Club Risqué, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Thursday Night

[spin_kick_snap]

That morning, under the guise of calling her family to wish them a Happy Lunar New Year, Kathy had asked her sister, Sarah, about all-ages clubs in LA. After Sarah had spent ten minutes explaining that no one over the age of fifteen went to an all-ages club gawd, sis, seriously? Kathy'd asked if she knew about any dance clubs that weren't too keen on looking at IDs. Sarah had been so excited at the idea of her nerdy big sister wanting to go clubbing that she hadn't even questioned why Kathy was looking into places on the other side of the country from where she went to school.

Fortunately for Kathy, Sarah knew just the place. Situated in Hollywood, just a few blocks away from Paramount Pictures, was Club Risqué. It was technically meant to be 21-and-over, but the bouncers were well-known for ignoring IDs in favor of Grants. Or, better yet, Benjamins. While the age limit wasn't enforced, the dress code definitely was: dress to impress only, losers need not apply. There were rumors of the owners being a little shady, but even if that were true, there were no ties with the South Seventeens.

That was good enough for Kathy. After getting back from Selkie Peak with Edward and taking a long shower (a warm one this time!), she made a few more calls to let everyone know that they were good to go tonight.

***

Coming to LA had been the perfect choice, Kathy decided. Rather than freezing on the walk from their portal to the club and the following wait in line, they got to enjoy temperatures in the mid-50s. Maybe it was appreciation for the lack of shivering, but one of the bouncers noticed them right off and gestured them forward. They even got a break on their entrance fee; for an extra $200 he waved them all inside without even mentioning the need for identification. Once the heavily soundproofed doors were open, they could hear the loud hip-hop/dance-pop playing over the club's speakers. Even without that, the heavy beat was palpable, the floor almost vibrating with it.

A huge bar took up one section of the club, and across from it was the DJ's island. Along the walls were plenty of tables and padded booths for people to sit in, if they wanted to--or more than sit, as they could see when the brightly-colored lights would flash over them, illuminating couples making out like LA had been filled with pollen, too. More bouncers held positions inside the club, scattered in little pockets of isolation, keeping careful watch over the club-goers, occasionally touching their ears to hear information relayed through their headsets. Several doors dotted the walls, leading to the coat-check, a back room area in the bar, bathrooms, and a VIP area, where small 'champagne rooms' could be rented for the hour, or enjoyed by high-profile guests and friends of the owners. The rest of the space was dominated by the dance floor, filled with writhing bodies, while bubbles and even foam occasionally rained down to roars of approval.

"This is it!" Kathy yelled, trying to be heard above the din. So long as they stood close and shouted, they could carry on a conversation. "We ready to dance?"

[For the LA clubbers, please, and NFB! Up early for timezones and great SP]

Comments

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[myownface]

".... OH MY GOD SERIOUSLY?"

Keep that down a few decibels, Spark.

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[giveherahand]

Don't pretend Cade wouldn't say the same thing.

"Fine, fine, keep your pants on..." She gave him a little smirk.

Hilarious, Mara.

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[myownface]

Sparkle at least expected it of Cade!

... Okay, he wasn't hugely surprised to hear it from Mara, either. He was, however, giving her a bit of a scowl and wrinkling his nose as he reached down to buckle his belt again.

"My pants are actually the last thing I'm worried about right now, oh my god."

He was going to die here tonight. He was going to stick around to warn the girls and he was going to die.

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[giveherahand]

"What'd you do?" Mara asked, looking toward the door.

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[myownface]

"I followed a hot guy into a weapons sale, I think," Sparkle muttered, crouching a little lower still. "And... then I kneed him in the nuts."

It had been a very emotional moment!

"So now they're sort of going to kill me and I'm going to leave now."

Yep. Right now. This second. Except that one of them was covering the door to make sure he didn't slip by. So, maybe not.

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[giveherahand]

"Um," Mara said, eyes widening slightly at the guy by the door now. Yeah, they were screwed. "Maybe he found weapons sales a turn on?"

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[myownface]

"No," Sparkle muttered. "I think he arranged for it to happen in the first place."

Which meant he totally had that knee to the balls coming to him. Jerk.

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[not_a_moonie]

"Wait, what is going on over here?" Alana asked when she got back from the bar. "I heard something about weapons?"

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[giveherahand]

Mara nodded, only looking about half as scared as she should. "Sparkle made a bad friend."

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[myownface]

"I'm going to die and we need to leave now," Sparkle agreed, super helpfully. And only a bit high-pitched panicky.

Okay. A lot.

"Except they're watching the doors, so mostly I'm just going to die?"

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[beautifulsenshi.livejournal.com]

Okay, Sparkle being a bit high-pitched for Sparkle caught Minako's attention from where she was dancing with her two new friends just a few feet away, and she excused herself to get a drink of water. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but it sounded rather strained and he didn't look happy.

"Why is Sparkle squeaking?" she asked as she leaned over the bar to flag down the bartender. "What about the door? It ate your shirt?"

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[spin_kick_snap]

"Sparkle's upset?" Kathy asked, coming over with a glass of soda of her own.

