Scene #8046: Five Deadly Venoms

Owner	Pose
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	City of "Last Ditch" 'Stret West Bank' Region Planet Rubi-Ka 21:00 RKT Last Ditch is actually a very nice-looking city, given the name. A neutral territory neither affiliated with the Clans nor Omni-Tek, its naturally defensible position, distinctive white stone architecture and picturesque cobblestone lanes make it a popular spot for relaxation. Merchant stalls set up beneath canvas awnings are a regular sight, set up in the shade of the city's smooth, circular outer wall wall. More permanent stores, advertised with neon and holographic displays, are also present. Grass, alien wildflowers, trees and even running water (likely piped in from the river a few miles to the east) make for pretty medians and places to rest, but that's not at all to say the city is peaceful. In the evening-now--it's aglow, abuzz. Neon competes with moonlight to paint the white walls and buildings of the city. The air is heady with the sounds of bawdry stories, raucous laughter, and the dull thump of muted music. Nowhere is there more revelry than in the center of the city, where its biggest draw lies: Reet Retreat. A truly impressive social club with two separate dance floors (each for different vibes) and numerous themed private rooms, the Retreat is without a doubt most people's explicit reason for coming here. Connor has asked to meet you there, in the 'warehouse room.' Located on the bottom floor, it's a place that was very likely converted from a storeroom, and seems tailor-made to attract the punk and underground types. A live band is playing--lots of leather, spikes, product and torn jeans on display, their music amplified by the sound system affixed to the ceiling. The 'table' Connor's sitting at is really an empty spool of industrial cable, with folding metal chairs. A datapad is on the table for orders--but Connor's attention is on the grey-skinned, pointed-eared man seated perhaps ten feet away at a neighboring 'table.' He's very popular, currently regaling the six or seven people around him with what must be a very bombastic story, if his hand gestures are any indication. It's a little hard to hear over the din of the music, but when the din of a packed dance floor subsides, "...and I'm available for hire, too."
KNK	There was a request, and KNK have taken the request, together with some number of familiar (and possibly some unfamiliar) faces. This means that Rose and Violet are present. At least, they should both be present. Violet went in first, scoped out the place, ordered drinks, grooved to multiple vibes, copied someone's dance moves with unfairly good precision, spent a while in the vicinity of the band admiring the spikes and leather, and then started chatting people up in a slow course in the general direction of Connor. 'Rose' is nowhere in sight. Pay no attention to the young woman with red eyes who is totally a native, wearing what is definitely tight black leather and spikes with only coincidental resemblance to the musician's outfits, and not at all a projected illusion aided by drones stealthily crawling over the ceiling to keep up with her as she goes for a balcony seat with a view.
Karlan Nobles	Pramanix: "Are you sure we shouldn't have worn the same outfits from last time?" SilverAsh: "Not as sure as I was several hours ago, I admit. Perhaps we could leave the coats behind and pick them up later..." Pramanix: "And leave evidence behind? I think not." The pair from the mountains don't really blend in with the usual crowd at the social club today even by the broadest sense of the word, what with their un-punk-like and downright luxurious coats and formal hats on. Despite this, they linger briefly to listen to the band, with Pramanix in particular enjoying the sounds pumped out by the speakers while SilverAsh just hovers nearby somewhat ominously. Eventually, though, they move to join Connor's table in their own ways. SilverAsh is more direct about it, taking a seat at a nearby table and turning his chair around to face Connor so he can listen in properly and also show that he's there to listen, perhaps even inquire, and most certainly interested in whatever he has to say. Pramanix, meanwhile, goes for the fish-out-of-water-slash-socialite act, chatting people up about the local gossip and asking what would probably be obvious questions about the band while slowly getting closer to Connor's table.
Ezekiel Gravez	One of the things that takes Technowizardry to a whole new level is the addition of handy gadgets. Navigating a crowd of punks doesn't sound like a great time for a space age gunslinger, but if one can get an eye in the sky - advantage theirs. The doors to Reet's Retreat part wide enough that even Zeke's robust size could enter the club proper. Once inside, one hand extends forward and his gloved hand opens up to reveal a remote drone. The orb levitates off of his palm and moves forward with the Nanotechnician, following right by his side as its many sensors whir to life, giving Zeke the security advantage. Wordlessly, he wanders down the side halls and finds the appropriate location of the party room. One could say that a space age spell slinger entering a room full of mohawks, leather jackets, and other ne'erdowells might spark a controversy. And you might be right.
Chase	Apparently, the people from Rubi-ka really like their seedy bars. This is Chase's take away, but it's not like he disapproves. The people that he keeps company with also really like spending their share of time in seedy areas too. If anything, it is safe for him to just assume that these kinds of areas are the best for social gatherings. This also means Chase also doesn't need to dress to really blend in with the general aesthetic of the place, given his usual outfit, but he stands out aggressively anyways given that he just sort of stands completely stiff in the middle of the seating area, overlooking both the band and the crowd as he scopes the place out.
