Los Paraisos: Outside the Bucking Bronco

“So, valiant little superhero,” Crimson Justice started, his hands held high on his hips, the man looking towards the small caped crusader like a ray of heroic sunshine. “What is your superhero name? Would you like to fight crime and injustice by my side?”

“Oh. Oh. Oh gods, no. I don’t want to hold him anymore. Here. Here, Dylan, you can take your new godson.”

Interrupting Crimson Justice’s conversation with the newly disguised Trixie, Aria scrunched her face up tight and held the little Delan as far away from her as possible. She had gotten used to smelling just a little bit foul wearing these horrendous clothes of Chirps (she wished beyond belief she had the time, any time, to get into her room, have a shower and change into something actually comfortable, but alas) and that’s when things simply went from bad to worse. Delan was crying, and the smell… the smell made her gag and retch. That was disgusting.

“Take him, Dylan! Take him!”



“Hmm? What’s going on? Hey, little miss, don’t run so quick, you don’t want to get lost. Huh, people? Are these your parents?” Following from the doors to the nightclub was Trixie’s new sidekick, the topless, chest heaving mustache wearing stripper bro Freddie, who turned and looked at each of the Guilders in turn… with absolute confusion.

“Excuse me, Freddie!” Crimson Justice pushed the man slightly ajar, to clear the way for Selan, Dylan, Aria, Trixie and Delan to enter and allow them all to perform an impromptu operation. Time was of the essence. “We have an emergency, Freddie! We need to use your place and… wait, Freddie?”

Freddie raised one perplexed eyebrow. The voice, although muffled, seemed familiar. But the man in front of him was like nobody he recognised. And then-

“Freddie!!” He was tackled harshly and held in a vice like grip, as Crimson Justice squeezed him with as much love as he could muster.

“We’ve got an emergency here, gosh! Less hugging, more huggies! Ew, ew, ew!” Aria squeezed past, racing into the club with Delan held high. She skidded into the main area, plopping the little baby down onto him bum on the same table that Freddie had already cleaned twice today, one thanks to Trixie’s projectile hurl. As little Delan’s bot bounced on the table, a quiet squish could be faintly heard. Aria turned green.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, I have this!” Crimson Justice skidded in front of little Delan, preparing to take over and save the day. Until he saw Delan look up at him, breaking his tears briefly to stare up at his hero, and Crimson Justice froze. He… he wanted to help, but he had no idea how to do it. Not to mention –

“Er… guys… I mean, citizens! Some… assistance, please? I don’t want to get anything on my gloves.”

Freddie followed the mad assembly in, as he continued to look absolutely confused at everything that was going on. Was the man and woman Trixie’s parents? The baby her younger brother maybe? If so, who was the other woman? And the blonde man, he was… wait a minute.

“Dylan?” Freddie blinked, remembering him and his wild usage of the poles last night alongside him in their performing. They must have been the friends Trixie spoke of, no doubt.

Los Paraisos: The Group with the Baby

“TRIXIE!” Dylan cheered before wincing at his own volume. “You’ve...you’ve been in the strip club?” He was glad to see the girl. Now most of the group was accounted for. “So now we’re just missing Estelle and,” he shuddered at the thought of her, “Josette.”

“Oh. Oh. Oh gods, no. I don’t want to hold him anymore. Here. Here, Dylan, you can take your new godson.”

“Huh, what?” he turned to looked at Aria, the poor girl freaking out and holding the baby away from herself. Little Delan was wailing, a terrible odor coming from him. Still, Dylan couldn’t help but smile at the child. “Oh, he just needs a change, its not that terrifying!”

He followed the group as they charged into the strip club, Crimson Justice quickly commandeering a table to change the child. “Um, shouldn’t we use the bathroom or something? Aren’t there changing tables in most?”

“Dylan?”

The stranger’s voice caught his attention, causing him to abandon his bro and the baby in search of the man who recognized him. “You know me?” He stared at Freddie, who did seem vaguely familiar now that he looked at him. “Were we here last night? What happened? Did I leave with a blue haired man?”

Los Paraisos: Saint Drega's Church
At first, Moira was stuck staring in blank bewielderment at the somewhat excitable priest, his hair constantly swishing around as he spoke. And sometimes when he wasn't. Wait so he got married... to AMY?! It didn't really sink in properly at first, to be told all these things they should have really known for themselves by this strange man. But with the rings, with the very noticably odd way Syed was acting and with Amy seeming a lot quieter and more irritable than even her normal self...

"Pfffffhhhhhh..." she snorted, trying to hold the laughter in - which was pretty difficult with Marcus' comments. Not for any consideration for the others. But just because she wanted to make sure she didn't miss anything.

“We’ve got all of your wedding photos right here, your commemorative mugs, t-shirts and baseball caps… oh, and I posted those cards you guys wanted me to send to all of your friends and family sharing the wonderful moment with them… man. It was just beautiful, bro. I get all teary-eyed just thinking about. Was beautiful. Really, really beautiful.”

Another large arc of electricity jumped from his temples. "...Friends and family...?" he said quietly, suddenly feeling numb.

The words repeated themselves a couple of times in his head. Friends and family. His friends and family were going to see this. Somewhat stunned, he stepped forwards and picked out a photo from the box Tom was presenting to them all. Why the hell would he have ordered any of this? Although to their credit, in any other situation he would consider these photos to be very good indeed. Some of them group photos, some of them individual shots. Most of them slapped onto a stupid piece of tat.

Sure enough he was there at the centre of the photo with a massive beaming smile on his face, still wearing his smart formal wear from before. His hand was resting on one of the curvacious hips of Amy, who rather than looking at the camera had instead turned to give him a kiss just by the ear. The others were stood around them smiling away, yeah Moira did look pretty hammered but Lisette was positively glowing- woah okay Lucien and Dylan were looking a bit close there.

Syed's face quickly paled. "What sort of cards?"

"I told you bro, photo cards!"

What colour remained in Syed's face drained completely. His friends back home. His sisters. His grandmother. His mum. Oh gods she was going to kill him. Her only son getting married without telling her? And not even to a Beurvecian? She was going to be pissed. And that wasn't even to mention...

...His dad.

"...Kill me now..."

By this point, Moira had long given up attempting to keep the laughter in - although she went about it in a much less dignified way than Marcus was. She was positively roaring, rolling around the floor in laughter with tears in her eyes. Oh gods! Shit, no, she was having all this junk. She needed it! She never knew she needed it so much until now.

Syed picked out another photo. Oooookay that one was considerably less flattering. Yeah, they all looked completely out of it in this one.

He started shaking again all over, more small arcs of electricity jumping across his body. "No... no you got it wrong..." He looked back up to Tom, his eyes once more wild with panic. "You had to have known we were drunk, right? I mean, just look at this!" He brandished the photo towards the priest. "There's no way on Ddeaer you could think we were sober, right?! I'd never marry her! She's so angry all the time, and she hates me! Why would I marry someone who hates me?! Why woul... why would I..."

Los Paraisos: Saint Drega's Church

“And hey there, Lisette. Who’s our favourite little bridesmaid and flower girl, huh?” Tom bent over, laughing as he rubbed her hair. “You find your prince charming yet, or does the bouquet still have to work its magic? Haha. Wait. Wait. Is this him? Your boyfriend?”

