RP: ISC Phoenix [Interlude 4] - A Hard Day's Night

Okay, let's recap. Crazy lady tries to poison my could-be employer and then tries to stab him. He shoots her, and she turns into a monster. The jerk who called me a girl attempted to hit her with the bar stool, misses, and everybody starts pulling out guns. Well, damn. Seiren thought as the situation unfolded. He'd never been in an actual fight before, let alone a brawl/shootout with a monstrosity. So, he just shrunk to behind the throng of Phoenix crew members, waiting for the thing to finish being alive.

Arin, in take two of her plan, decided to use reverse psychology and instead of showing up covered from head to toe like previously instead appeared in a simple off-white Sundress, brown ballet-flats and (strangely) a light gray cotton sling bag. Unlike the others who were still expecting danger in every corner, the representative desperately wanted a stress-free vacation. Sure that carrying guns was a necessity in the Nep-planets, but she was carrying hers for peace of mind, not in preparation for an inevitable fight. In this context, the weight of the sling bag comforted her enough to display a rare optimistic smile as she threw open the lounge doors.

Though all bets were off when a part of Vincienzo's immediately smacked her in the face after it flew across the room from the bar. At first she was only moderately pissed from the fight happening in the lounge, but this escalated to doubly pissed when she realized the junk-hogging conman couldn't even jury-rig a weapon properly. If either Malice or Vincienzo would look up for a moment, they would see a mad Nepleslian woman in a dress charging in their direction with a lit plasma flamethrower, as to who is her target would be anyone's guess.

Jim's bullets impacted the monstrosity, doing who knows how much damage, but Jim kept advancing on Malice. The crew of the Phoenix had been though so much in the previous months, so much danger, so many near-deaths. Jim wanted so much just to relax and rest on a planet far away from all the hubub. Apparently that was just not to be. Jim snarled as Vincienzo leaped on top of Malice, pointing a pistol straight at her head. Jim covered his face as the pistol exploded, sending parts everywhere. Temporarily stunned by the blast, he looked down at a large part of the pistol laying at his feet. It looked like the handle, and it was hissing, as if something was about to explode again inside it. Jim's eyes widened as he realized that he was standing next to a bunch of live pistol ammo as well as an enraged Arin charging his position, looking extremely menacing with a flamethrower at the ready. Scrambling away, Jim tried his best to just get the crap out of the way of the destruction that was bound to happen right behind him.

He didn't stop until he reached the bar, which he vaulted over, landing on the barkeep, who let out a gasp of air. Muttering a sorry, Jim peeked over the counter, checking to see exactly what happened next.

Zetas fist sent Malice few steps away. Away from her captain and that is important. Too bad Zeta couldn't tell how much damaged woman is, she was hit by hult, shot by shark-guy, fisted by her. Who know what will be needed to bring down this abomination.

Zeta stayed between Malice and Luca making herself a good meatshield as any good bodyguard should be, aiming on monster with pistol in her left gun. But then surprising thing happened a jacket flew over her head followed by a man. Vince landed on woman-thing shoulders and put pistol to het forehead and pulled tigger.

Unexpected happened and pistol exploded. Zeta instinctevely covered Luca with her body for any shrapnel of late gun that could hurt him.

The explosive failure of his pistol sent Vincienzo falling onto his back. He cried out in pain as he pushed himself up with a charred hand, still steaming. Blood streamed from one of his eyes, no doubt the beginning of yet another scar on his already pock-marked face. When he had finally recovered his senses, Enzo caught sight of Arin tumbling towards them with her flame-thrower. In a moment of quick thinking he grabbed a bottle of vodka sitting sideways on the bar and poured it all over the mutated beast-woman. She turned to him in anger, a look of offense coming across her face. He returned her look with a smile as he drew his recently acquired holdout pistol with his good hand and leveled it with her.

Timing his dramatic phrasing to Arin's approach with the flame thrower, he said this:

"What's it gonna be, bitch? Fire or Ice? Vodka burns pretty fast, but so do bullets..."

The two bodyguards seemed to agree that Vincent's idea was a good one (since they had no idea what they were up against) and levelled their handcannons at Malice.

Luca had enough time to get three very quick, sharp punches in, but they seemed to roll off of her face - even though he'd scored direct hits. It was also rather gooey and wet to the touch.
Vincent and Zeta felt a similar sensation as their fists barrelled through her in similar fashion. Wet, slimy and hard to get a solid-feeling hit in.