Sylvi	"I can't believe it." "I can't believe him." "There's a decent bar on this whole dump of a planet, a decent party, and he in-sssists on that dive!" A white-haired, green eyed woman of heroic proportions complains, direly, to her own captivated audience by one of the club bars, taking up the whole segment in a slowly enlarging knot of folks. At the center: The shittalking increases in volume. "And then he has the absssolute audacity to go:" She begins in on a Bercilak impression, where she mangles the vocabulary but absolutely nails the accent. "Now, lysten to thisse wycked ille shite: A venome moyst deadlee and sickerly." She throws up both hands aggressively, carrying the gaze of her group of slack-jawed punk circle. "Like I'm not just... right there! And so that's why I'm here." The subject of her explanation, a blank-expressioned glassy-eyed sort shakes his head with a dopey grin. "I didn't ask, miss." Sylvi groans. A voice from the back of the crowd tries to shout a 'Hey! What's the hold-up?! I want a drink!', and the group parts. Sylvi smiles thinly, gets up, escorts the punk to the bar, gently takes the thirsty gentleman by the back of the skull, and slams them into the edge of the bar. "ANYONE ELSE WANT A FUCKING DRINK?!" She calls, looking daggers at anyone who will make eye contact. She's a marvellous cover for any sorts of covert actions.
Hibiki Tachibana	Huh. Why /is/ this place called Last Ditch? It really is nice. Maybe the flat-out nicest place she's seen on Rubi-Ka, or at least in the running. The reputation is a deserved one. It wouldn't be a bad vacation spot. Onto the list it goes. They're not here for that, though. Hibiki minimizes nighttime sightseeing and slides into Reet Retreat coolly, and into the once-backroom that Connor had asked to see them at. She's not too worried about drawing any undue attention too early with all the ruckus and rocking out going on, and he gets a silent but friendly wave as she slides into one of the chairs around the spool. Even despite the fact he's not looking her way. Naturally, her eyes are cast in the same direction as his. The briefing told her a little bit about number two-of-five over there...and what he's entered the spotlight for. No wonder he was so easy to find compared to Jingyi. And the little bit they can overhear is enough for her to narrow her eyes and grimace a bit, imagining what he must be putting himself 'on hire' for now.
Vantablitz Remnants	There are about a hundred easier ways for these two to get into a cool space bar (heh) they've heard about from a certain someone here. However, a certain part of the pair has refused to cooperate in all three of the easiest eventualities because it would be 'boring' and the other one is ''neglecting'' her '''needs''', and thus in her usual bullshit way, Lotus has chosen to make it as difficult as possible. That is to say, she has dragged Ahn along without a hint of cool spiked leather, as punishment for her executive dysfunctional sins, in a slightly ragged, 'found' cutoff raver getup, and then she herself has refused to change literally at all; Lotus has been dealing with bouncers for a while on Ahn's 'behalf', dubiously demonstrating that she is not in fact wearing any kind of power skin, and also appealing to what she thinks clubs are like exclusively watching movies and citing the sacred importance of a sufficient balance of single women. They get about halfway to the floor before Ahn stops and gasps at Sylvi. And also Sylvi's violence, but mostly Sylvi, hands over her mouth. Lotus waves fingers bonelessly in front of Ahn's face, trying to yell loud enough to be heard over the music, and then gives up so dramatically that she resorts to spinning out what might as well be a fullerene leash like spider's silk, and tugging the poor women off by the neck, now engaged in beating on her back in profuse embarrassment. Elite ops. Cold and professional.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	"I've been keeping tabs on him. He's Adder--must have admitted it three times by now," Connor counsels SilverAsh. "I don't..." His mouth pulls into a concerned frown. "He's hiring himself out as an assassin, and loudly, after someone took him up the first time. To say nothing of the effect it'll have on him, I'm worried that the wrong people are going to start looking for us." Connor procures his data pad--a visiting dignitary from a major offworld company was killed before he could have a scan taken for reclaim, and an inquiry has already begun within official channels. "Well, if it isn't Rollerrat," says the grey-skinned man, finally noticing Connor. His eyes are a golden amber color, maybe a shade or two shy of Phreak's. His hair is black, though there's a streak of grey at the temple that gives a distinguished look. From her perch, the real Rose can see Adder's hand beneath the table, slowly twirling something metal and sharp. "What do you say to a little 'friendly spar,' right here? For old times' sake." Red lights dance mysteriously through the air, swirling around Chase. A brief respite in the din of the club, as Sylvi makes her dissent at being taken for a bartender known. The impact of the beligerrent customer causes the band to stop playing and look over. "That's not my name anymore," says Connor, standing up. "No more than Adder is yours." "It's better than a name," grins Adder. "It's my brand, see? It's going to make me rich." "It's going to get the rest of us locked up. Or killed," says Connor. "Please stop doing this." Adder shakes his head, standing up to meet the approaching younger martial artist with a dismissive smirk. "I thought you'd be more interesting, without the Immortal One's hands in your skull. Have the decency to leave an interesting corpse, rat." The club is in chaos. Adder's foot lifts the table without even a peep of effort. The spent spool goes flying towards Connor, who's forced to splinter it with a punch. "The first technique of the Adder style!" Adder makes a nimble backflip before the last splinter hits the ground, feet touching upon the wall. A compound bow assembles itself, and, springing from the wall, Adder makes three rapid-fire shots. That sharp metal Rose had seen turns out to be a specially made arrow, tipped with a dire toxin. Several of them bounce between walls, endangering fleeing partygoers and the assembled elites with equal ease, flying on implant-assisted trajectories.