So she was here yesterday...? Why didn't she remember any of it? She felt like she would have remembered being the flower girl for a wedding! But nevermind that, Marcus definitely wasn't her boyfriend! Where did he get that idea? He's...

“We’ve got all of your wedding photos right here, your commemorative mugs, t-shirts and baseball caps… oh, and I posted those cards you guys wanted me to send to all of your friends and family sharing the wonderful moment with them… man. It was just beautiful, bro. I get all teary-eyed just thinking about. Was beautiful. Really, really beautiful.”

Lisette looked over the mementos with some curiosity, still finding it hard to believe that she had really forgotten such a... beautiful wedding. Well, of course most of them looked completely smashed, but Lisette liked how the photos with her came out. There were silk flowers woven through her pigtails, and she looked like she had a lot of fun.

"Mister, I mean, Father Tom? Did you send any of this stuff to my father?"

"Absolutely!"

"..." Lisette turned one of the mugs over in her hands; it had just her beaming face on it. Her actual face broke out into a similar smile. "... Yay! He's going to love these!"

She had gotten distracted again, probably because Moira and Marcus were so amused by the memorabilia as well. Not everyone was so enthused, though; her hair suddenly stiffened, and crackled when she brushed a strand out of her eyes. Something was wrong with Syed again, which he voiced quite plainly, and she looked back and forth from the unhappy couple to Tom, wondering what his answer would be.

He had a good point. It wasn't totally responsible to allow drunk people to get married, but it was just an accident, right? Lisette thought that this would be an easy fix, but maybe it was just rotten luck that it had to happen to Syed and Amy in particular.

---

Los Paraisos: The Bucking Bronco

“Um, shouldn’t we use the bathroom or something? Aren’t there changing tables in most?”

"That's a good idea," Selan said, turning to look for a restroom. "I'm terribly sorry, we'll leave as soon as we get the baby changed." she said as she passed by the -- She actually did a double-take once she realized the man's state of "dress".

She was expecting Dylan to be following after her, but he was talking to the man instead. She would have stayed for the conversation if she didn't hear Don howling about something further ahead.

Los Paraisos: The Bucking Bronco - Restroom

"What is it?" Selan asked once she reached the bathroom. She thought it was unisex considering there was only one, but there were urinals in plain sight. As well as a changing table, thankfully. The decor, much like the rest of Los Paraisos, was surprisingly glitzy, even for facilities.

"I just wanted him to hold the little stinker for one second!" Aria said, still holding Delan as far away as possible. "He backed into the urinal and started screaming."

"Alright, I've got him..." Selan sighed, taking Delan back after she had washed her hands and setting him on the table. "It's been a while, but I've done this before. Crimson Justice, could you give me a diaper?"

"Erm, right!" Crimson Justice procured the item, handing it to the songstress with some difficulty. She actually had to stretch out her arm to be able to grab it.

She had no idea what little Delan had eaten to pack such a powerful punch, but soon enough it was over and done with, and the baby looked much happier now, maybe even grateful, since he had stayed still long enough for her to get his clean diaper on.

"Crimson Justice, can you hold him while I wash my hands?" Selan asked, heading to the sink.

"W-well, my gloves..." he stammered, sweating beneath his helmet.

"Oh, Don, I can't take care of this baby on my own...!" Selan sighed in an exasperated tone, not realizing how it probably sounded.

Aria seemed pretty done with her turn with Delan, so Selan took over carrying him as they left the restroom to rejoin Dylan.

Los Paraisos: Saint Drega's

"What part of 'annul' do you not unders--"

And he totally walked right past her. Yep. Impervious to her venom. Tom waltzed back towards the altar to produce a large box of commemorative gear from the duo's wedding. Moira cackled with laughter, literally rolling around on the floor, unable to control it. Lisette almost seemed to glow upon seeing how she herself looked in the items as the beautiful flower girl to their wedding. Marcus too took it lightly.

As Syed did the raging for Amy, the latter kept quiet, kept her fists to her side, kept her boiling anger at bay. She too walked over to the box of goodies and picked out one of the mugs. Yup. The two looked pretty damned happy in this photo imprint, although it was quite clear they were beyond inebriated considering how unstable their poses were. How hilarious would it be if her father were to have found this? Or anyone else? The priest did say he had sent them out to their friends and family. Which meant her own as well, didn't it? How bloody hilarious.

Amy chuckled. She chuckled and dropped the mug to the floor, allowing it to shatter.

Without warning she lugged the entire box over to the side of the altar as well, for the other mugs and fragiles inside to meet the same fate. Fortunately some were saved from the softer clothing articles hugging them.

Then she turned to Father Tom, giving him a rather crooked smile. Slowly she approached him, holding out her hand for him to see once again, the marriage ring glistening in the light. Though she spoke as calmly as she could, her voice and body trembled noticeably. "I'm going to ask you nicely. Please fix this. Now."

---

Los Paraisos: Outside the Bucking Bronco

The caped crusader totally lost her cool when Dylan mentioned her being inside a strip club. With a loud "Eh!?" she jumped back and whirled around to look inside the building again. "Th, that's a strip club!? Oh... ohhh! Is that why he's...!" Trixie stepped back from Freddie, making an x-sign with her index fingers. "Ohh, Amy told me to stay away from peeps like you!"

She stepped out from her freakout in a snap though upon the Crimson Justice requesting her own name. "Pfft, you haven't heard of me? I'm Trixie the Wondergirl! I'm totally awesome and powerful and-- wait guys we can't go in there, that's a strip club! I, uh, lose my superpowers inside... strip clubs. And around meatbabies. Cuz they stank."

Everyone poured inside anyway to attend to the nauseating smell, before he started to use his banshee scream superpower to kill everyone. Welp, they were on their own. "I'm... uh... just gonna wait out here. ... Ooh, wait a second!"

Across the Bucking Broncos stood a tall, tall building featuring a brilliant sign: La Macabaret. Though her eyes weren't fixated on the sign nor the building's splendor itself. There were bullet holes in the window; well, more like bullet wounds, since the window was cracked with them but none of them ever seemed to go through to the other side. Her curiosity more than piqued, Trixie charged over towards La Macabaret, holding her arms out before her as if she were flying. "Woooosh!"

Before she could reach the front double-doors however, some stranger stepped in front of her. Trixie skid to a stop, gasping quite loudly and shielding her body with her leather pants cape. But the man was already a step ahead of her.

"Hey! It's the SFX Girl! Why didn't you have that gear with you last night? You kept going on about being a Miss Superhero but you had nothing to show!" The man loomed over her, arms crossed and beaming. She really hated when people towered over her like this. Completely ignoring her discomfort the man whipped out a rolled newspaper that chilled in his pocket and continued speaking to her. "I'm sure you'll get the headlines next time, kiddo! Just have some more rhythm in your shots and you'll have everyone on their knees for sure! ... A, awed and applauding of course, not actually... shot. Like that one mother... eesh."

But Trixie the Wondergirl heard none of it, again her eyes focusing on the window. "... ... ... Hey! Those could have been my bullets!"

She stormed inside the nightclub.

