[center][h2]El Banditos in the Club[/h2][hr][/center]
For a city that was otherwise a cesspool of corruption, Pax Septimus had one thing going for it at least: the night life. The lack of any real government oversight in regards to building regulations meant that those with a particular vision could get away with constructing anything they wished, so long as they knew the right people to pay, and subsequently, that meant that the clubs within the city had some designs that were [i]quite[/i] outlandish.

The Rainforest was one such club, an expansive dance hall with all walls made of sturdy, bulletproof glass that had been glazed over to make it almost totally opaque. Inside, the space was divided into a dance pit with artificial vegetation and humidifiers giving it an intensely fatiguing tropical vibe, as well as an upraised lounge where onlookers could quench their thirst and enjoy the show from above. It was a sinister place, perhaps, one that accelerated dehydration in order to get people to buy more drinks, and more than a couple people had gotten hospitalized from heat stroke within the sauna-like setting of the dance pit, but at the same time, those hospitalized people would return afterwards anyhow, having gotten addicted to the sensory overload of the Rainforest, the feeling of drowning while on land.

Yup, Pax Septimus’s night life was fucked up, but at least it wasn’t boring.

Pushing her way out of the throbbing music and the jumping crowds of the dance pit, Klava let out a sigh half of satisfaction and half of exhaustion. Tonight’s performances were fairly stellar, though a bit on the rote side of things by how easy it was to predict the incoming changes in tempo. The singer, new face as she was, wasn’t too bad though. Definitely needed to drink more water if she didn’t want to pass out during the latter half of her performance. She made her way up to the lounge, swiped a cold, fruity cocktail out from the counter, and downed it in one quick go, shooting a wink at the bartender who made note of her purchase and began shaking up another cocktail for the person who actually ordered it. As calories, sugars, and fluids snaked their way into her system, the white-haired woman inspected her appearance once more.

Her drop earrings were still there. Her loose croptop was sticky with sweat and clung to her skin, but was otherwise still in decent condition. Her denim hotpants basically always worked out for these sorts of activities, and the temporary tattoos she had were looking a bit melted but otherwise looked in place. And her hair? The red hair extensions were still there, and even after sweating, the curled ends looked to be holding too. Good shit. She’ll take fifteen and then go for another dive.

But as Klava turned her gaze away from herself and to her surroundings, a familiar face popped up. A muscular man of a man, with the gaze of a sigma alpha wolf and the brain of an unprincipled cuck. A bit buzzed herself, she strode over, kicking the couch he sat on. [b][color=6ecff6]“Sup ‘pollo,”[/color][/b] she grinned. [b][color=6ecff6]“How’s your ass after Fritz’s pegging?”[/color][/b]

In his plain black t-shirt that shrunk in size every time he wore it and tight jeans that left absolutely nothing to the imagination, Apollo took a brief moment to figure out who had stumbled upon him. After all, a woman angrily approaching him in the club wasn’t a rare occurrence. Her tone and the mention of Fritz made it pretty easy to figure which jilted woman in his life had found him today, even if the club’s environment shrouded one’s appearance.

[color=A87161]“Surprised you haven’t been brutalized in the streets after becoming persona non grata,”[/color] he shrugged. [color=A87161]“So is this meeting just bad luck or something else?”[/color]

[b][color=6ecff6]“I’m just built different,”[/color][/b] Klava replied, sliding onto the couch opposite of him. [b][color=6ecff6]“Anyhow, the way the chips fell down, I’m pretty much in better shape than you.”[/color][/b] Her eyes roamed up and down his body briefly, noting the way that he may as well have just gone up and worn a skinsuit again. [b][color=6ecff6]“Call it fortune though. Didja actually get lil Timekeeper to do shots after all that?”[/color][/b]

Apollo did suppose he could take it as good fortune. After all, this was one of the few times where he didn’t immediately get a glass of whatever splashed onto his face. [color=A87161]“No, unfortunately. Would have been funny though. He did look a bit better when I fucked off, so maybe he got some newfound resolve or something corny like that.”[/color] He did notice Klava giving him an ocular patdown. [color=A87161]“And I doubt you could ever be in better shape than me.”[/color]

Immediately, one of his pecs popped up and down.

[color=A87161]“Anyways, how’s becoming a defacto member of Maverick been for you so far?”[/color]

[b][color=6ecff6]“Ah, young adult love,”[/color][/b] Klava said, faking a swoon. [b][color=6ecff6]“And the Mavericks are fine. Turns out Billy’s basically a giant mole, so the GEMs don’t have much chance of ever actually taking ‘em down. Pay got better once y’all fucked off too, so…”[/color][/b]

She glanced at his quivering pecs, raising a brow and smirking.