Ezekiel Gravez	Once the bystanders have noticed the Atrox enter the room, he takes two steps forward and his cyberdeck gleams in the flashing lights of the dance room. A large needle like projection extends out of the cyberdeck, and he immediately begins to execute a number of pre-loaded nanoprograms. The first to pop off is a brilliant flash of multiphased lighting designed to counter most Rubi-kaani cyber implanted eyewear. Once the crowd is sufficiently in multiple levels of confused, that's when the crowd is surrounded in a warping of Space and Time similar to a Beacon Warp. The second to go off is a focused field of microwaves that target the security system, disabling all electric workings in the entire Retreat. Everyone that isn't coded for warps is left behind, but the rest are neatly transferred to the Gridstream. Once the bystanders are handled and the party remains, Zeke engages the enemy. His spirit-tech eye symbiant scans the nearly empty room and notes the environment. With a quick chirp from his combat computer, he goes into standard protocals for dealing with melee combatants.
Karlan Nobles	Connor identifies Adder, and SilverAsh nods slowly while continuing to feign interest in at all like a proper weird rich guy in a club he's overdressed for. "It doesn't sound like he's doing a particularly good job of keeping a low profile, then... Bold, if a little careless depending on who he's trying to attract." He replies with a quiet sigh, leaning back a bit when he hears that bit of chaos coming from a familiar voice by the bar. It's hard to miss Sylvi's voice from anyone else in the room when she's yelling that loudly and causing a commotion big enough to get the band to actually stop. Naturally, Pramanix is gonna look right her way and raises a hand in a broad wave. "Ah, hello! I didn't think I'd see-" Pramanix starts, but she hears something slightly more concerning. She's not too familiar with what a flash bomb actually looks like so, so she just sort of gestures at Ezekiel with her head and makes a show of closing her own eyes before realizing that there's arrows flying all over the place. Luckily, falling head over ass means Pramanix can worry more about trying not to get shot rather than not getting blinded. She yelps as she feels something whizzing by her head, and she could swear something just nicked one of her ears, but she can't quite identify what part or if it was by one of the poisoned arrows. Hopefully, that won't cause a problem later. SilverAsh, meanwhile, backs away rapidly when the table goes flying. He already has his cane in hand, and he whirls it and his coat around (after taking it off in one big sweep somehow) to keep the arrows as far away from him as possible. It has the side effect of ruining the coat, though. The siblings get to work immediately afterwards. SilverAsh starts advancing on Adder with rapid thrusts and swipes to try and box him in, and Pramanix starts icing up the floor behind him to throw off his movement.
Ezekiel Gravez	Zeke smirks a bit, realizing this is a baiting tactic to open everyone up to their initial attack stances. With deft and highly trained gestures, Zeke projects a moderately powerful field of shields which light up the room in that wierdly holodigital orange colour of hexagonal shapes. They expand outward quickly and collapse back into a barrier that Zeke stands behind. The nanobot cloud engages to stagger the oncoming attack while also using the impetus of the same attack to BOLSTER THE NEXT ATTACK OF ALL ALLIES. "Gunna 'ave ta do bett'r then that, rookie." Zeke says, as a very large free hand moves to the holster. Living cybernetic wires come out of a node in his palm, interfacing freely with the Notum-infused Six Shooter - producing it with such speed and grace of a trained combatant - he looks for a pattern in the Martial Artists movements before sending out a loud digital thunderclap as a single Entropy infused bullet goes flying towards the enemy.
KNK	Watching the hand, Rose radios, "Brace for incoming. I'll cover." With Ezekiel's warning, Violet radios, though her lips don't move at all, "Filters up!" Hers operate like a second eyelid, but that's only noticeable if you look very carefully. Though Sylvi is more purposefully(?) attracting attention at the bar, it's Ahn's reaction to Sylvi that gets Violet looking her way -- as it no doubt attracts some other attention, too. Way to be inconspicuous, Ahn. It's like someone's hasn't been to a crowded bar in a generation. But there isn't actually time for teasing, and it'd break cover to reveal immediate association, inasmuch as Violet currently has cover. Which she doesn't, against wall-bouncing projectiles. Not at all! What she does have is covering fire, as projectile paths are instantly calculated, ricochets included, plotted over her vision of realspace, and an unassuming handgun leaps from her thigh into Rose's hand, despite no holster having been visible there. Three shots ring out, so close together as to register as a single boom, directly hitting one arrow and scraping two others, either result being good enough to foul those precalculated trajectories when given the benefit of far higher muzzle velocity. The whole motion is over an instant, aiming and recoil correction included. Implicitly trusting she'd be safe, Violet runs straight at Adder, disappearing into heat haze after three steps. In half the time it should have taken her to reach his position at all, the glow of her sword's heated edge appears behind him, only gradually removing the cloaking effect over the course of her attempt to cut him off at the knees. He can survive losing only two fifths of each leg, right? That's probably fine. Neither member of KNK is doing much of anything -- in fact, literally nothing -- to protect the fleeing patrons.