Los Paraisos: Saint Drega's Church

"You had to have known we were drunk, right? I mean, just look at this!" He brandished the photo towards the priest. "There's no way on Ddeaer you could think we were sober, right?! I'd never marry her! She's so angry all the time, and she hates me! Why would I marry someone who hates me?! Why woul... why would I..."

“Huh? Bro, bro bro. Don’t be talking like that, it’s not nice. Amy’s a very beautiful, sensitive lady, y’know? It’s not nice to be hurting her feelings on the first day of your honeymoon. Treat her right, okay? You were lucky enough to marry such a beauty, don’t squander that.” Tom shook his head from side to side, hoping to dispel the paranoid worry consuming the groom and hopefully resolve things before they got too bad.

"I'm going to ask you nicely. Please fix this. Now."

“Fix it? YOU just broke it!” Tom wailed, clutching his head with anguished tears streaming down his face at the collection of broken cups. He bent down, immediately beginning to shift through the shattered pieces, his heart breaking at the ruined mementos of a beautiful wedding below. “This is going to take forever to fix…”

“NOT THAT. THIS.” Amy said again, this time louder and more forceful, drawing the priest’s eyes to the beautiful marriage ring sparkling in the church light. Tom raised one quissitive eyebrow, before standing back up again.

“What’s the matter with your ring? It’s very good quality and workmanship.” Tom replied. “Both of you came in here carrying those rings, y’know. Hmm. Is it a bit stuck? How about trying butter to loosen it up?”

Tom then turned back to Syed, Moira and Lisette, as Marcus bent down over the box and pulled out a couple of caps and t-shirts, plopping one on his head and offering another to Lisette.

“Besides, bro, I don’t do drunk weddings. I’m very specific about that, what with Los Paraisos having lots of people get drunks and dare each other to get married. No, I specifically checked first and asked you before anything happened.” Tom began to answer Syed’s question.

“Look, I can even quote it, I noted it down just to be sure. When I asked, Moira replied ‘What the fuck are you talking about? Do I looking fucking drunk? I can still drink another 100 beers!’ and Miss Amy replied with ‘That’s *hic* fucking right!’. Then, after that, just to be doubly sure, I spoke with both the bride and the groom and asked you guys a few questions… about what you liked of one another. And both of you were really very excited to get married. Syed you said that Miss Amy was ‘the woman of your dreams’ and that for Amy, Syed was ‘my caramel hunk’. After the interview you both kissed each other and, boy, I wasn’t sure if you guys wanted to skip straight past the ceremony and go straight to the honeymoon!”

“Fix this… just… fix this…” Amy’s body shook. Her friends turned to look to her, not sure if she was boiling with rage or on the verge of collapse. Tom turned to see, and it was then and only then that he managed to understand.

“Ah, I get it. Annulment, huh? Yeah, we can do that. We need to get you two to sign a document. Such a shame though.” Tom shook his head, a tear sparkling and falling down his cheek. He walked towards one of the church’s cabinets, opening a drawer and pulling out a certificate and quill. “Too many people these days give up on marriage too easily. Did you know the divorce rate is as high as 50%? It’s so sad. Look, guys, I won’t stop you doing what you both think is best,” Tom explained, as he gestured for the bride and groom to follow him to the wooden desk and sign the paper with the priest’s proffered pen. “However, I do have a bro who specialises in marriage counselling as well. If you like, I could maybe call him up, make an appointment for you two. Hmm?”

“Oh, and hey.” Tom leaned to the side, looking past them and at Lisette and the still smiling Marcus, who was folding and bundling as many of the t-shirts as he could to give to the others later. “Whilst you guys are here. If you and your boyfriend want to get married Lisette, we could totally do a service right here and now! What do you think?”

The record’s next song started playing.

La Macabaret

“The Stadium of Dreams”

One of Los Paraisos’ largest and most prolific buildings, the vast and glamorous building was host to a number of stages and venues built to accommodate any type of performance required of it. Home to shows and displays of only the very best artists, La Macabaret was the dream destination of any hopeful and willing starlet. This was the auditorium where all of the world’s biggest and hottest musical artists, comedians and stage performers played at. This was the dream.

And last night, two remarkably drunk singers took the place by storm…

---

“Hooooo whee! This place is gigantic!!” Aria cooed, as she walked the aisle, past row and row of leather seats that descended down to a giant, well lit stage at the very bottom. Whilst La Macabaret was open for the public to visit during the day, when shows were being performed both the ticket prices and security were ridiculously high, prohibiting the illusionist from every being able to witness one. With no need to otherwise have explored the stadium, this was her first time… and it was impressive. She could barely see the other end of the room, and this was only one of the venues! There were several others, all as glitzy, glamorous and gigantic as this one, with subtle differences. Some were held entirely underground, whilst others were built at ground level. This one’s interior nicely sunk into the ground, with a roof providing shelter over all of the audience’s seats, but where the stage was situated, there was no overhead roof. Instead it greeted the overhead sky and scorching sun with a smile.

Walking alongside the illusionist was the superhero Crimson Justice, Selan whom still carried the now nicely changed and content Delan, and Dylan whom was engaged in conversation with Don’s stripper bro Freddie. The more that Freddie spoke and told Dylan about what he was up to the previous night, the more the Matter Artist couldn’t believe. And to think, whilst Don and Selan had staged an unblievable impromptu performance in front of thousands, Dylan had done his own performance of sorts – although in a much more darker, cramped and seedy establishment just across the street at the Bucking Bronco. It was unbelievable.



“Heck, if I didn’t know any better, bro, I’d have thought you were one of Los Paraisos’ regular performers, working at another club! I was going to give you one of our cards with our club’s details if you wanted to come back, but you and your friends had already gone by that point. Including the blue haired man, yeah.” Freddie continued, laughing and smiling widely. “I must say though, be careful about jumping from pole to pole like that. It’s dangerous, you don’t want to hurt yourself.”

As the two spoke, the other three continued their search and inspection of the arena, not only looking for clues that might hint at what exactly happened last night for them to have inspired such a reaction as to become instant celebrities, but also look for Trixie, whom the doorman had said scuttled into the building to search ahead of them. None of them liked the idea of her going missing again. They still had to find Estelle, Kapi and Josette.



“Wondergirl! Wondergirrrrrl! Come out, come out, wherever you arrrrre!” Crimson Justice bellowed.

“I still can’t believe you two actually performed here last night…” Aria shook her head in disbelief. “Do you know how tough it is to actually get in here at night? And expensive. Whatever you all did, I wish I had seen it. Or… maybe I did. I don’t know, I just wish I remembered what had happened last night… waking up like that was…!”

Aria suddenly clammed up, not really wishing to pursue what on Ddaear might have actually happened last night.

Instead she stopped halfway down the aisle, hands on her hips and searching around. Down at the stage below, across all of the empty seats, and then back at the top, in the center of the wall in-between the doors they had entered from. A small window could be seen, with a locked off room behind and… something inside that made Aria’s head tilt in curiosity. What was that? Cameras?

She could also hear a strange sound from inside as well… the sound of snoring…?

Maybe it was one of the venue’s workers?

“Wondergirrrrrrrrrrrrrl!!!” Crimson Justice kept screaming.

