Bomberman swore to himself as he wove through the noisy crowds of Tolbi Casino with Pommy in his arms. He wished he hadn't forgotten his communicator on the plane. Then he could bug Lilith to see if she had any idea about the Gravity Generator or about the Astral Knight he'd inevitably run into at one point or another here on Starlight.
That, and he could really use some backup for the security guards currently breathing down his neck.
The first time Bomberman had tried to enter Tolbi Casino, he'd been rightly caught out for not having a valid ID to prove he was of age to get inside. He wasn't going to argue with it, and was just going to sit outside for a bit to figure out another plan. But then Pommy had apparently seen something shiny pass through on the opposite end of the entrance, and he'd promptly darted through after it. Against his better judgment, Bomberman had gone to get Pommy back...and thus the current situation.
Gotta admit, though...it did get me inside, Bomberman thought as he hopped onto the railing of an upwards moving escalator and sprinted up it.
"Ow! What the—"
"Sorry about that, mister!" Bomberman called as he accidentally stepped on the hand of a young man riding the escalator.
Four security guards were waiting for him at the top. "Hold it right there, young man!" one of them called. "You'll be coming with us!"
"Sorry, I've got better things to do!" Bomberman set off a smoke bomb, filling the immediate area with dark clouds. He leapt to the ground and made a breakaway. When he could see again, he found himself in a skyway, with a view of space and other parts of Starlight through the windows. He fired off apology after apology to startled guests as he attempted to get through the narrow path with the least amount of damage possible.
The end of the skyway led into the wide, airy lobby of what looked like a very high-end hotel. The hotel was arranged in such a manner that one could see each level and the doors to the rooms from the ground floor. Walkways to the four sides of the square-shaped floors radiated out from a central elevator shaft.
But Bomberman didn't want to risk getting caught just because he was waiting for an elevator. He broke into a running start, hopped onto a short pillar surrounding a graceful dolphin fountain, and—taking full advantage of Draegaria's little present to him—leapt clear to the third level, landing unsteadily on one of the rectangular planting boxes. Once he had righted himself, he jumped to a sixth level walkway, and then to the eighth level, hopping right over a metal railing. He spotted an open door to one of the hotel rooms, and made a run for it, quickly slamming a palm to the door's control panel to close it. "Ugh..." He leaned back against the door and wiped some sweat from his face. "I guess we're safe for the moment."
"Myu," Pommy grumbled, jumping from Bomberman's arms and staring up at him. "All Pommy wanted was a martini!"
Bomberman glared at Pommy. "I doubt you could hold your alcohol, marshmallow."
Pommy glared right back. "Oh, and Bomberman can?"
"I don't drink."
"Because Bomberman can't hold his alcohol!" Pommy smirked and stuck his nose in the air. "Is the alcohol too heavy for Bomberman?"
There came a startled female gasp. "Oh, my...I certainly wasn't expecting more visitors today."
"Gah!" Realizing that he had just intruded on someone's borrowed private space, Bomberman opened the door and started to run for it again, only to hear the stamping of feet and the chattering of voices from down the hall. Not bothering to check who they were, he backtracked inside, closed the door...and was met with the vision of a pink-haired young woman clad only in a fluffy white towel, her hair and skin damp with shower mist. "Aah!" he exclaimed, clenching his eyes shut and pressing his face to the nearest wall. "S-sorry, miss! I didn't...I wasn't...it's n-not what you think...!"
A soft giggle. "Oh, it's fine. I'll get decent." A door clicked shut.
Bomberman gulped. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Of course someone would've been in the room! Now how he was going to explain things to the occupant? Admittedly, she was taking it surprisingly well...after all, she hadn't even screamed or called him names or tried to beat him to death...
"All right, it's okay now," the young woman said.
Bomberman looked. He found himself faced with the sight of the young woman wearing a matching set of bra and panties in pink with white lace. "Ack!" His cheeks burned bright with embarrassment, and he whirled right back around, putting his hands to his face.
She giggled again. "What's the matter? All the naughty bits are covered, aren't they?"
"Y-yeah," Bomberman stuttered, "but..."
"Myuuu," Pommy sighed dreamily. "She has nice—"
Bomberman kicked Pommy. "Dammit, cover your eyes, will you? Don't be staring at her like that!"
"Color me shocked! A male with respect for feminine modesty? You're a rare one, that's for sure!" There was a rustling of soft fabric. "Okay, then, I promise it's okay to look now."