Sylvi	Sylvi can taste the eyes on her, though there isn't any interest sets on her until Ahn starts having problems remaining cold-blooded. Same, Ahn. Same. The band abruptly stops playing just in time for Connor and Adder to really get into their dialogue. 'Please' is thrown around, and in disgust, 'interesting'. Sylvi's eyes rise above the sea of Punk Heads who have all turned their gaze upon the two martial artists, a growing annoyance rising in her while a dude talks an incredible amount of shit, flips onto the wall, and draws a Ranged Weapon. And then the whole room turns white. Having fixed her gaze on Connor and the Adder, Gravez' flash fills her eyes with stars and her mouth with swearing-oaths. Punks break rank and disperse from Sylvi's personal orbit as several take poisoned arrow shots. Sylvi holds up an arm to shield her face and catches a poisoned arrow on her hand, the techno-enhanced arrow zorching animatedly, but to shallow effect. The people around her become luckier for her simply catching the bouncing thing, crunching the object in her hand while hopping half-over the bar and pulling out a tall bottle of well liquor with a pouring spigot still in it. Flicking the stem off with her thumb, Sylvi advances through the social club's tables, one-fisting the booze into her eyes first, and then her mouth while picking up Ezekiel-emptied tables to sling them at the flippy Adder, not looking or caring about her collateral damage. The second table she throws just goes half-through the wall with Graves' enhancement and a sproing-g-g-ging vibration. "You're gonna act like you're hot shit because you've got a BOW and a SNAKE NAME?!" Sylvi hollers, just incensed as she Walks Forward Towards Asshole. "I don't need to see you to bury you, asshole!" She thinks the Adder flashed her, because she wasn't really paying attention.
Vantablitz Remnants	Weird Lights go off on the dance floor, while two people Ahn and Lotus have never heard of have a dramatic standoff about something they know nothing about. Lotus flinches, the little eye-glows in her 'mask' briefly compressed to tiny slits, and making a deeply unnerving geiger counter crackle-hiss sound. Ahn blinks dumbly, eyes wide open. "Wait where did-- where did everybody go?" "How should I know?! Fire exit?!" "N-no they . . . disappeared? Wait, do you think it was aliens?! We're in space!" "Huh? We're just on another planet right? Planets are always in spa--" "!" Ahn does something very very unusual, and assertively tackles Lotus. She's so 'barely in time to do so' that an arrow whistles through her ponytail and ricochets from the bar stool behind her. Lotus doesn't react with resistance, but rather makes up for her partner's last second effort by grabbing her around the waist and bonelessly action rolling across the floor, bounding back up with the character of a slinky taking the stairs. She holds her human jealously against her body, back turned to the prior trajectory to block, until she can see again. "It's--" "The guy with the bow! Yes!!" "Then I need to have a talk with him." "We don't know who he is, don't get too--!" A bar slash club like this isn't a massive place. It takes Lotus less than one word to drop to a copied sprinter's crouch, fingers splayed, joints crackling like settling oak, and less than one syllable to explode across the dance floor to the corner table with a streak of water lily pink-white fire. Her approach itself is a pouncing lunge she hasn't checked whether would pin Adder to the wall or smash him through it. Being dodged is where her back crackles and a second set of semi-solid black arms burst out to grab him and put him through a table. "--rough . . ."
Hibiki Tachibana	Sylvi sure is causing a hell of a ruckus at the bar. Like, a /huge/ ruckus. She can hear that going on over the sounds of raving and partying pretty easily. She doesn't focus on it as much as she otherwise would, though - the moment Adder turns towards Connor, other noises dim to her, and a tension runs through the room. Her eyes dart silently between the two of them as they speak. Near the end, as it mounts, Hibiki places her hands on the table surface and slowly starts pushing herself to a stand. Right as she opens her mouth--Have the decency to leave an interesting corpse, rat. She /leaps/ the rest of the way, pushing off and away from the spool and snatching up the datapad for orders in the process. Still not transformed, the girl flings it straight at one of the ricocheting arrows as it comes for her, the spinning device striking it at a slight angle and promptly breaking in half. The projectile goes askew enough that it just barely nicks her in an arm, but more importantly, she bought herself a second. "Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron!" Light erupts, and in the next second, the armored-up magical girl is using their 'former table' as a makeshift projectile herself, snapkicking it to send it flying up at his perch with enough force to break it on impact and leave some nasty damage on the wall. There's a very real chance he'll get smashed halfway into it on a direct hit. Thakfully, with Zeke handling most of the bystanders, she doesn't have to worry too much about holding back here. And not treating these assassins seriously will put her down fast. "Your former comrades aren't the only ones who'll be put in danger! If you're going to make your name as an assassin, that's only ever going to end one way! You can finally leave that kind of life behind, so why--!?"