[b][color=6ecff6]“Chill out, yeah? They’re not gonna send assassins after your ass either.”[/color][/b]

[color=A87161]“I’m not exactly worried about assassins,”[/color] Apollo said, brushing away Klava’s comment that he should chill out. He gave a brief pause to think about it. [color=A87161]“Actually, maybe I am. That agent with the railgun is pretty demented. She’d probably kill you on sight and me for the hell of it.”[/color]

[b][color=6ecff6]“Looks like the sorta person who got orphaned by monsters and then had the GEMs act as the shittiest therapists ever, yeah?”[/color][/b] Klava nodded. [b][color=6ecff6]“Least they’ve got a collar on her though. Probably wouldn’t go rogue if she wasn’t shooting at us during Ghost 2.0.”[/color][/b]

[color=A87161]“The type to keep a kill-list and update it every microaggression.”[/color] Apollo added. [color=A87161]“And you’re speaking like someone who didn’t have bullets flying at them 15 seconds prior.”[/color]

[b][color=6ecff6]“Hey, I’m a merciful gal too,”[/color][/b] Klava said, crossing her legs and leaning back against the couch. [b][color=6ecff6]“Sofron unloaded a couple smg clips at me and I still gave him a chance to surrender.”[/color][/b]

Well, ended up with her getting clobbering into a wall instead, but details were for nerds.

[b][color=6ecff6]“Pretty sure I’m the only one who actually [i]got[/i] shot too. Wasn’t too bad.”[/color][/b]

[color=A87161]“Yea, mercy and pleasantries aren’t the best strategy for dealing with Gemini,”[/color] Apollo shrugged. [color=A87161]“The only thing that stopped everyone from killing each other was a different thing to kill. And what, shot by the railgun or one of the pistols?”[/color]

[b][color=6ecff6]“By a ‘hand cannon’.”[/color][/b] Functionally the same as a sniper, especially when they were both fighting in hella close range.

[color=A87161]“Yea, so a man-sized pistol.”[/color] Apollo immediately went to invalidate her experience.

[b][color=6ecff6]“Maybe get your eyes checked,”[/color][/b] Klava shot back. [b][color=6ecff6]“Hand-sized.”[/color][/b]

[color=A87161]“I can’t even play off that one,”[/color] Apollo acquiesced. [color=A87161]“Without a self-burn, anyways.”[/color]

[b][color=6ecff6]“All meat no head, huh?”[/color][/b] She grinned. [b][color=6ecff6]“Surprised you’re an advocate for lethal retaliation though, considering how things actually went down. Gonna jump ‘em next time with your stick?”[/color][/b]

[color=A87161]“Lethal retaliation? Not sure if I said anything about killing them. I’m just saying that some of those agents would sooner shoot you in the back of the head than accept a handshake.”[/color] Apollo leaned back against the couch. [color=A87161]“If you think that automatically moves to murder, then hey, be my guest. And hey, you’d be surprised with what a stick can do.”[/color]

Klava gave him a look, one that transitioned almost seamlessly into a shit-eater’s mockery. [b][color=6ecff6]“I don’t think I’ve much to be surprised about regarding [i]your[/i] stick. But huh, more than one? Think that dragon chick’s a psycho too?”[/color][/b]

With a nod and a shrug, Apollo accepted the comment about his stick. Unless it was a really deep cut, Apollo heard it all before (and numerous times, such was the way of a man of the night). [color=A87161]“She does think that Billy feeds orphans to little girls or some shit like that. Probably not a fun time if you run into her. If Binky had a gun, she’d probably shoot you too. Throw in the bad doc for good measure? Yea, a good portion of them. The others would probably stab you.”[/color]

[b][color=6ecff6]“Sure, fine.”[/color][/b]

So peace was never an option, huh. She had, in fact, killed her fair share of humans before. An Esper, especially a government stooge deluded by propagandists, wouldn’t even be that much a problem to deal with. Still, Klava was dissatisfied. She was, inherently, a bitch.

[b][color=6ecff6]“Hard to stab em without validating their self-righteous shit though. What was it again…”[/color][/b] Her fingers rapped against the table. [b][color=6ecff6]“Yeah, can’t punish people who don’t think they’re wrong.”[/color][/b]

[color=A87161]“I mean, you could just throw them out of a window and see where the cards lie. If there’s some third world-ending threat that forces them to work together, I’d rather work with someone who threw me out a window than tried to kill me.”[/color]

[b][color=6ecff6]“Not many windows on the first floor though.”[/color][/b]

[color=A87161]“You can make one, just like whoever the fuck came in with a rocket launcher.”[/color]

[b][color=6ecff6]“Yeah, and that needs a rocket launcher, bud.”[/color][/b] Klava’s eyes flicked back to his belt. [b][color=6ecff6]“But also, what happened to that gun you looted?”[/color][/b]

With a hearty slap, Apollo placed his hand against where a gun would have rested. 