Cautiously, Bomberman turned around and peeked through his fingers. The young woman was wearing a magenta silk robe that reached to just above her knees. It hugged her body rather snugly, but at least she was covered. Still, Bomberman tried his best not to look too much at her...which was proving to be quite difficult. "A-anyway," he began, lowering his hands, "like I said, sorry about...you know...this and all that."
The young woman sat on her bed and crossed her legs gracefully. "Can I ask what happened?"
She really is taking this amazingly well, Bomberman thought, surprised. He wondered why she was so calm when some guy she didn't know had just barged into her room when she had barely gotten out of the shower. Was it a common occurrence for her?
Well, with looks like that, no wonder! a voice in his head sniggered.
Bomberman promptly strangled that voice and decided it was better not to question Lady Luck when she was obviously in a good mood. He explained: "I wasn't going to go into the casino at all, 'cause the guards had me pegged for no ID, but then he"—he motioned at Pommy—"ran inside and I had to get him, and...well..."
There was a sharp knock at the door.
"Eek!" Pommy squeaked. "The guards found us!"
"Hey, open the door!" It was another female voice. "I've got the ice that you wanted."
The young woman stood up. "Oh, don't worry!" she said cheerfully to Bomberman and Pommy. "It's just a friend of mine." She walked over and opened the doors to reveal a tall, slender woman with long hair of pale lavender, dressed in jeans and a fitted teal T-shirt with a silver design on it. "Thanks a bunch, Zo," she said, taking the silver bucket of ice that was handed to her and bringing it over to a mini-fridge.
Zo flipped her hair over her shoulder and smiled. "No problem!" She suddenly noticed Bomberman and Pommy nearby. "What's this? Were you trying to...get a little something-something from some rich momma's boy while I was gone?"
"You wish! Nah, he just happened to be running from security and must've seen the door that you left open, so he came in here to hide."
An exaggerated gasp. "Even worse! You're housing a wanted criminal?"
The young woman rolled her lavender eyes. "He only wanted his pet back."
"Is that so? I can certainly see why!" Zo knelt down and patted Pommy on the head.
"But...but Pommy's not a—" Pommy started.
"Yes, we know, you're a mimic," Bomberman interrupted, annoyed. "But I've yet to see you mimic much of anything besides bad comebacks."
"Bomberman's just jealous because Pommy gets all the cute girls," Pommy shot back.
Bomberman grabbed a small pillow off a chair nearby and smacked Pommy with it.
"...aha," Zo said slowly, raising a hand to tap a graceful finger to her chin. "So that's how it is, is it?"
"How 'what' is, Zo?" But there was something conspiratorial about the young woman's tone that suggested total knowledge about what Zo was referring to.
"I guess I'd better run," Zo suddenly said. "Places to go, paperwork to sign, incompetent males to bitchslap. None of those things do themselves, after all!"
"Of course, of course. Do what you need to do—far be it from me to stop you."
"Same to you, love. See you later!" And with one last wink—directed at Bomberman, surprisingly—Zo left, the doors sliding shut behind her.
"Hey, um..." Bomberman pointed at the door. "Was it really all right for your friend to...?"
The young woman waved him off. "It'll be fine. Zo and I are often on the same wavelength. She won't tell a soul."
There was something horribly, horribly off about the situation right now, Bomberman knew. Did he dare try to find out what it was? He took a breath. "Well, um...I guess we'll just be leaving now, then. Thanks for being so nice about all this. We won't bother you anymore, I promise."
"Not interested in seeing Tolbi, I presume?"
Bomberman blinked. "Huh?"
The young woman smiled at him. "Come on, why not? You're here already. I've got time to kill. I'll take you around! There's some places I need to be at later, anyway."
Bomberman shook his head. "Gotta do some other things. And anyway, the guards might see me and kick me out, and you'll get in trouble..."
Again the young woman waved off his concern. "Being a popular headlining singer here—as well as the love interest of some Very Important People at Tolbi—gets me certain privileges." She extended a hand. "Zhael, here."
Bomberman took her hand. "I'm Bomberman, and this round thing is Pommy."
"It's nice to meet Zhael!" Pommy chirped, jumping up and down.
"And it's quite nice to meet the both of you." Zhael stretched back, and Bomberman had to look away again. She giggled. "Let me get changed, and then we'll head out. That sound all right with you?"