Chase	The brief commotion is enough to tip Chase off that there's something wrong, just before the arrow is shot at him. He reaches into his jacket, pulling out his Break Gunner as he uses it to quickly swat the poisoned arrow from the air before slamming the barrel of the weapon into his palm. BREAK UP The weapon lets out a warbled voice before covering Chase in purple light, armoring the Roidmude up into Mashin Chaser. "Stop. Now." Mashin Chaser levels his gun at Adder before firing a few blasts at the Martial Artist's chest as he slowly advances toward him. From what he understands, everyone on this planet has been physically augmented, so he shouldn't have to worry about holding back in this regard.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Connor attempts to snatch Adder from midair with a special technique of his own. Springing forward and pushing into a frontflip, there is an audible 'crack' of displaced air. Like a cannonball, Connor rockets through the air, arms and legs tucked in until the last moment. The hammer of his elbow is blunted by Adder's lateral midair roll, and the two of them land a few feet apart in their respective stances. Adder, his bow held to the back of his glimmering black hanfu, scowls, upon noticing the dance floor is mostly empty, thanks to Zeke. "I'm only a rookie because I'm unknown," he coolly intones towards Zeke. "Not that I'll be hurting for prestige with a few dead Watchmen under my belt." Dodging a gout of caustic red mist from Connor with a sideways somersault, he attempts to get in on the atrox, only to be held up by SilverAsh and Pramanix. It is irritatingly hard to box Adder in, SilverAsh finds, with martial skill alone. The nimble, pointy-eared fighter's upper body shifts away, elsewise his legs find purchase where they shouldn't--up a wall, for instance. His counterattacks, in a far-future variation of the classical animal style, are fast and vicious, aiming for pressure points. What he can't so much account for is Pramanix's trickery--one slip is enough to throw off his sense of balance and open him up to a punish from SilverAsh. Even when he's directly caught out, Adder slithers around the impact, channeling the momentum into escapes or counterattacks--it's in this way that he's able to slip past the siblings, running up the wall all the way to the rafters. Zeke's bullet catches him at the point of his would-be landing, as does Hibiki's flung fragment of table. On his way down, Adder sports a scowl, a hole in his shoulder--and the subtle glimmer of his black hanfu attire fades. "His shield's ripped!" Connor calls, as Adder nocks an arrow to return fire. A subdermal targeting reticle emerges from from beneath Adder's cheek, covering his right eye as he falls. His movements are fluid and inhumanly graceful as he pulls and releases the string. The arrow's trajectory is difficult to follow, but Zeke's symbiants can work out it's calculated exactingly to be a devastating shot aimed straight between his eyes. His landing sees the bow switched out for a pair of spiked tonfa--three points on each weapon bear dripping, venom coated 'fangs.' Charging towards the approaching Violet, he is taken in by the trick. As it so happens, Adder can survive losing two fifths of each leg--a hurried kata sprouts bone, sinew and flesh to replace what was lost. The hole in his shoulder from Zeke remains, but... there's no new 'shield.'
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Already sweating with exertion, it's clear that tricks like healing and damage mitigation don't come for free, and Adder is very much someone who's banked on his admittedly masterful fundamentals, over utility. His counterattack is immediate--a jumping back kick, followed by a whirlwind assault from the tonfa, his hands and wrists turning the weapons to keep both members of KNK guessing which set of fangs, if any, will strike. He's forced away by Sylvi's hurled tables, leaping, running and vaulting over them in midair to avoid them. Frustration draws him to make a counter-attack, one tonfa disappearing that he might use a one-inch punch upon a hurled crate. Sharp splinters explode outwards towards Sylvi in a cone of devastating force. But tghis isn't free, either. One strikes him dead-on as exhaustion mounts, proving Sylvi right and sending him to the floor in a heap. His kip-up is lethargic, made with a grunt of effort. Adder doesn't know when to quit--his tonfa try to find purchase on Lotus, raining down blows. The first time he attempts to shift around her, he learns how inadvisable it is, smashed through a folding table after narrowly avoiding the tackle. Running alongside the wall, he switches back to the bow, loosing a rapid flurry in a desperate bid to bring lights and sound systems down upon Hibiki. "Because I deserve it," he shouts back. "After years, and years, in that dark, sweltering, awful anxious place, I deserve a taste of the high life," he spits at her. "After all the time I lost to that place, I'm taking what's mine, my way." "ALL OF US LOST TIME THERE! WHAT MAKES YOU SO SPECIAL YOU CAN DECIDE THE REST OF US SUFFER?!" Connor, enraged, resumes his offense, nowhere near as close to gassing out thanks to all the help from his allies. Where the Adder style is evasive and opportunistic, Rollerrate style is aggressive and persistent. Connor sticks to adder with high flying leaps, punishes slow reactions with sprays of blinding, caustic red mist. It's after one of these sprays that Connor makes a high-flying leap, clinging to the rafting. Blinded, Adder can't evade what he can't see--namely, the shots from the Break Gunner. Run ragged by this point, the shots impact with his chest, lifting him off his feet. Try as he might to force his body to stay in the fight, all the middle-aged martial artist can do is writhe once or twice on the ground. The fight is over. What now?
Ezekiel Gravez	+The drone levitates quickly in an out of combat in an effort to evade any incoming vectors, be they human or otherwise. The enhanced arrow sings through the air and the shot finds its way right to its mark. Despite shields and despite reflexes the arrow finds it hits a top layer of flesh and then injects enough poisonous nanobots to debilitate the Nanotech within seconds. A little staggered by the attack, the shields spin around the room and condense in a reflexive tightening pattern, as if in recoil. The impact is lessoned but the nanobots are already in his system. He stumbles around and goes behind cover. "Ouch," Ezekiel he says weakly as they pull the arrow out of their enhanced skull before it could penetrate the symbiant underneath. Under their breath, Zeke curses with a heavy drawl. "Oh, ya wantin' to play dirty, do ya?" The combat drone focuses its array at the weapon that Adder is using to target the group. For a few seconds, The Nanotech gives the cyberdeck's combat AI ramp up its targetting precision. Once the UI registers a full charge, he emerges from cover, and then gives the Martial Artist an icy glare. "Bang." Zeke says in a deadpan tone, as a fraction of a second later another digital thunderclap erupts through the dance hall on more time, the entropy bullet veering directly at the projected path that the Bow is moving.
Chase	Mashin Chaser lowers his gun. The fight is over, so he supposes the next course of action is to restrain them. Strutting up towards the down Adder, the looming Dark General bends down and grabs them by the shirt, lifting them off the floor before immediately slamming them against a nearby wall to pin them. "Start talking. Now."