Los Paraisos: La Macabaret

Dylan managed to mumble an apology to Selan as they all exited the bathroom - he really had intended on helping with the baby - but he was just too shocked. He followed Freddie in a daze, listening to his account of the previous night, barely even noticing that they had entered the fabulous La Macabaret.

“I must say though, be careful about jumping from pole to pole like that. It’s dangerous, you don’t want to hurt yourself.”

“Yeah,” he said distantly, “I really should be careful.” He could feel his face burning, and he was careful not to look at of his companions in the eye. Were they listening in? Still, it was kinda impressive. “So I was that good, huh?”

“Sure you were, bro!” Freddie beamed at him. “Like I said, if you’re looking for a job...”


Dylan laughed at that, the absurdity of the situation sinking it. “That’s good to know, bro, but I’m kind of already employed. I’ll keep it in mind then.”

Nodding at the stripper, Dylan crossed over to Selan, taking the baby from her tired arms. “Sorry that I ditched you back there, Freddie had some...interesting information that I needed to hear. Let me take care of Delan for a bit.” The baby gurgled happily in the artist’s arms as he was bounced. “You look like you can use a break.”

Los Paraisos: Saint Drega's Church
"You mean... it's just like that?"

Syed found himself calming down already, allowing himself a small smile once more. Well, sort of. Instead, his panic was slowly being replaced by a crippling sense of guilt. First with Amy this morning, something which still made him feel sick every time he thought about it, and now the knowledge that they decieved Tom along with his dissapointment in their decision? The smile vanished. He suddenly felt absolutely terrible about everything.

Not that he could immediately follow him to the table anyway. Moira was still rolling around on the floor in hysterical laughter after all.

"Moira!" he hissed at her, not that she paid a blind bit of notice. "Moira! Sorry, sorry... Moira!"

Luckily she managed to heave herself off the floor, staggering along with them to the desk. She made sure to grab one of the pieces of tat on the way though - a badge of all things, with her own face on it. She pinned it to her top as she walked. Moira inception.

"I'm sorry, um, Father Tom," Syed continued to bleat, reaching forward and picking up the certificate to read. "We wasted your time, I'm sorry." As much as everything was weighing down on him, his paranoia won out. He never could fill anything out without reading it then double checking it first. Unless, apparently, he was drunk enough first. Although the sheer amount of words on this piece of paper was a bit overwhelming for his poor, hungover brain.

"Awwww maaaan," Moira moaned, gesturing to Marcus to throw her one of the t-shirts. "I dunno what pisses me off more... that you two have got such sticks up your asses about this, or that I don't remember it." She draped herself across the nearest pew. "This shit sounded hilarious." She sighed. Then made a mental note to get Syed drunk more often. And not miserable drunk, like he was at Museo. Happy drunk, like he must have been last night.

A thought occured to her. Another 100 beers? So she must have already drunk 100 beers! Before she'd even ended up hitting churches! Oh hells yeah what a pro! "Woooooo I rock!" she suddenly exclaimed, which probably looked a bit peculiar to everyone else. "Man, that's something else to tick off the bucket list!"

By now Syed had finished reading and rereading every tiny detail, including taking the marriage certificate out of his pocket to make sure Tom had spelled Amy's name consistently between the two - which to be fair, he had done. Amaranth. He quietly sounded it out as he read it, the name sounding a bit foreign on his tongue. Am-a-ranth. "Really unusual name..." he muttered, mostly to himself. And no last name at all! He always figured she just wasn't telling them.

Finally, satisfied that everything was as it should be, he found himself staring at the signature box at the end of the certificate. There were a few in fact, just to make things as confusing as possible. But the main two were labeled quite clearly - one for the bride, one for the groom.

He hesitated for a moment. Why was he feeling so guilty about Tom? The guy looked like they had kicked a puppy. He wasn't going to be the one living with this! Yet... he still did feel guilty. He felt awful about it! And with the music too? Damnit.

He sighed, pushing the certificate towards Amy. "Here... you sign it first," he sighed, passing the pen. As much as he wanted this, he couldn't quite bring himself to be the first to sign.

A faint, slightly hollow chuckle escaped his lips. "I guess... I guess it is kind of funny. In hindsight that is..." he turned to the others, giving them all an apologetic smile.

Los Paraisos: La Macabaret

"Nooooo!" came a response to Crimson Justice's cries for the Wondergirl.

Trixie shirked from inside the women's restroom, which thankfully was unlocked this time. She continued to scream and scream until someone went to fetch her. And even when the door opened she continued to yell at a toilet. "Noooooo - hey I found a clue in the sink earlier! Look!" Without averting her eyes, she thrust a hand up in the air, holding between her fingers not only a small chalk fragment but some little piece of paper with an animal on it as well. "Last time I checked you don't find this kinda stuff in the girls' restroom. Soooo maybe it's a clue to something! I dunno. But still, noooooo!"

A closer look into the stall would reveal one of Trixie's uzis lodged deep inside the toilet bowl, submerged in water.

But no that wasn't what Trixie was yelling at. There appeared to be a ton of random bite marks all over the uzi's grip. Man, now it had someone or something's cooties all over it and was totally unusable.

Ugh! Worst. Day. Ever!

---

Los Paraisos: Saint Drega's Church

While Syed read and reread the document, his wife loomed over his shoulder. Arms crossed, foot and fingers tapping. Breathing heavily through her nose. Then he passed both pen and paper in her direction, before backing away with a chuckle. In turn Amy stared at the certificate just as long as the mage had... but wrote nothing. Her body continued to shake even more, though she fought hard to keep her tone of voice leveled - and to not snap the nice pen in her fingers.

"Where do I sign."

"Where it says 'sign here'," Father Tom replied, still maintaining a relatively optimistic tone despite the situation at hand.

Amy exhaled deeply through her nose. A bull ready to ram down everything in its path. "Where the fuck does it say that."

With a sedate smile still crossing his lips, the priest made his way towards the cleric and reached for her hand, intending to softly guide her to the correct box. But that was cut short as Amy ripped herself from his grasp and flared her eyes at him. The ferocity in her glare even extended as far as her own purse, which began to glow a radiant red - thanks to her gem inside.

"Don't. Touch. Me."

Father Tom backed away, still somehow maintaining composure over fear; perhaps he was used to angry newlyweds. Amy's eyes had flicked back to the paper as she waited for a response. He said something about one of the blank boxes towards the end, one clearly labeled for the groom to sign and the other for the bride. With subscript font saying "sign here" or something. Whatever. Last thing she wanted to do was embarrass herself even further, and she stood staring at the paper long enough. With a grunt she scribbled something completely illegible, with lots of random loops, in one of the boxes near the bottom. Just as legitimate as any other signature would be.

Calmly Amy set down her pen, took a deep breath, and turned around. But before she took another step - SMACK! - she gave Syed an echoing slap across his cheek. Then, with the same calmness as when she set down the quill, she made her way down the center aisle and out the church doors.

Careful. Very, very careful. This was a mission of absolute importance. Absolute secrecy. Sneaking mission. Could not be allowed to be seen, whatsoever. Have to be careful. Absolutely very, very careful. A single sighting… and it was all over. Everything.

He couldn’t be seen.