Jim and Sebastian contributed with their 10mm and .44 gunfire, ripping through her - but she was somehow keeping material coherence in spite of the fact half of her head was missing. She even gave a glare to the duo with her intact eye.

"That is FREAKY!" John jumped up and hid behind the bar, looking over to notice that the barman had a double-barrel shotgun cradled in his arms as he was loading a pair of shells in.
"Freaky or not - nobody kills anybody my bar," The barman replied as he snapped the weapon shut and pulled both triggers back with a grin, "Unless it's me, 'course."

Then Enzo threw his jacket over her and pointed his half-cocked, jury-rigged pistol. He squeezed the trigger, and the exploding weapon, whilst harming him, also harmed Malice even worse.
Then the barman stood up and unloaded both barrels into what was left of Malice.

What was left of the mutant was a red and black gooey residue, with the occasional spike of unnatural bone jutting out.
"Yuck..." Luca squirmed a little as he wiped some the gooey mass off of his hands. He noticed that everyone else in the bar was spectating the fight from cover and turned around, "Don't worry guys, the crazy mutant lady is dead. You can resume your meals..."

The gooey clump started to climb up Luca's pants, and onto his back, but so softly he didn't notice. John got an eyeful of it.
"...and continue the merrim-- ERK!" He was visibly surprised as he noticed his leg was red, and his private areas were getting undue touches. Realising that he was being invaded, he tried to shake it off. The goo decided to rise up to his back and try and get a hold of him as a face formed on his back.

"Did you really think I go down that easily? I've got you where I want you."
"Not really - but get your pseudopod off of my pickles!" He tried to reach for his handgun and pull the same trick twice - but the shots went through her. She decided to put more pressure on the mercenary.

Luca realised that he was in a bit of a situation as a shade of red came across his face. The experience was oddly pleasurable, but it would kill him if he gave in.
"Get this shit off of me!" Luca roared as he tried to wrestle free of the grip unsuccessfully. He turned around and thrashed against the bar, then noticed Enzo's cold bottle of vodka. This reminded him of something, "Idea! Freeze it off with - OH~!"

Malice got him in one of the more sensitive areas, his eyes crossed and he realised that the shape of a woman had materialised behind him and was pulling his strings (amongst other things), "Please, lady, this is getting awkward!"

"Holy goddamn shit, what is that thing doing to him?" Sebastian cried out as he lowered his revolver - realising a shot at the woman would probably wound his son.
"I'd say he's getting himself hitched," The barman replied in astounded deadpan, "But he certainly ain't enjoying it..."

Behind the bar was a massive tray full of ice cubes, and a few drink taps which were ice-cold to the touch, most probably cooled with liquid nitrogen.

Seiren facepalmed at the current event. Not only was the crazy mutant chick not dead, but she was trying. . . well, SOMETHING strange (From the angle he saw it anyway) to Luca and made him squirm. The inventor glanced over the bar and saw one of the taps, then hopped over the counter and inspected the taps. Checking under the counter, he found a pipe in the ground connected to the tap that probably led somewhere under the bar - most likely to the liquid nitrogen tank - and turned the knob on the piping counterclockwise about a quarter turn. (Assuming that it's one of those hose taps that you can pull out) Seiren pulled the tap from its holster and tapped the shoulder of the nearest Phoenix crewmember.

"Oy, drag your captain over here and I'll spray the damn thing off." He told them, waving the tap around.

Too many things happening at once. Captain in dager of that stupid thing. As if I wouldn't tell him to be careful. Damn! Okay okay what. Shooting impossible. Beating it is of no use. If they would burn it they would burn Captain too. Freeze it eh? Okay then Zeta started looking around when that squirt tapped her on the shoulder.

She looked behind her and then down and saw him. Upon hearing what he said she bolted forward and grabbed Luca.
"Sorry skipper." She told to him as she took him wiht her robotic arm and dragged him where that chibi pointed.

By the time the raged-filled Arin reached Enzo the last vestiges of her sanity told her that it was a very bad idea to torch a (even if not liked) crewmember. With an incredulous look on her face she decided to burn at what was left of the goo that was slipping away.

Enzo frowned visibly and sighed as the tattered remains of his coat slithered away, suspended in the slime as it climbed into Luca's trousers. He cringed as the flamethrower hit the exposed parts of the goop, no doubt singing Zeta and Luca's eyebrows, but definitely better than being strangled by a goop monster. Enzo sighed one more time as he came behind Seiren and depressed the white button on top of the hose he held in his hand, sending a white stream of liquid onto Luca's back and all over the burning goo peering up from his collar. A thick cloud of fog oozed from the shot tap and crawled across the floor, leaving spectators unable to see how or if the ditch attempt had even worked at all.