Sylvi	Ezekiel Gravez enacts powerful barriers on the softer of his allies! Sylvi, who was just here to get drunk and complain about Bercilak, recieves no help, and a conical blast of splinters and force for her troubles. More swearing occurs as her bottle shatters into glass and drains a mist of wet liquor and bottle-glass in addition to crate-bits. Hammered by nano-augmented laws of physics, she's stoppered for a moment, and is more furious for it. By the time Sylvi drops her shielding hand and tattered sleeve, her livid emerald eyes see the Adder laid out by gunfire. "This beating is yours too if you make me work. Everything you earn, idiot, means everything you earn. If you can't take it, don't work hard for it." Grunting and stamping her foot, Sylvi spends a moment running both hands back through her hair, knocking out the wood and glass, and then turns back towards the bar. "Looks like drinks are on the house. And the floor. Lookie-loo, you want anything?" Sylvi calls to Ahn, deciding that an ogling girl being dragged around on a leash was much more interesting than an old man on his ass after being shot via GUN -- and having his weapon shot by drone, seperately.
KNK	Of all things, 'instant regrowth' isn't something Violet expected, nor could Rose had warned her of it, and it catches her by surprised when her hit lands perfectly, yet fails to shorten her target. She's left to defend herself, first with the aid of Ezekiel's shield, then with Rose hurriedly trying to land shots on Adder's arms to throw his tonfa swings off, and then with holding up one arm -- no her blade -- to take those hits on her armguard. The guard and the arm aren't so different, and she can't avoid at least being scratched by poison. Instantly, as red blood splashes out, ruptured hollow spaces fill with (presumably nanobots and) inert foam to halt the 'infection.' "High-risk, cut it off," Rose calls, and Violet invites an easy attack on the same arm with a straight thrust, like she was trying to stab her fingers into Adder's throat, that's followed by her limb detaching just above the elbow. There's not nearly as much blood as there should be, but enough to drip from the crossed binding of a black leather sleeve. She falls back immediately after, still clutching her sword. Rose makes her good on her promise to cover Hibiki, interfering with Adder's shots at the light's above her as soon as she's reached her new position. It should be hurried, but 'quick and precise' is a trait she has in spades, thanks to the hard links between her gun hand and her eyes. If it wasn't a bow, that'd be closer to impossible, but the slight delay of pulling a string and the heavier projectile provide her that exploitable window. 'Because I deserve it,' "Yeah?" Rose's hollographic camo drops, revealing the half-masked ninja in red and black, scarred armor. "Don't we all?" 'After years, and years, in that dark, sweltering, awful anxious place, I deserve a taste of the high life,' The sneer is obvious in her voice, even if all that can be seen are her eyes narrowing. "You think you're one of them? Too good for the rest of us, getting left behind? Off to join your merry club up topside. Fuck the rest, right?" 'After all the time I lost to that place, I'm taking what's mine, my way.' "If that's what you think, you'll fit right in. A piece of gold-plated shit, like any other."
Karlan Nobles	Adder's tricky footwork has the siblings working hard to try and keep up with him. SilverAsh is far more suited to that, at least, half-chasing after him and half-guiding him away from Pramanix while she focuses on getting her footing straight in the middle of the club with all the various substances scattered around the floor. Both of their jobs are made considerably easier thanks to Ezekiel's grid shields, and Rose's coordination about her own movements with Violet and Hibiki means Pramanix can even guess where to start calling up some convenient waist-high cover while the battle is still ongoing. Thankfully, the combined forces of so many people beating the shit out of one middle-aged fighter prove to be enough to take Adder down, and the two soon join Chaser from a distance. SilverAsh remains nearby to address him directly, and Pramanix is content to just sort of fall back into a chair while taking a breather and trying not to let the poison mess her up too much. "If you were only seeking a comfortable life, you would have been better off seeking employment as a proper mercenary on the books. No need to fear the tax collectors or those that would... Well." SilverAsh gestures around vaguely at the gathered crew. "Not take so kindly to your decisions. The Karlan Corporation pays its bodyguards especially well in that regard, but..." He pulls up a chair, sits, and laces his fingers together like some kind of terrible father. "That depends on what you can tell us, doesn't it?"
Chase	With Ezekiel's warning, Mashin Chaser pushes Adder into the wall even harder, while using his other free hand to firmly grasp onto the Martial Artist's NCU belt. There's a slow, gradual crushing noise as the Grim Reaper's grip causes the piece of equipment to fracture, before it suddenly and violently shatters into a bunch of electronic shrapnel in his hand. "Again. Talk, or I will take your head next."
Hibiki Tachibana	Adder is tough, that's for sure. Slippery, for sure, but also tough. Hit after hit and he's still going--even recovering from his wounds. Though it looks like doing it has put him on the backfoot when it comes to tempo, and his slower movements have caught up with him. Hibiki is already starting to dash in to close distance, ready for more shots to come at tricky angles--not quite from directly above her though. "...!" As she stops in her tracks to glance up, what would have otherwise been a thunderous crash of descending metal and sparking lights is stopped short thanks to Rose's timely intervention. A surprised blink comes, and even though Hibiki doesn't know her exact position right now while she's been on overwatch, she shouts out all the same, "Thanks, Rose...! I really owe you one!" With that, she's able to continue hurrying forward. Though how much that's necessary with the duel between the two former students reaching its climax is debatable--and Mashin Chaser's bullets putting him down clinches it. As she stops for a moment her expression tightens up, settling into a grimace, and she casts a glance up in Connor's direction...before walking towards the fallen Adder. Correction, the grabbed Adder. "I think he'll be pretty willing to talk now," she says to Chase, before moving alongside him. Enough that she can glare up at their defeated opponent. Despite the fairly intense look, her voice comes a little softer than you'd expect, but still firm. "You do. /All/ of you deserve better than that. You had some immortal being digging around in your head, in some crappy, musty temple away from everyone you might have cared about. And you might have been stuck that way, just doing terrible acts on that cult's behalf for the rest of your days...or even forever." "You can get the life you're owed after all of that without needing to trample on others. Innocent people. The others who were in the exact same boat as you! The Immortal One /isn't the one/ making you a monster anymore." The look on her face grows visibly more tense. And then eases up again. "...Nothing's going to take back the time you lost, or any of the things you did. So please don't waste your one chance to do things differently. Connor isn't. Neither is Jingyi. And they're both going to have a future waiting for them after all this. Are you?"