Los Paraisos: Pellagio Hotel: First Floor

Skulking around the hotel’s corridors as quietly and out of sight as he could was a taller order then it might have sounded. With the hotel absolutely swarming with bodies, paparrazi and reporters still futilely searching for Los Paraisos’ newest celebrities, Selan and Don, along with the hotel’s own natural staff and tenants, the sheer act of moving from one spot to another was almost impossible. And yet he had to do so, he had to keep going, without being seen at all… because the alternative was simply impossible to comprehend.

Thunderhawk was back to being completely naked, as if his day couldn’t get any better.



It was only now, after being separated from Aria and the others that the Ranger managed to understand what was going on, and that he was always naked since he woke up. But Aria, Aria had used her illusion powers to mask his appearance, with her dress of all things. And now that he had abandoned them, or gotten out of her magic’s range (or, even more likely, the willed release of her magics) he was back to wearing his birthday suit again. Perfect.

The thought of being arrested for the rest of his life as a pervert was not a welcoming one. All it’d take is for one camera shot… he got lucky earlier. But now… no. No, he needed clothes, and he needed them now.

But how? He couldn’t get into his room – he didn’t have his keycard with him. He didn’t have his wallet or ID or anything on him to help his situation. He was stuck in this predicament all on his own. And by the gods… he needed to get out of it. He needed help.

Poking his head out the edge of one turn, he saw the corridor was empty in both directions. His body then jumped out, as the ranger dashed across the way to a door marked ‘Laundry’. He should be able to get some sheets there or something – locked. Oh gods, why?

Thomp, thomp, thomp

Footsteps. SHIT. Someone was coming. Had to run, had to hide, ah where could he go?!

He turned back, racing straight in the direction he came from, only to see a group of paparrazi walking down the corridor. Gasping, he turned and raced down the other empty corridor. It was the only way to go.

And as he did, taking the next turning as it came, he collided straight into them, landing on his backside with an aching thud. The person unlucky enough to bang into the ranger likewise did the same.

“Ow…” A male voice whined.

“Lucien? Are you alright? Are… ah!”

Thunderhawk gingerly opened his eyes, only to see he had ran into them.

Lucien and Xandra.




“Quick you guys,” Thunderhawk leapt back up to his feet. “Get me into one of your rooms or something. I need to get some clothes, now,” Thunderhawk looked over his shoulder to the sound of approaching feet. “Before we all get arrested!”

---

Los Paraisos: Saint Drega’s Church

Tom’s face scrunched up in the tightest wince possible as the sound of Amy’s slap echoed throughout the church, Syed’s head being knocked backwards in dramatic slow motion. Hell, Tom felt that. Poor guy.

Syed’s body tripped and fell onto one of the pews as Amy stormed out, slamming the church door behind her, leaving the silent congregation behind without so much as a look. Marcus turned to everyone, before solemnly taking his cap off and nodding, smiling back towards the others.

“I’ll, ah, go check on Amy and make sure she’s okay…” Marcus explained, before shuffling off with a bow in the cleric’s direction.

Father Tom exhaled a deep breath, and shook his head from side to side.

“Sad, so sad. But, them’s the breaks, I guess. 50% of marriages end in divorce, y’know. Oh well, you tried your best, buddy. Anyway…” Tom gave a hand to Syed, helping to pull him back up to his feet, then handed him the pen. “If you’ll sign your name here, everything will be set and done and your annulment’s done. Don’t worry, buddy. There’s always next time.”

---

Los Paraisos: La Macabaret

Our intrepid hero, Crimson Justice, sprang into action the moment he heard Trixie’s wailing come from beyond a door at the top of the arena. He moved in a flash, climbing straight back up the steps towards the arena’s entrance, however this time in order to quickly cross the distance, he jumped on top the nearest leather seat, and began dashing on top of them, hurtling his body at quicker and quicker speeds before sailing over and landing right in front the entrance to the ladies’ restroom. His gloved palm shot out, ready to smash through the door in order to save the endangered Wondergirl… and then suddenly stopped.

His whole body tensed up and became rigid, struck in this final pose with his palm mere millimetres away from the door. His helmeted head turned towards Aria and Selan.

“Um… this… is a ladies’ room. I… can’t.”

“Oh, grief,” Selan rolled her eyes, stomping back up the steps towards the restroom. She wanted to go down, to look upon and walk atop that magnificent stage, to see how to be on something that big felt like, but it looked as though they had other duties first. Namely, to help Trixie with whatever dilemma she was now entrapped in, and the booth that Aria had discovered emitting some kind of snoring…

“Really, Crimson Justice, it’s only a ladies room, but… I suppose you’re right.” Selan shook her head. “Help Aria with that room, would you? If someone’s actually in there, then-”

“Say no more!!” Crimson Justice shouted, his body already becoming a fiery blur as he dashed to join up with Aria and investigate the room housing the cameras. If there was a person in there, then they might have known what happened last night!

“Hmm, isn’t that the production room?” Freddie murmured, the stripper and Dylan casually walking back up the steps as well to rejoin everyone.

“Production room?” Dylan replied.

“It’s where the show’s producers and cameramen work,” Freddie reply. “La Macabaret is actually pioneering some interesting magi-technology, actually. You saw that big moving screen when you came to Los Paraisos, I’m sure? Well, they’re inventing ways to not only take pictures of something, or to capture sound onto records… but to take footage of moving pictures with sound too! They’re calling it… ‘video’! It’s meant to be the next best thing.”

“Video? Wow… how do you know all that? So… hmm… do you think they might have-”

“Yo!” Aria banged on the glass to the room, loudly slamming her fist atop the pane. “Anybody in there? Wake up!”

In the corner of the booth, she could see someone leaning back in a tiptoeing chair, their feet propped up on their desk, with their hands folded behind their head. Captured in a peaceful slumber, they were suddenly rudely awakened when the door to the room was booted open.

The poor man collapsed in a heap on the floor, his chair sent flying to the other side of the room. His eyes snapped open in anger and alertness, and greeting his sight was that of none other then… Crimson Justice!!

“Who are you?!” The exasperated man sputtered.

“KEN!” Crimson Justice shouted.

“What?!” The sound technician screamed. “Bro, what a wicked coincidence! That’s my name, too!”

Los Paraisos: Saint Drega's Church
SLAP

Moira suddenly found herself tensing, staring wide eyed as her partner was sent stumbling backwards - and eventually crashing as clumsily as ever into one of the pews. He didn't react much otherwise. As numb as he felt, a part of him still felt he very much deserved it.

"Ey, ey what's that for?!" she exclaimed, scowling at the cleric. It was okay when she was the one smacking him about, but she wasn't sure she really liked other people joining in. Even if she was her friend!

Either way Amy left, with Marcus excusing himself after her.

Syed gave Tom an awkward thank you as he helped him up. “If you’ll sign your name here, everything will be set and done and your annulment’s done. Don’t worry, buddy. There’s always next time.”

"Ha... ha... thanks," Syed replied awkwardly. Why was he even thanking him?! He never wanted to get married! There shouldn't even be a next time!

He then looked down at the certificate, only to cringe. The music sure wasn't helping at this point, causing the guilt to pile higher and higher and higher. Not only for Amy, but also for Tom! Urgh!