[color=A87161]“For starters, I wouldn’t bring it into a club. Also, lost it. It’s somewhere in the city now. Either that or I left it at some woman’s apartment. What a surprise that would be.”[/color]

Klava let out a low whistle. [b][color=6ecff6]“Lucky girl. Gonna have more to worry about on that end than on the ‘hypervengeful magical sniper’ end then.”[/color][/b]

[color=A87161]“Wouldn’t be the first time a one night stand ended up with a gun pointed at me. Wouldn’t be the last, either.”[/color]

[b][color=6ecff6]“Till they pull the trigger, at least.”[/color][/b]

[color=A87161]”At that point, it’s no longer my problem.”[/color]

[b][color=6ecff6]“Wow,”[/color][/b] Klava teased. [b][color=6ecff6]“How cavalier. Gonna use those same lines next time you have a run-in with the GEMs?”[/color][/b]

[color=A87161]”Probably just call them morons again.”[/color] An annoyed scowl formed on Apollo’s face. [color=A87161]”I could just mention Sofron and he’d jump out of a trash can. That’s how things have been going recently, anyways.”[/color]

[b][color=6ecff6]“If you could, that’d be great.”[/color][/b] She propped her elbows on the table, leaning in. [b][color=6ecff6]“Been looking for that ol’ bastard myself, so if you have him on speed dial…”[/color][/b]

After grabbing a nearly empty can of beer on the table, Apollo stood and approached the nearby garbage can. He poured what little liquid remained inside. In all honesty, he was expecting an angry Sofron to pop out. Alas, such an event would not occur. Though, he did look inside to make sure.

He froze for a moment and looked back at Klava with a look that was a strange mixture of bewilderment, amusement, and excitement.

[color=A87161]“Lo and behold,”[/color] he announced as he took out his phone and snapped a picture of what was inside.


He strolled back to the couch and showed Klava what he had captured.

And there it was. Among some cans, broken glass, and used napkins, a golden hand cannon splashed in booze.

[color=A87161]“I haven’t visited this place in months, either.”[/color]

[b][color=6ecff6]“Well,”[/color][/b] Klava observed, showing such an incredible interest in the contents of a trashcan that her facial expressions malfunctioned and were unable to move so much as a twitch in any particular direction. [b][color=6ecff6]“Gonna pick it up? Or is this just going on your Insta?”[/color][/b]

Apollo stood up once more, showing off the full scope of his ensemble. [color=A87161]“If you think I can hide it somewhere on this body, feel free to point it out.”[/color] He paused for a brief moment. [color=A87161]“Do not say ‘ass’ or any variant thereof.”[/color] 

She smirked. [b][color=6ecff6]“Try deepthroating it.”[/color][/b]


[color=A87161]“Walked into that one.”[/color]

Apollo sat back down.

[color=A87161]”So what brings you to this… establishment. It’s pretty easy to figure out why I’m here, but someone who rides a bike and calls themselves maiden?”[/color]

[b][color=6ecff6]“The maiden’s got many shapes and forms,”[/color][/b] Klava sang. [b][color=6ecff6]“But her origins are still that of a brat from Pax Sept. Seriously though, did you forget the part where I’m also the sort of maiden who has a kill count in the double digits?”[/color][/b]

[color=A87161]“Murder and clubbing are two very mutually exclusive events.”[/color]

[b][color=6ecff6]“Never watched a movie, huh.”[/color][/b] Klava shrugged. [b][color=6ecff6]“Well basically I do lots of things. In [i]this[/i] establishment, I’m here to have fun and enjoy the music, while you’re here to…what, sulk in a corner?”[/color][/b]

[color=A87161]“Get shit faced first before I start dancing, thank you very much.”[/color]

[b][color=6ecff6]“No one taught you to pre-drink? What, did you never have friends to go out with?”[/color][/b]

[color=A87161]“Getting shit faced at the club is part of the experience. It’s not like money is a problem for me.”[/color]

[b][color=6ecff6]“Sure sure,”[/color][/b] Klava laughed, pushing off the table and getting out of this depressed little booth. [b][color=6ecff6]“I’ll leave you to your depressed drinking session then, ‘pollo. See you on the floor if you ever make it there, yeah?”[/color][/b]

Immediately upon being taunted, Apollo stood up. [color=A87161]“I’m shitfaced enough now.”[/color] Like a storm, he moved forth to the dance floor. Klava wouldn’t outdo him there.

[b][color=6ecff6]“Ok, but first take off your shirt.”[/color][/b]

Apollo paused before taking off his shirt. He was, at some level, drunk already so it may have been a move against his better judgment. [color=A87161]“If you five star me, I’ll send one right back.”[/color]

[b][color=6ecff6]“Now take that gun, wrap it up in your shirt, and voi-fucking-la, you’re good to go.”[/color][/b]

And with that, Klava swung over the railings and dropped into the dance pit, heels and everything.

[color=A87161]”...I’ll keep that in mind so I’m not about to enter a dance floor with a gun.”[/color]

Putting his shirt back on, Apollo went around the railing like a normal person.