Vantablitz Remnants	Ahn, after making an embarrassment of herself on radio in the process of getting the situation down, starts looking around in a frenzy, scouting the club for the arrow she just dodged, then rushes after it, practically sliding across the floor to get hold of one. While she thinks nobody is looking, she snaps the shaft in half with her bare hands, one of her irises dilates and begins glowing, and she begins talking to herself really, really fast, running a faintly flickering light from her fingertip over the nanocapsule. Lotus, meanwhile, is pretty pissed about dragging her 'pet human' (ver. older, mentor) all the way here for a social bonding exercise in her own preferred setting for once (optimal pandemic conditions). Even if she's aware of the danger, she has no intent of letting Adder go from just being hit a whole bunch of times with a poison tonfa. Where they puncture her hardened white 'skin', vantablack ichor hardens itself into enough additional arms to begin resembling an especially femme Vairocana statue, rapidly mounting up to a multi-fisted persistence beating, each one followed up with a sharp, hot, stinging flash where they get past the shield and meet skin. 'After all the time I lost to that place' Lotus' visible eyes flash dangerously. She trades a direct hit from tonfa spikes for the split second she needs to give up on the humanoid mien of her right hand and reconfigure it into something with a dozen glossy apertures that blasts Adder away with a sawed-off shotgun spray of vantablack flechettes. It's far less lethal than it looks, however, they only add to the progressive spread of invisible blackness through his augmented biology, hungrily searching for energy to drain and nanites to devour, latching onto his nervous system and shutting down fight-or-flight ability and compelling lethargic compliance. Lotus wobbles on her feet, but remains upright. The degraded-electronics quality of her synthesized voice crackle-purrs dangerously. "You're very lucky Ahn didn't hear you say something like that. Otherwise . . . well, I wouldn't be accepting responsibility for whatever I do next~" Ahn, obliviously, rushes over a second later. "Lotus, you-- Oh you idiot! You know you're not immune to weird cyber poison! You should have given me enough time to analyze it! See, these people had it handled!" she fusses. "Hey, listen up!" she then adds after an inexplicable pause, fretfully fussing with that flower in her hair. "Nope~ I simply trusted you to figure it all out~ Like you always do~" Lotus purrs. "Besides, if I really need to . . ." Lotus picks up Adder's severed lower leg off the floor, seats herself on a nearby chair, slowly and elegantly flips up and crosses one leg over the other knee, reveals her full suite of terrifying inky black teeth, and then begins calmly and confidently devouring it one horrifically crunchy inch at a time. While maintaining eye contact. Ahn takes two full seconds to realize Sylvi is talking to her. Then she practically jumps out of her skin. "W-who, me?!" she squeaks at the only lady here taller than she is. A lot taller. She fidgets way, way harder. ". . . Do they have vermouth in space?"
Karlan Nobles	While SilverAsh is busy trying to get Adder to spill, Pramanix notices Ahn requesting drinks from Sylvi. She gets up slowly, carefully, trying not to step on any glass or table fragments or anything else that make a loud noise on the way over. "Do you have any recommendations? Something... Erh. Stomach calming, perhaps? I think I got a little..." She gestures at one of her ears. It's visibly bloody from getting shot earlier, but at least it's kinda matted up now instead of just leaking everywhere. "... Or would something stronger be better?"
KNK	While Rose is saying some words (probably mean) and nodding approvingly to Chase, Violet is sitting on the floor a little ways away, looking forlorn at what would appear to be, to someone who hadn't seen what just happened, her own, freshly severed arm. This being the case, she isn't paying much attention to Adder, nor even to the prospect of drinks.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	The downstairs club is a wreck. Shattered 'tables' are everywhere. The bar is abandoned, crushed by a fallen subwoofer. Two lights hang suspended on cable, creaking softly in the uncomfortably silent empty dance floor. "What's there to say?" wheezes Adder to Chase, unable to muster the strength to wriggle free. "You win, I lose. I'm not one of 'them,'" he continues, glaring through a swollen, bruised eye at Rose. It's clear that he's buying time for something, the way he avoids saying anything substantial. With a sneer cast towards Sylvi, "I 'worked hard,' you worked harder, and now it's time for me to--" When Chase removes his belt, what little wind was left in Adder's sails dissipates then and there. "Fine." Connor forces himself to look away, instead turning to Zeke. Grounding himself and closing his eyes, the younger of the two Rubi-kan martial artists performs a series of rapid mudras with his hands and fingers. When his eyes open, there's a peculiar clarity. He strikes the empty air with a palm, and a glimmering red cloud (like the friendly version of that chemical mist he summons) washes over Zeke, mending his wounds. It seems 'snake' is a fairly apt style for this man in a number of ways. He's self-aggrandizing, seemingly cold-blooded and proven himself willing to go for the throat the minute he's threatened. He is, perhaps unnervingly, quite unconcerned with Lotus' feast. Is it crocodile tears, then, when he lets out a shuddering sigh in response to Hibiki? Maybe. Maybe not. "...so that's her name." He composes himself, as best he can, held in a vice by Chase as he is. "This was supposed to be my chance. If the only thing I'm good at is hurting people, I could at least choose who I hurt. But..." He glances towards Connor, realizing the truth of what Hibiki's said. SilverAsh actually gets Adder's interest, opposed to merely his attention. His good eye gleams with a kind of ambition as the offer is made. "I know where the other two Venoms are. I'll give you that now, and for a contract with your company, I'll let you in on a secret I think you Watch types would very much want to know."