Well he sure felt shitty now, putting Amy in a situation like that. He was learning more about her today than he had in pretty much the entire time he had known her so far. He looked down at her loopy, scribbly signature - as much as signatures tended to be illegible, he knew the difference between a scribble and written word. This was a scribble. The way she stared at the paper, her not knowing where to sign... she had hidden it pretty well. But in the end of the day, he could recognise that sort of problem better than most. It was like Don with his cards yesterday.

Still, he saw no reason to bring attention to it at this point. "Um... Father Tom? Tom? I uh... I dunno which you'd prefer. Anyway, she signed the wrong box. Is that ok?"

"I'll make sure it's sorted bro," Tom replied, giving him a consoling pat on the back that Syed really didn't need. Yet somehow, still appreciated greatly. Okay, maybe he did need it. He felt the weight lifting from his shoulders almost immediately.

"Thanks," Syed smiled with relief, patting Tom's shoulder in return. Then immediately feeling kind of awkward for it. He then turned back to the certificate, quickly scrawling his own signature into a box too.

Just as he lifted the pen from the paper, he froze, his eyes staring into space. He couldn't ever make up for what he had done... or at least what he thought he had done. But maybe, just maybe... he slowly looked up from his position bent over the desk to Tom. The pen slipped from his unresisting fingers.

A shaft of light had struck the priest bro, illuminating him in a divine glow.

Syed's jaw dropped in awe. He was tempted to drop on his knees on the spot, but he wasn't entirely sure if he should. "Oh Lord..." he muttered, grasping his pendant. Maybe it was a sign!

"What?" Moira blinked a couple of times, a finger stuck up her nose. "What are you doing? Shouldn't we be asking this guy like, more about the night?" She turned to Lisette with a shrug.

Los Paraisos: Saint Drega's Church

So never mind the darkness
We still can find a way
'Cause nothin' lasts forever
Even cold November rain...

Tears welled up in the corners of Lisette's eyes, and threatened to spill over onto her cheeks. The combination of exhaustion, confusion, and a totally crappy headache was making the entire thing seem much more depressing than it actually was. It was such a strangely sad thing, that according to Father Tom, most marriages ended in divorce. Or worse, Lisette thought sadly. If she ever got married, she hoped it would last longer than, what, 12 hours?

Amy left immediately after signing the papers, but it sounded like she hadn't signed in the right spot. Lisette figured the wording was probably confusing or something, which she could relate to; Marise helped her quite a bit with filling out her Guilder forms.

"What are you doing? Shouldn't we be asking this guy like, more about the night?"

"Oh... Oh! Right!" Lisette piped up, turning toward Tom. "Mister Father Tom, could you tell us more about last night? Do you remember if we said what we had been doing before we got here, or if we were planning on going anywhere after? Or if there was a capybara with me...?"

---

Los Paraisos: La Macabaret

After sending Don and Aria off with another task to concentrate on, Selan decided to be the one to see what Trixie's commotion was about. Her screaming and shouting was bouncing all over the walls of the restroom and echoing into a mostly unintelligible sound, and considering her hangover, it needed to stop. As weary as Selan could be sometimes, she was younger and more gentle than Amy, who probably would have wrangled Trixie into silence within moments.

"Trixie, what's the mat-- Oh."

She found Trixie crouched over one of the toilets, holding one of her guns. It was dripping toilet water back into the bowl, and Selan instinctively started backing away.

"Miss Pretty, look at this!"

"Trixie, please don't--"

She was cringing and didn't want to be anywhere near the toilet-y uzi, but looking back at the prankster, she was actually holding up her other hand, which held the chalk and the scrap of paper. She gingerly plucked it out of her hands and took a closer look.

"Did you draw this, Trixie? What is it supposed to be...?" Selan asked, rotating the paper around to see if the drawing made more sense at a different angle.

"Mannnn," Lucien let out a yawn before looking right and left. "Can't believe we lost them, Xan. We're never going to find them now." He pouted childishly before deflating like a balloon. Los Paraisos was huge and their were so many people. Plus, his head was hurting, this was freaking crazy. He rubbed at his eyes before once again scanning the faces in the crowd. Nope, nope, he couldn't see anyone familiar. "Hey, since we lost them and all maybe it wouldn't hurt to take a nap?" He asked with a silly looking grin. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind." I mean, it'd be wiser if they took the time to nap off their headaches. Besides, the chances of them running into anyone were pretty low.

Xan stared at the summoner in disbelief. This...this was terrible and he was asking for a nap? They had more important things to worry about at the moment and his request, it had been impractical. "No time," she stated with a frown. "This isn't good...we need to find the others."

Lucien sighed. "But there are so many people."

"Which is why you better start looking." She mumbled blankly. She didn't have time for this. He was just as weird. Why did she always have to get stuck with the ones who never took anything seriously. Xan gritted her teeth, as her bead began to throb. A nap would have been fine and dandy, but at the moment they needed to get things done.

Lucien let out a groan and she turned to see the summoner sprawled out on the floor, eyes screwed shut.

It was their leader and he was stark naked. Xan stood still, caught in a moment of shock. THIS wasn't what she had expected when they told her she'd be sent on a mission to Los Paraisos. "What...what are you doing?" The girl tried to keep calm and professional but the look of shock was evident on her now red face. She kept her eyes on the floor, growing redder by the moment.

Lucien sat up only to gaze at Thunderhawk in his birthday suit. "Yeah, I didn't need to see that." Lucien snickered a little, relishing in the awkwardness of the situation. It wasn't a pleasant sight at all but Thunderhawk looked terrified and Xan, she had turned the other way. He couldn't help but laugh a little because it was funny. "So, yeah? Why are you naked?" He asked as if it were a normal question. "Did ya go skinny dipping?" The summoner was grinning teasingly now, but he jolted upright when Xan cleared her throat.

"Now's not the time to joke around...do you have your keys?" Xan would have tossed hers at their leader if she had them, but all she had at the moment was the clown suit.

"Keys? Oh, yeah, yeah." He fished it out of his pocket then held it above his head like a trophy.

"Great, now would you mind um, getting our leader out of here?" Xan asked as she continued to gaze at the carpet.

The summoner grabbed Thunderhawk by the arm and pretty much ran like hell to his room. On the way some people screamed, but Xan made sure to trail behind and distract the others. Eventually Lucien found his room and pushed Thunderhawk inside.

Los Paraisos: Pellagio Hotel: Lucien's room

Thrust into Lucien’s room, Thunderhawk could only breathe a heavy sigh of relief that at last, he had been given freedom in being removed out of public sight. Now… now he could at last get some clothes.

He quickly hurried to the bedroom, rummaging through the drawers in search of clothes… anything would do. And yet, there was nothing. Nothing in the drawers or closets. C’mon, there had to be something!

He spied Lucien’s pack at the foot of his bed, and quickly ripped it open, to spy that of most lucrative treasures.

CLOTHES. AT LAST.

But… but what the hell kind of taste in clothes did this man have?!

Thunderhawk’s brow twitched in irritation as he pulled out a pair of boxers laced with pictures of adorable pandas. Even the socks themselves looked ridiculous with their many brandings of penguins. Good heavens, what kind of taste did Lucien have? Thankfully they would fit, though. The ranger quickly grabbed a shirt and trousers too, before fleeing into the shower. As he did, Xandra finally entered Lucien’s room as well, locking the door behind her. Thankfully none of the paparazzi had seen them. It was a chance to catch their breath at last.