She was wearing an excited grin, her hairstyle ruined completely because she'd pulled it up into a messy ponytail to keep it off her neck and back. There was a sheen of sweat on her forehead; she'd been dancing almost non-stop.

"What's going on?"

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[myownface]

"I'm going to get shot in the face, probably," Sparkle replied, bunching his shoulders up and wondering if maybe he could just crawl across the floor and get trampled to death instead, and maybe that would suck less. "Like, you guys can probably slip out before the bouncers realize you were with me, I wouldn't blame you."

... He kind of hoped they did. And sort of hoped they didn't. Being in deep shit with guys with guns had that funny effect on a Sparkle.

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[justwantedfriends]

"Why would we sneak out?" Kira asked, genuinely confused. "You're not seriously expecting us to leave you behind, are you? If someone wants to shoot you, we need to stop them."

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy rolled her eyes at his dramatics. "Sparkle, you can't believe everything you hear on TV. Just because you're in LA doesn't mean the Bloods and the Crips and the Seventeens are lurking around every corner just waiting to shoot some skinny Canadian kid--"

She turned back to put her glass down on the bar and saw the bartender's mouth moving inaudibly, his eyes locked on Sparkle. His hand came up from under the counter, holding a small, silver gun.

"Oh shit!" she squealed and threw her glass into his face. That distracted him long enough for Kathy to duck down below his sightline and try to tug her friends down with her. "What did you do?"

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[myownface]

"I didn't do anything," Sparkle-- didn't wail, really. Wailing would be unbecoming of a kid who was clearly about to die here. "There was a guy, and then there was a table, and the table had guns and money and I'm sorry!"

... So, there was one for the calendar, Sparkle apologizing. Being so very aware of one's mortality so many times within the span of a single week apparently had that effect on him. And he wasn't on the island! If you died off the island, you died in real life!

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[spin_kick_snap]

"Okay, okay, we're not going to let anyone die tonight, especially not you," Kathy told him. "You stay down, maybe call the cops on your cell, try to find a way out. Are there windows in the bathroom? Try to get as many of the others with you, okay? I'll try to lead them off you."

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[kenselvren]

Jalian saw the others gathering and made her way over to them. "Trouble?"

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[justwantedfriends]

"A little trouble," Kira said, understating things for Sparkle's benefit. "But nothing we can't fix, I think?"

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[beautifulsenshi.livejournal.com]

Minako looked at everyone, and made a tactical decision. As far as she knew, they only had two other people here with powers or training, and Sparkle needed to get out of there.

It was time to protect the princess. Kinda.

"We can so fix this," she said, all business. "Jalian, Banzai, if we make a big enough distraction, can you get him safely outside and away? We can rendezvous elsewhere later."

...Minako, Kathy never told you her codename.

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[kenselvren]

"Of course," Jalian answered with a shrug. "With or without serious injuries?" Because she'd learned people in this timeline could be fussy about that.

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[beautifulsenshi.livejournal.com]

"Make as fast a get-away as you can, just try to avoid killing anyone." Since they didn't want Kathy to end up wanted in her hometown, after all.

She glanced at the other girls, calculating. "Think we can manage to start a bar fight and then skip out the fire exits?"

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[spin_kick_snap]

Luckily for Minako, Kathy couldn't remember who knew her superhero identity or not. She just assumed she'd told Minako about it sometime before; she wasn't exactly keeping a low-profile on the island.

"They've got guns," Kathy said, all business. "The bartender has one, not sure about the DJ, but since all the bouncers are working for whomever, we can probably assume he's packing, too. I don't know if they'll be willing to shoot into the crowd and start a panic, but it's something we have to keep in mind."

She looked around, searching out the smoke detectors on the ceiling. There was a trick she learned in Reno's class she thought might be helpful.

"Keep an eye out for fire alarms to pull," she added. "It'll add to the confusion and get the authorities here faster."

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[myownface]

"That'd be great, since my phone's not getting a signal in here," Sparkle reported, looking up at the girls, wide-eyed. "At all."

He was sort of pushing past the point of panic, and moving into 'feeling small and kind of bewildered' territory.

"They might not shoot into the crowd unless they know they can get a clear shot on me," he added, trying to sound... at least somewhat with-it, here. "A panic's better for us than it is for them. Easier to get lost in."

Not that he had a lot of experience with trying to get lost.

Re: I Said Excuse Me You're A Hell Of A Guy

[beautifulsenshi.livejournal.com]

Minako followed Kathy's line of sight, nodding at the smoke detectors. She'd been in that class, and that also gave her an idea.

"No one is going to shoot you," Minako promised, reaching over to squeeze Sparkle's hand. "I mean it. You're going to be fine, Jalian and Kathy will take you out through the kitchen since they're watching these doors, and we'll go have Korean barbeque and make fun of your taste in men after this."

She glanced over at Alana, Mara, and Kira. "We need to make a scene. Any ideas how to set off the fire alarms, get people moving, or start a fight? I have one option, but it's... flashy."

Yeah, she was going to let them think she was going to climb up on the bar and flash everyone. Because transforming in the middle of the bar was prooooooooobably gonna get her yelled at. A lot.