. takeshi Shinchiro, half drunk, half wobbly and all pissed off. "Now get the hell out of here before I go all Mister T on yer arse."

The alpha punches his fist into his hand in a vaguely menacing way and advances towards TAkeshi shinchiro "AND WHERE'S My APELTINI."