Fifteen minutes later, Thunderhawk emerged from the bathroom, feeling and smelling a lot fresher then he had been… if not smelling the best out of everyone in the Pride. He still couldn’t really believe just what he was wearing, however. Out of all of Lucien’s gear, the robes and the extremely loose fitting clothing it was the most sensible, but still…

“You, my friend, have a very unusual taste in clothing,” Thunderhawk rubbed his still aching head.

“Xandra, do you want to take a shower as well and get out of that… ridiculous costume?” Thunderhawk asked, as he trailed towards the hotel room’s fridge and cracked it open, taking one of the summoner’s precious sodas. He threw one of them to Lucien and then cracked his own open to take a large gulp. “After we’re done cleaning up, I suggest… well… hmm.”

The ranger had no real desire to find any of the other members of the Pride, or Aria either. If anything, he preferred to keep his distance from them. Retreating into his own room and sleeping the rest of the day sounded perfect, but despite that…

“Well… I think we should get back to the mission.” Thunderhawk scratched the back of his neck. “We wasted time last night… we need to start focussing again.”

Los Paraisos: La Macabaret

Dylan sighed at Don’s - scratch that, “Crimson Justice’s” - greeting of another old bro of his. Just how many of them were there? Apparently Don just bro-ed out with everyone, just his normal state of being. And here he was thinking he had been special this whole time. “I’m going to check on the girls,” he said with a huff before stalking over to the bathroom.

“Hey, girls, anyone in there?” he asked before slowly nudging the door open. Peering inside, he only saw Selan and Trixie. “Thank Aislin!” he muttered as he entered the ladies room. “Why did you run off like that, Wonder Girl?”

Then he saw the waterlogged uzi. Had that been in the toilet? Trixie looked distraught, and Selan was confused, staring at a piece of paper and Dylan just found himself not caring. “Listen, girls, I think we might have stumbled on a lead, so come on. Remember those...moving pictures we saw when first arrived here? They may have gotten some of last night’s show, and I don’t think Don’s gonna even think to ask of that so...” He gestured vaguely at them to exit. “Follow me.”


Without even waiting for a response he turned and led them back to the Production room, bouncing the baby as he went.

Los Paraisos : La Macabaret

Aria had to hold back some laughter at the enthusiastic screamed greeting between the two bros despite the short throb of pain it sent through her head. They certainly were an enthusiastic bunch, weren’t they? An enthusiastic bunch that seemed to know every worker in the resort.

“Er, sorry to disturb this touching reunion,” the illusionist cut in, “but we actually wanted to ask about last night’s performance with miss Selan Leclair and mister Don Capuello.” She raised the newspaper that was turned to a large picture of the two. Before she could say anything else Ken perked up, grinning brightly.

“Ah, last night’s performance! The most beautiful thing I’ve seen in a long time. Brought tears to my eyes it did. And the proposal at the end!” He sniffed, wiping away a manly tear at the memory. “It was the best open mic night we’ve ever seen! In fact, I have the whole thing recorded right here. just give me a second bros,”

He swivelled around in his chair, typing away at a few buttons before the monitors sprang to life, showing Selan and Don on the stage. The songstress was decked out in a stunningly beautiful flowing white dress while Don was sharply dressed in a white suit, probably borrowed from the establishment. Aria watched in fascination as soft piano notes sounded out through the speakers while the image on the monitors started to replay last night’s scene.

"Coast is clear, Xan." Lucien stated with a smirk when Thunderhawk entered the bathroom. Not long after, Xan entered, looking crabby.

"That was close..." The thought of evading the paparazzi and coming up with distractions brought a small smile to her face. They must have looked silly, but at least they were safe now and could finally catch their breath. She took a seat on the small couch beside the window then closed her eyes.

Lucein however wasn't relaxing but instead decided to raid the fridge. He pulled out a half eaten bar of chocolate then took a bite. "Right, way too close for comfort. It was fun though, yeah?"

"You're concept of fun is very different from mine." Before Xan could say more Thunderhawk exited the bathroom.

Lucien gave him two thumbs up. "Not half-bad, of course it's not as good on you." He snickered teasingly before Thunderhawk pulled out two sodas and tossed one at him. He caught it and popped the can open. Ah...orange. Lucien took a sip and grinned in a silly manner when Thunderjerk mentioned his taste in clothes. The summoner simply shrugged.

"Sounds good, we should go as soon as we can." Xan added in before she excused herself to get freshened up. However, she didn't have her own clothes with her so she ended up borrowing one of Lucien's shirts and a pair of pants. Thankfully, he had a belt and while they were a tad too big they were WAY better than the clown costume. She emerged from the bathroom in the bear sweater that reached the tips of her fingers, looking less crabby.

"Los Paraisos is a large area, where do you think we'll find the others?" She glanced at Lucien then Thunderhawk.

The summoner shrugged. "Maybe they went to get breakfast, yeah?"

"Most likely no. Thunderhawk, do you have a plan? If not...then our best chance of finding them is walking around and asking if anyone has seen a particular group of people." Xan had only been with them for a day but had noticed that catastrophe seemed to follow the pride around. If that was the case, then they wouldn't be so hard to find, right. She nodded at both men. "Let's march." She walked out the door briskly with Lucien trailing behind. Most of the paparazzi were gone, so it was easy to look around. However, neither Xan nor Lucien could spot anyone from the pride.

Los Paraisos: Pellagio Hotel

Thunderhawk gritted his teeth and sighed. He wanted to get away from the rest of the Guilders and focus his attentions on the mission Tiberius had set him, but perhaps there was no other way around it other then to gain their help. Afterall, he, Xandra and Aria had spent the past week searching for the missing women with absolutely no luck… and as much as he might detest it, what they needed were eyes to scan and search for them for. But the rest of them were too busy wrapped up in their games of their new found celebrity, right? Sigh.

"Los Paraisos is a large area, where do you think we'll find the others?" Asked Xandra.

Lucien shrugged in response. "Maybe they went to get breakfast, yeah?"

"Most likely no. Thunderhawk, do you have a plan?”

The ranger’s response was a picking of his nose and flicking of his booger in a disinterested direction. Xandra held in and moved beyond her annoyance to say nothing, instead focusing on their need to find everyone else.

“If not...then our best chance of finding them is walking around and asking if anyone has seen a particular group of people."

“Oh what joy,” Thunderhawk replied with his trademark eye roll.

With the majority of the hotel floor now clear of the paparazzi, the reporters now having sprawled back out into the resort after finding no sign of them in the Pellagio, it was easier then ever to move about and search for their companions, to no such luck. Xandra and Lucien kept their eyes wide open and focused on searching for even the smallest detail of their friends, whilst Thunderhawk lazily followed behind, still drinking his soda. Searching for people to then search for other people… ridiculous. He started to remember why he had abandoned the Pride in the first place. Because of antics like this.

And then… then there was the sound of rumbling. The ground beneath them shook, and all three of the Guilders suddenly froze in place. This wild shaking sounded like a herd of bulls rampaging!

