Lady of the Night, Main Room
"Y'always stuffin yer pockets with any shit that ain't nailed down." Melissa observed dryly as she looked at the lewd treats on offer. "But I don't consider that take a particular vict'ry," She turned the snacks down. "'cos they were
intended ta be taken, an' had big signs encouraging you to sample th' goods."
She worked a rut into the couch, but Enzo's radar was sensing storm clouds on the horizon. Unperturbed by snacks or scotch, and still fiery with her hair down. "I mean, when ya gonna make somethin' other than misery fer honest folks once in a while? An' I don't mean creatin' the schemes to make misery - that don't count."
She took another swig of Enzo's scotch, which wasn't even his. "Closest I 'ad was doin' annual wild 'orse culls on Delsauria's plains 'fore I got word out fer the Captain. Even then, lookin' back, I ain't done much constructive either - more ..." She snapped her fingers in the air as she fumbled with her words. "... removin' things, like cuttin' out tumours from a big, bloated sack 'o shit that is this universe's problems. All Luca does is tell us orthopaedic surgeons where t' cut, and he's botched a surgery once or twice."
Tami and Delsauria sprung to mind immediately for the conman. Somewhere in her drunken ramble was an ultimatum: "Y'gotta get yerself a hobby and build, you know? Hell, I help out that perverted psycho I call a Head Engineer with keepin' this bucket of bolts flyin', she creates shit all the time by 'erself with the pipsqueak, an' she's as happy as Larry."
"When you gonna get you a creatin' hobby, Enzo? Write fuckin' fanfic of you an' the captain fer all I care, it'll be better than Allison's!"
She was definitely drunk already.
Sargasso, Ori-Mart
"Sure thing Zeta, we'll have the goods delivered this evening." He replied to one of his favourite customers before waving Tamamo goodbye. "Just sign here, and we'll make the deal happen.
Zeta was presented with a digital writing interface and given a stylus to write her signature. David meanwhile had to attend to another customer with a trolley full of goods. "Hi, Welcome to Ori-Mart, how can I help you this afternoon?"
On further inspection of the docket, this was to be charged to Luca's accounts with Origin, which were pretty steep in the black that the gigantic purchase wasn't going to put a dent in those funds. On the account statements, Zeta noticed that a few weeks after Ellen left the crew last year, a very steep deposit was made to that account. Could've just been a little bit extra for Luca doing some good PR for Origin.
Meanwhile, Shayla looked plenty good in her duds.
Sargasso, Main Road
Luca had determined that running was not fast enough for his needs, and started hitching a ride, and by hitching, he fired the Grapple Stunner at a lamp post and slingshotted himself forward across the street, landing on a Sargasso bus with a roll. The bus swerved left and right and the driver could be heard cursing from the cabin. From there, Luca slingshotted himself again, this time from a zipline, and he seemed to be gliding towards one of the Nepaboo's motorcycles.
Luca landed on the passenger's seat, grabbed the flabbergasted, quiff wearing man by the hips before they could swerve in panic, and threw them over their head and into a conveniently placed pile of cardboard boxes and took control of the motorcycle. Before, this machine simply wasn't performing well at all in the hands of someone who didn't know how to push a machine to its limits, about a kilometre behind Vita and traffic.
"Hey, that asshole got Kensuke!" One of the Nepaboos spotted Luca and singled him out as he was making headway. "B-Bust his ass!"
They didn't sound like they had balls. What was it going to be for them, keep their eyes on the road, try and bash Luca's head in with a lead pipe, dodge traffic, or catch his daughter. They had to focus on one thing at a time. All Luca had to focus on was winning, doing simultaneously what those posers couldn't.
"You lot couldn't tune a bike if your lives depended on it!" Luca yelled at the guy who was trying to swing a chain at him, but only succeeded in getting blocked and parried by the Grapple Stunner. "The fuck does removing the muffler entirely do, does the exhaust add more thrust? Wake the dead!?" He then kicked their bike off course and into the back of a parked car, the rider going head over heels and landing in a rubbish bin. "You couldn't locate a fart in an arse! Why have you even got exhaust pipes on bikes that run on fucking electricity?"