Either way, Enzo was too busy lighting a cigarette off of a small piece of burning barstool sitting next to him to notice or care.

Meanwhile, high upstairs, Panther's stairway climb was mostly unimpeded, save for a cleaning lady carrying an assortment of cleaning items on her belt, ranging from bleach to ammonia. She was wearing an average attire, and paid no attention to Panther as she passed by him.

Hotel guests never used the stairs unless there was a fire, or more frequently, a firefight. Fortunately, each firefight that did break out in this hotel had the good sense to stay...

...back in the bar.

"Ohh~! How'd you know I was into that!?" Luca questioned as he got prodded in places he never exactly considered caring about by Malice, whose gelatinous form had completely come back together behind him with her head on Luca's shoulder, "You are seriously getting to me."
"I can really get attached to some people," She replied, "It's just a matter of- Hey!"

Malice opposed Arin's plasma flames, and hissed in her direction with a mouth toothy enough to make a Mishhu envious, since she was too busy trying to do something to the captain.
"You'll be NEXT!!" Malice roared at the technician. A few flecks of spit struck the consultant's new dress.
"Toasty!" Luca commented in falsetto as he was able to shake some of Malice off of him, he then noticed a pair of legs standing on the bar, which was attached to a body which belonged to Vincenzo.

"Enzo, what are you--?" Luca had the time to ask the rogue as he pointed the nozzle at him and his gooey grappler.
"What?" Malice wondered what her prey was looking at, and realising what it could be, a look of haplessness came across her features.

"Oh, my."

The liquid nitrogen, usually reserved for cooling drinks to an optimal drinking temperature, was spurted out at full force at Malice. After a few seconds of letting the liquid nitrogen give her a coat, it looked as though she'd turned into an ice statue. Her movements were very stiff, and she had a hard time moving, as cracks begun to show up in her body.

The captain, however, didn't seem to daunted by suddenly cold weather shook his a little, adjusted himself and broke free of Malice's grip at last, shattering her appendages and throwing them at her.

He turned around to face his captor, who was having a hard time moving, "I gotta say," He smiled as he gave her a comical rap on the head, leading her to fall into a pile of glassy shards, "You were a little to fluid for my tastes."

He brushed what was left of her away and dusted her onto the floor, and turned to Enzo, but John gave him a tap on the shoulder, "How did it feel?" He asked with a blush and his bottom lip bit.
Luca sighed a little and leaned over, "That time with the milking machine has NOTHING on what just happened," He replied in a whisper.

"Milking machine?" Sebastian overheard and asked quizically at the two college buddies, "What were you-?"
"It was his idea!" John was quick to scapegoat.
"No, he's the one with the dirty mind!"

The barman, meanwhile, was reconnecting his nitrogen system to his bar, and serving cold ones on the house. The people who had run for cover came back in and the atmosphere resumed, although everyone was still wary, and looking about themselves in case they got similar treatment.
The band, meanwhile, had their song wind down into a snazzy, jazzy finish with a drum solo. Their monkier as the 'Worst Band in the Universe' was starting to look shabby, as they were now: 'Average Band in the Universe' as the crowd gave them a mixed reception.

"Actually, you know what?" Luca glared at John, "I thought we'd never speak of that ever again."
"Shut up." He replied.

A man with a vacuum cleaner appeared to come from the crowed and cleaned up the remains of Malice. Her frozen form was easy to suck up, and hopefully she'd be disposed of thoughtfully.

Vincent shrugged off the fight just as easily as he had every other event before this one. Taking his barstool bludgeon off the floor where it had landed nearby, he placed it on the floor where he had torn it up and sat down on it, precariously balancing the stool on its little square of metal usually bolted down to the floor.

Snapping up his first pint of beer, Vincent pounded it and moved on to the next without even noticing the carnage suddenly wrought around him.

As the situation calmed down once more, Jim's tension relaxed and hr sighed in relief. That fight could have gone a lot worse, but they seemed to have come out of it alright. He looked down at his lap to see that it was stained purple, the color of the drink that had been spilled all over his front. Jim's expression darkened. Grumbling, he passed Luca, saying, "Changing." as he left the bar. Hopefully they would actually be relaxing now.