And then, at the far end of the corridor… he appeared. He stopped in his spot, until he discovered the threesome, before breaking out into a new charge towards them. He was upon them in no time at all, screaming and wailing before tackling both Thunderhawk and Lucien to the ground, Thunderhawk’s soda flying out of his hands and spilling everywhere.



“Broooooooooooooooooooooooooooos!!!” Clive screamed. “I-i-i-i-i-i-!”

“Get the hell off of me, fatso!” Thunderhawk tried to push the heavy Clive off, to no avail. God, his sweaty, slobbering face would undo the hardwork of that shower he just had!

“I-i-i-i-i-it’s an emergencyyyyyyyyyyy!” Clive howled again.

---

Los Paraisos: Saint Drega’s Church

"Oh... Oh! Right!" Lisette piped up, turning toward Tom. "Mister Father Tom, could you tell us more about last night? Do you remember if we said what we had been doing before we got here, or if we were planning on going anywhere after? Or if there was a capybara with me...?"

“Hmm, hmm…” Tom’s eyes drew shut, his head low as he contemplated Lisette’s questions with as much muscle and might as he could. Recollecting last night’s wedding… he could remember the pomp and splendour of it, but other details such as what they had done before or after…?

“I do remember you all saying what you were doing before you came here, actually. You said you were partying at my bro’s nightclub. ‘The Bucking Bronco’. Pretty cool establishment, Freddie takes care of it quite nicely. You guys said that’s where you spent your stag and hen parties.” Tom began to explain. “After that… you guys just said you were going to go on your honeymoon.” Tom shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know what that meant exactly, but I do know that what newly wedded couples do on their honeymoon is have lots and lots of-”

“A-a-a-a-and what about a capybara?” Syed interjected before he could finish the sentence. Moira glared at him.

“Hang on, we’re missing out on a clue here you idiot. Lots and lots of what? Drinks? Did we go to another bar?”

“A capybara?” Tom continued Syed and Lisette’s line of questioning, before shaking his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t think so. What’s a capybara? Some sort of food?”



And then, with full force and without warning, the doors to the church suddenly slammed open. After the glaring force of the sun beyond died down, the quartet could see both Amy and Marcus standing a short distance outside, Amy’s arms folded under her bosom, keeping herself to herself as Marcus stood watch nearby, holding his staff, a pleasant smile plastered on his face. And with them was a man, the very same man who had just thrown open the doors to the church with incredible force.

A man… in an afro.



“BRO!” Jerry screamed. “Thank god you’re here! And all of you guys too! We’re in trouble!!”

“Trouble, bro?” Tom’s face grew dark with horror. “What’s going on??”

“It’s an emergency, bro! A real big emergency!! We need to find Big Bro, now!!!”

---

Los Paraisos: La Macabaret

Crimson Justice just stood in awed silence as he watched the flickering screen before him. Thanks to Aria’s questioning of Ken, they were able to discover just what exactly had happened the previous night to encourage them becoming celebrities. And Crimson Justice… he couldn’t do anything but just stand and watch in awe.

“What’s going on?” Dylan asked, popping into the production room with Selan and Trixie in tow. Trixie was flopping her uzi up and down in the air, trying to get all of the smelly urinal water dislodged from the gun, as Selan did her best to stay as far away as possible from the splashes. Her focus was centred completely on doing her best to avoid the drips, until she heard the sound too. The sound of her own voice… and his. Singing a song that she did not recognise at all.

What was that?

“Is that… is that us?” Selan asked, walking towards the monitor and standing in front of everyone else to watch. She too, like Don, was stunned speechless. Beginning with the two of them rising from the ground on raised podiums, they each began to sing as they walked down the circular steps to the main stage, against a black starry canvas lying behind. A full orchestral band accompanied the melody they sung, as gradually the two drew closer, and closer. And once together, even breaking out to a small piece of dance alongside, twirling in spins and the extending of their arms to one another.

Like Ken said… it was beautiful.

Even now the man was blubbering his eyes out, snot dripping from his nose. “Big Bro isth the besth singer I’ve ever known!” He wailed. “And you’re beautiful as well, Missth!”

Freddie patted his friend’s shoulder, giving him a handkerchief to loudly blow on, before wiping a single tear from his own eye.

And then, on the monitor, as the song drew to a close… Don bent down on one knee, and with his hands outstretched towards Selan, a shining diamond ring offered to her…

“Selan Leclair… would you do me the honour of marrying me?”

“WAAAAAAAAAA IT’S SO BEAUTIFUUUUULLLLLLLL~~~~” Ken ended up screaming, a fountain of tears pouring out of his eyes. “I can’t, bros, I just… I can’t!” Ken shook his head from side to side, burying his face in his sleeve.

“Miss, please tell me you’ll marry my big bro! You’re perfect! And he’s perfect! You’d be perfect together!” Ken stared all too intensely towards her.

Whilst for Crimson Justice… the man underneath the mask turned as red as his namesake.

But before an answer could be received…

“Ken! Ken! Bro! It’s an emergency!!”



Doors slammed open violently open, and in burst Cid, skidding to a stop inside the production room. “We need your help, we- we- Freddie! Bro! And all our other bros! CRIMSON JUSTICE BRO! THANK GOD YOU’RE ALL HERE!” Cid screamed.

“Bro?” Ken, Freddie and Crimson Justice said in unison. “What’s up?”

“It’s… it’s an emergency!” Cid continued. “The most terrible thing in the world has happened! We… we need your help! We need to find Big Bro right now!!”

“Bro, bro…” Ken walked to Cid, shaking his head from side to side and placing a warm arm over his friend’s shoulder in an effort to ease his hysterics. “Calm down, bro. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not a big problem. What’s happened?”

“Big Sis… Big Sis has been KIDNAPPED!!”

And then… after a brief silence…

“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!”

Los Paraisos: Saint Drega's Church
BAM!

Syed was the first of the bound pair to spin around, still on edge thanks to Tom's comments. Who the hell was that?!

He gasped. No seriously! Who was that?!

Moira frowned a little. She was never one to be particularly fazed by doors slamming open. Hell, usually it was her! But Syed's reaction certainly got her attention. She turned slowly, her eyes rapidly widening at the sight.

“BRO!” Screamed the backlit man who stood dramatically at the doorway. Was... was he wearing shades and a fro? Dayumn, this guy was cool. “Thank god you’re here! And all of you guys too! We’re in trouble!!”

“Trouble, bro? What’s going on??”

“It’s an emergency, bro! A real big emergency!! We need to find Big Bro, now!!!”

"Big bro?" Syed repeated, subconciously bringing a hang to gingerly touch his cheek. Was calling people bro a new trend going around or something? He must have been losing his touch, he thought it was just Don's thing. And as much as Don did seem to know a couple of people here, there was no way... right? That'd be way too big of a coincidence. Nonetheless he took a couple of steps forward, looking quite alarmed. "What kind of emergancy?! Is someone hurt?!"

Moira blinked a couple of times. What the fuck was going on? "No no no back up!" She crossed her arms before her in a denial. "Who the fuck are you?! And I get this guy's your mate or something, but why us?! We're busy, we're 'bout to go to a stripclub."

Syed flushed spectacularly. Oh Vayu could she have worded that any worse? He wanted the ground to swallow him whole right now.