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The Double Downgrade Club: As she listened, a slow smile crept onto her face. "Well, thanks for the news, and congratulations on your upgrade, Edge. I’ll even overlook the fact that I didn’t give you my number, but you seem to have it anyway. You do that. Buh-bye." As soon as she hung up on the ninja prince, Opera was dialing another number, that of her friend/rival/fellow former-Heavy gunslinger, Jet Enduro. "Hey, Jet! You’ll never guess what I just …oh, you already heard. You could have called me, you know. Jerk. Look, we need to get the whole club together for this one, alright? I’ll call Justin and…on second thought, you call Justin and I’ll get Worker. Feena gave me the evil eye last time I picked him up. Just do it! Alright, see you at the usual place. Hmm? Oh, let’s say around six-ish. Tomorrow, of course." Rather used to Jet’s uncooperative nature by now, Opera didn’t even let it begin to dampen her mood. She had preparations to make! - - - The next day, Menardi, a woman who once sat upon the highest throne, who was once accorded the respect and awe usually revered for gods, was having a very bad day. On her way to this party at a bar she had been invited to (it was nice to know that SOME people still respected her, even if she didn’t know who), the former champion had been mocked no fewer than 27 times, had garbage thrown at her on eight separate occasions, and was assaulted twice by a couple of middles who wanted the first shot at knocking her down to Light. Light! Placing a hand on Menardi’s shoulder, Saturos tried to calm her down. "Come on, don’t worry about it so much. Let’s just go to this party, have some drinks, and focus on how you’ll destroy Middle and get back into Heavy in no time." Seeing the destination just ahead, the blue Mars adept waved towards it, "See, we’re here. Let’s just focus on having a good time tonight, alright?" Slowly allowing herself to calm down, Menardi simply nodded at her partner and stepped inside…only to stop dead in her tracks at the scene that awaited her. The bar was empty, except for the bartender and four people: Jet Enduro, looking bored as ever, Opera Vectra, waving merrily at the two Adepts, the ever-cheerful Justin right alongside her, and the imposing Worker 8 wearing an apron and chef’s hat next to the buffet table. Behind them all was a large banner, which was the cause of the twitch Menardi began to develop, as well as Saturos’s resigned sigh. It read, in large, bold red letters: MENARDI! WELCOME TO THE DOUBLE DOWNGRADE CLUB! That was the last straw. Screaming at the top of her lungs, Menardi began stalking towards her "hosts." "I have been mocked for the last time! I will not take this from you WORMS! You will all pay for this with your miserable lives!" Blinking, Opera shook her head, while Jet just sighed and grabbed his gun, "No, no, we’re not mocking you! You’ve got it all wrong! We all know what it's like, we're trying to welcome you!" Seeing that the proverbial crap was about to hit the fan, Tifa just ducked behind the bar and waited for the situation to get under control…one way or another. |
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Gatewalker Tifa wasn’t planning on getting involved in this one, she really wasn’t. After all, it was just a six person brawl, one side had the clear advantage, and there weren’t even any actual godlikes involved. All in all, this was pretty tame for a barfight in any bar in the DL. But that was before Menardi and Saturos decided to merge into the Fusion Dragon to beat on the unfortunate club. Say what you will about their fighting ability individually, but together the two Mars Adepts were a rather unholy terror, and one that Tifa did NOT want in her bar. After all, if they wrecked the place too badly, her insurance premiums would go up again, and they were already too high as it was. So as Worker 8 was getting lobbed bodily through the wall by the massive dragon, Tifa was hitting the button to call security. Well, perhaps Summon security would be a better term. With the kind of fights that break out in her bar, Tifa can’t afford to have security take too long to show up. With a bit of red materia, Al-Behd technology and a bit of techno-magical ingenuity from her friend Emma, Tifa managed to have a rather effective button installed that literally summoned her security team instantly, and bringing them to full Limit capability at the same time. There was one small quirk in the system though. Occasionally, it would summon not only security, but also whoever happened to be standing close to them as well. Like the wingly Lloyd, for instance. It seems that he was getting some tips on proper hair care from Cloud at the time of the summons, and got pulled into the bar right alongside the SOLDIER. Rather used to this happening out of nowhere, Cloud quickly sized up the situation, took note of who the troublemakers were, and then just smiled. Pointing at the fused adepts, he simply clapped Lloyd on the shoulder, stepped back and chuckled, “It’s all you, man. Take it away.” Realizing exactly who had just appeared before them, Menardi/Saturos attempted to make a quick escape. Nowhere near fast enough, of course. If there’s one thing Lloyd is, it’s fast. With a grin of pure psychotic glee that would frighten a hardened murderer, the wingly lunged after one of the few dragons in the league that he had not yet had a chance to kill. About five seconds later, Fusion Dragon no longer qualified for that status. While Lloyd was handling the Adepts, Cloud just looked over the club and gestured out the door with his sword, “Get lost, all of you. Go on, out.” Attempting to protest, Justin opened his mouth to explain to Cloud what really happened but stopped as the SOLDIER swiveled his sword so it was right in Justin’s face. “Look kid, I’ve got an Omnislash with your name on it, you got that? Out.” Knowing when things were too far gone to salvage, Jet dragged Justin out the door while Opera followed with a sigh. Looking down the street at the now un-fused corpses of Menardi and Saturos, the tetragene gunner pulled out her cell phone and started to dial an ambulance for them. As Jet gave her a confused look, she just shrugged, “I know she tried to attack us, but it was all just a misunderstanding. I’m sure if we talk to her after she’s calmed down she’ll understand what we were getting at. Besides, like it or not she’s one of us now, and we always look after our own. Speaking of, go make sure Worker’s alright, will you?” With a shrug of his own, Jet just shook his head and trudged off to where he thought he saw Worker land. Menardi and Saturos: 13 The Double Downgrade Club: 20 Menardi joins the club: 20 Cloud: 28 Lezard Valeth
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