Sylvi	Sylvi, who did not get Karate Delimbed and thus has two hands to clink through glassware, mantles the bar with a slide and drops behind the counter in a squat. Pramanix calls for something soft. Ahn asks for a vermouth drink. Sylvi begins swearing again. The dial tone of a phone digitally burbles. The first floor of the bar is privy to one side of this very unprivate call: "Hey, jackass, what do they call vermouth in the fucked up space future?" ... "Oh why did I ask you, you're gonna try to tell me some shit out of Morgana's--" "Ask Zeke?" "Who the f--" She pops her head out from behind the bar. "Hey! 'Zeke! What the hell do you call vermouth in the space future? If you say 'vermouth', you're coming back here to look!"
Karlan Nobles	Some progress. SilverAsh smiles faintly when Adder's tone changes, and he crosses one leg over the other as though it's significant. It's not, but it gives him a little more time to think things through. "That can be arranged. You have skill, I have no doubts, so I'm sure we can come to something mutually agreeable despite this initial... Indiscretion." He gets up, and he slips one of his fancy ass business cards into whatever looks closest to a pocket on Adder. "Do keep in touch." Pramanix, meanwhile, is more than ready to get shitfaced. She barely even flinches when Sylvi starts yelling about space future vermouth, even picking up her head a bit once an idea comes to mind. "Do they have one of those drink shaker things? I've always wanted to try one of those myself."
Hibiki Tachibana	Given Adder is currently being Aggressively Held and she worked her personal frustrations on him out, Hibiki takes a single half-step back to clear the air around him some. There is a moment though, after what he says to her, where her expression goes from firm to a little shaky, and then picks itself back up again. "Hey, I'm only good at solving things with my fists, so I guess we're in the same boat." She says very matter-of-factly, holding up one of her hands and clenching it tight as if for emphasis. "...And I think I'm doing just fine for myself. So I know you can too." She nods, half-turning back towards SilverAsh and his proposition, and then giving a second one. She's smiling a little under her scarf. Probably.
Chase	Mashin Chaser lets out an affirming grunt before letting go of Adder, allowing the opifex drop to the floor unceremoniously with a thud as he begins walking away back towards the main area. He cleans up a bit, lifting a knocked over table and a chair back up into position before taking a seat, his armor disengaging to reveal the smaller twinkbot inside. Chase has time to kill. A lot of time to kill, currently. So for the moment, he's simply going to wait for the band to return. He really enjoyed the music, so it'd be a shame to leave with having heard so little of it.
Ezekiel Gravez	Ezekiel nods and thanks Connor profusely for the healing nanoprogram. Once the wounds start to mend, Zeke grips the shaft of the arrow and uses their own nanobots to deconstruct the projectile into its basic components before letting the matter just simply vanish into etherspace. Once the deed is over, Ezekiel gathers himself and replaces his Notum-infused Six Shooter back into its cradle. The Nanotech pats Connor on the shoulder in apprecation. "I hope'n this dirty business isn't gettin' ya low. You're doing good work 'ere." Zeke speaks confidently, hoping to encourage his fellow Rubi-kaani. "We're buildin' a safer world, y'know? We 'ave you to thank fer that." Once Zeke emerges from behind cover, he nods to the group and rolls his shoulder somewhat performatively. "Erry'one good? Stimpack? M..mudra? Ya'll feelin' okay?" When the topics of drinks are brought up, there's a sort of smirk. "Come wit me to the Thirsty Devil. Bes' bar in the 'verse. You aint find but well piss in mosta these 'ere parts. But, I known a few excitin places hereabouts." The Atrox stops a moment, and speaks into a comm device. "Ready for pickup, Pete." "Got plenty a' room for erry'one. Shall we?"
Sylvi	In the blasted wells of the Social Club Sadbar, Sylvi finds nary an unshattered bottle of vermouth. There are seventeen flavors of hypercolored future bullshit that has more lore text than alcohol proof, and not a single requested mixable. It's shameful. So she pops back over the bar and jams her tattered-sleeved hands into her jacket pockets and heads on a chilled out mosey towards Zeke's called ride. "You're already winning points, 'Zeke. You talk straight and you're already inviting me to a real bar. If this place has vermouth, you might be in business." The green-eyed woman smirks. "Might be. Depends on the vermouth." Scanning a gaze over the disaster of the first floor of the social club, she shrugs. "This place played out already anyway."
Ezekiel Gravez	Ezekiel tips their wide-brimmed hat and nods towards Sylvi as an appreciative gesture. "I didn't get mucha tour thru the Multiverse when I first joined yall, but were here on Rubi-ka and I would be remiss to not offer the gesture proper fer a tour."