All things considered, it was a fair point with how obscenely clean electric engines ran. Based on how the bike felt, Luca figured out that there was no rumble between his legs that put the fear of God into someone other than the bumps on the road. It was too sterile and clean, no oomph, no balls. "I-Is there a fucking
sound system for noises in these things!?" Luca realised. "You hair gel reliant, quiff-quaffing, Sunday-driving, mechanically inept posers disgust me!"
♫
I Pulsar - Cat Theme ♫
If one was looking for the answer of speed, the answer laid within six kilometres of pristine asphalt that used to be a makeshift aerospace port. With no fear of a plane, aerospace shuttle or flying saucer landing on the road and ruining a good run. Waiting at the crossroads of it with the best motorcycle in town was Vita. In retrospect, Luca was proud of her for being such a speed demon; It didn't excuse her from taking his bike though.
"Dad," She stated plainly as Luca came rolling up alone, followed shortly by the greasers who were too chicken to try and take him out. "You just eliminated a quarter of my competition."
"Competition? Have you looked at the bikes these morons ride?" He got off the bike he'd procured and drew attention to the 'engine'. "They're electric engines that have been underclocked and the other systems gimped for Yamataian 'safety' standards. All it needs is cat ears and bubble wrap! You'll reach top speed in no time and they'll be a minute behind you minimum."
Vita threw her head back laughing as the greasers looked amongst each other. "What, did you think I was going to race them, dad?"
Ren-Corp, Main Office
Seiren, Tamamo and Abhiya could hear an almighty racket just outside the window of the main office that overlooked the Long Road. Even Rebeka could hear it from the top of the
Crimson Kestrel, body vibrating in place for a moment.
One of the passing factory workers who kept an eye on the machines and gauges came into Seiren's office to look out the window since it had the best view. It was difficult to identify them, but they appeared to be a fair-complexioned Nepleslian man in his mid twenties with brown scruffy hair, a wide-visored gas mask, a boiler suit and a high visibility vest over it. A name tag on his vest read 'Wade'.
"Hey, boss, come see this!" They beckoned Seiren over. Luca, Vita and a crowd of greasers were visible just north of Seiren's factory, out by the structures that used to be the old 'spaceport'.
Sargasso, The Long Road
"You can't say that!" One of the greasers piped up. "This was a-a no death race!"
"Quiet, greaseball!" Luca hused them before turning back to Vita. "Oh, was it going to be a brawl? You'll have no trouble then. Just remember, solid pipe, hollow ones bend after the first two skull smackings."
"Dad?" One of the greasers asked, pointing at Luca. "Youse her
dad? Luca Pavones is da goil's dad!?"
"Wait, him!?" Another of the greasers panicked.
One of them fell off their bike in fright. "Fucking hell no!"
"I didn't sign up for dis!"
"I want my mommy!"
"If she doesn't kick your arse, I will!" Luca flexed at them. They all started running away, getting on their bikes and driving back into town. "Not to say she can't kick your asses either! Shoo!"
Vita watched them all run away and threw her hands up at dad. "You ruin all my fun."
"Oh, I'm not mad about that." He said as he snapped his fingers at his Motorcycle, and it suddenly came to life and drove towards him with Vita on it, grabbing the handlebars. "It's about time we get you your own bike, Vita. We'll split the bill, you've been saving allowance anyway. Got any models in mind?"
Vita shuffled into the passenger's seat as she shrugged her shoulders, placated by the deal. "Is there even a motorbike shop in this town?"
"We'll order it in via Dave." Luca hopped into the main seat and took control, heading down the Long Road's length. "Now, models?"
"Hmm... maybe a Dual-Sport like yours, a Trail Dustoff, a Sports Cueballer..."
"Dual-Sports are finicky things, V. I could start you off on a Dervish Roadster," Luca suggested "They're great starter bikes, cheap as chips to run, easy to get combustion based."
"Nate's got a Dervish, says it's the shittiest bike he's ever ridden - and postmen use them!"
Luca started the motorcycle. "Postmen use them because they're fuel efficient and hardly ever break down, and Nate's a shitty biker." Vita couldn't argue with that. "I'll get you the V3."
"Is it the one the posties use?" Vita inquired.
"Fuck yeah it's the one the posties use!" Luca said as he started putting the speed on down the Long Road. Vita hung on tight and enjoyed the ride, still causing almighty racket for Seiren, getting closer as Luca went southwest towards the Factory. He put his foot off the accelerator and asked. "Hey! Wanna pay candy man a visit? Let's get samples or something!"