Passing by Jim on his way out, Vincienzo approached Luca and took a seat next to him. He patted Luca on the back empathetically, wincing as his burnt hand reminded him not to pat anything else. After regaining his posture he turned to Luca and said, "Yous guys get this kinda stuff a lot, I see. I've seen more action this week than I've seen in any two months put together. Not to mention I've smelt a good deal of money involved in this whole bounty business."

Enzo slid the communicator he had looted from the sniper's corpse out of his pocket and placed it between them on the bar.

"Can I propose a deal to you, Pavone?", he asked, an eerie smirk crawling across his face, "I've got this communicator, and I bet If I looked at the contacts on it I'd find one of the people offering the bounty. I would likes to propose a fake-out. You can get the money and the guy after your head."

Enzo punctuated his sentence by finishing a glass of bourbon that managed to survive the firefight. He signaled the bartender to refill it as he continued, "That other business aside, You mentioned a small reward earlier, Cap'n Pavone. I'll be forward with you: I got nothing. Everything I owned was on my ship, and I spent all my money on the merchandise I was carrying at the time. Which was taken, along with my ship by a group of angry pirates. I may have provoked them, but I makes a lots of quick decisions in my business."

He looked down at his burnt hand for a moment and caught his breath.

"Either way, what I needs now is to get back on my feet. I needs a good job. I've already told you I was willing to do favors for yous. I have a very specific array of skills. An array that can help you do certain... Troublesome Things... much easier. What you can offer me, Cap'n Pavone, is a job. And here's a bonus: If you hire me, I'll save up my wages so's I can charter your ship and your crew. I'll hire you guys to help me get my ship back. So, you gets your money back anyways!"

In the silence that followed, Enzo flashed his genuine smile at Luca for the first time since they'd met on the escape pod. "Think about it?"

As Arin wasn't part of the crew when they first met Malice, she simply regarded her as a come-and-go Bounty Hunter that they have been encountering too often lately. She disappeared for a moment before reappearing in her usual NAM uniform sans Malice spittle, she didn't have anything else to wear.

The representative saw Enzo's burnt hand and decided against chastising him further about the jury rigged weapon, though, she went around looking for what's left of it.

"Speakin' of joining crews," Seiren began, approaching Luca from the side. He then finished, "I believe that before we were so rudely interrupted by the monster lady, I was inquiring about a job?" before sliding his wrench back into his sleeve. It's not like he'd need it anytime soon anyways, seeing as there wasn't anything mechanically oriented that required his talents nearby. Then, the inventor said, "If you want, I'll give you my resume."

Now this was really something. It wasnt every day that you end up fighting women changing into weirdo mutants. Zeta leaned behind the bar to the sink and washed the bits of Malice that got stuck on her fist. Ewww.

She then got herself a beer and walked to Arin. "To bad about the sundress, it really suited you," She said with a smirk on her face. "Can I buy you a drink?"

Finding the stairs was easy, figuring a good plan to search for Luca's room was not. In honesty it would take too long to find the correct one, and each search could lead to a gun pointed his direction. He then remember that he passed someone up that could assist him, but figured to give it a try if done right.

He gave the cleaning lady a hug so to make aware of his presence then proceeded to cover her mouth from any sort of scream she would make while his right hand reached for a dagger, "I am looking for Luca, where is his room?"

His right arm pulled a knife up in full view as he said in a low threatening voice, "I am letting you speak, think carefully of what comes out of your mouth."

Jim returned to the bar, determined to enjoy the rest of the vacation, bounty or not. Now, in addition to clean clothes, Jim had his portable medkit hanging from his belt. If something went wrong, he would now be able to help. Internally still in a somewhat rage, but outwardly calm and collected, Jim walked up to the rest of the crew, turned to Luca and said, "Well, shall we go somewhere else? I'm pretty sure we've overstayed our welcome here at the bar."

Then he saw Enzo's hand, which was badly burned. Jim sighed, opened up his kit, grabbed hold of Enzo's wrist, and, not waiting for any sort of consent, started deftly applying ointment and bandages. "This should be nearly better by evening. Just don't take the bandages off until then. We don't want you getting anything weird in there, do we?

"I'd hope not to get anything weird on my hands anyway," Enzo replied, looking down at his freshly bandaged hand while extending the good one, "Name's Vincienzo Bortelli, but you can call me anything you want, really."

He looked up at Jim before continuing, "You must be the ship's doctor."