by The Eurostar, Grimm, Sonhaven, Captain Sammitch and T5
Edulcore Cicciotto:
People are gathering here in the dining room for the party. It's the end of the year 2002, and the natives, out in the streets, are dancing and singing and making music. We have to stay inside this old, rotten building because they don't love us.
Fucking norms. The funny thing is that they don't hate us for being metas, but because we are from abroad.
We saved their fucking lives, more by chance -- or should I say Chance -- than for our own strategy, and they hate us. Fucking norms.
Tobias comes toward me.
"Hi, Euro. I'm so happy you're still alive. You know, I've found my son. Have you finally rescued your own?"
"No."
"Oh, sorry. I thought... I was thinking that after all this time... well, sorry, I mean..."
"No problem. One day I will hold him in my arms, T.C. Thanks for your support."
I turn and go to the balcony. The night is warm. I will never get accustomed to tropical winters. At home, in northern Italy, people are going skiing right now. But the eagle in me is happy. Wintering in the tropics is the way to go. I wonder what will happen when spring will come. Will I feel the need to leave like I did during the hurricane? And where I could go? Chicago?
Eddie.
Ladnikia vibrates over my back. Could she open a way through the whole EPS to reach my son? Is it time to put the blade inside Walker's belly? I must not think about that. These are thoughts for another time.
I come back into the main room and shout: "This place is too boring! Who wants to come to the meta bar with me?"
"Comrade! Who is needing to go to meta bar when I am bringing meta bar to us?" Blackwulf the Everchanging entered the room with two large beer kegs over his right shoulder and a large-busted female hanging over the left. Following close behind him were Jake, the catfish man, and several metas of all shapes, sizes, colors, and genders. Jake, his employees, and the patrons of the meta bar had all turned out to show their appreciation for the team's efforts during the hurricane some months ago, even going so far as to provide free food and drinks. MBL Consulting's New Year's Eve party was officially underway.
Blackwulf looked around the room, as if searching for someone. He turned to Tayden and asked, "Where is Greem?"
Tayden grinned and said, "Uh... He's in the back trying to get the fish smell out of his biker jacket."
"Good!" Wulf shouted. "I bring him gift." And he motioned his head toward the woman across his shoulder.
"Right," Tayden said as his eye saw a green-skinned, female meta wearing only a strange toga get up with a bedroom smile aimed right at the all-too-human angel.
Tayden's smile became bigger, then he caught himself. "Wait a minute... Last time I did this was with a Philistine woman who gave birth to a giant with twelve fingers and twelve toes... that didn't end well."
As he was debating, the sultry, dark-haired, green-skinned woman walked right up to him, stopping just a few inches from his face, and just stared and smiled.
"Uh... Hi... I'm Tayden. What's your name?"
"Whatever you want it to be." With that said, she slowly and gracefully put her arms around Tayden and brought her lips to his.
Well... Tayden thought, the team could use a giant.
Without warning, the lights in the room dimmed suddenly. Everyone froze and looked around nervously. Even Tayden and the green woman stopped what they were doing. The doors rattled.
Edulcore Cicciotto stood up slowly. "I don't like this." He felt the subtle pull of Ladnikia but fought the urge to draw the sword.
The lights flickered again, and then the room went dark.
Blackwulf slammed his pint down on the table. "Is not amusing." He stood up. "What is being happening in here?"
The doors creaked open, and two magnesium flares lit with a sharp pop, blinding the partygoers and causing some to cry out in fright. The flares lit the open doorway and revealed nothing. A few of the MBL members looked around warily but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary in the dim light.
A figure flitted about in the darkness, but nobody could get a glimpse of the shadow within the shadows, moving soundlessly throughout the room and definitely putting the fear of God into the partygoers.
BOOM!
There was a deafening noise and blinding flash in the middle of the room. Every head turned to see Leslie Kline standing there in a striking strapless maroon dress, her wavy hair dyed the same shade and cascading off her bare shoulders. Her deep brown eyes, their actual color, flashed wickedly as she smiled at the astonished partygoers.
Several guys' jaws dropped, and the less-inhibited ogled Leslie's mind-blowing figure shamelessly. Leslie just stood there and took it all in, until a second flash and bang went off, and she was gone just as quickly as she had come.
The lights went out, plunging the room into near-total darkness as the flares died down. Sparklers lit all over the room, gradually adding light to the darkness. People were starting to get into it now. Blackwulf and Ed remained on their feet, but now they were only interested in finding out who would go through this kind of trouble just to make an entrance.
They got their answer when a ring of lights around the doorway lit up to reveal Leslie walking into the room on the arm of none other than Phil Smith, who was decked out in Armani from head to toe and making it look pretty damn good.
The lights came up.
"For people I haven't met yet, they know how to make an entrance," Tobias Christopher said to himself softly.
Crasher and Ameristar arrived just after, so they lost the surprise effect, but soon the boys were salivating over their skin-tight black dresses with diamond necklaces and long black gloves. The scent of Roma was discreetly detected.
Ameristar had insisted upon wearing the very high-heeled Rizzo shoes, which gave Crasher a problem, but she smiled and pretended she was born with them.
They raised their glasses to Leslie, who smiled politely to them. "And who are those two party swingers?" she asked Phil.
Crasher turned to Ameristar. "So... they have competition, Jackie. Let's get a head start." And with that, she went over to Blackwulf and did the fake swoon routine in his arms.
He stood there flabbergasted, and she said with a practised husky voice, "Dance with me, lover boy."