This is Orbis. Here, the Roman nations are a superpower.
Welcome to Las Vegas. Once, this place was just a little oasis, far from the Colorado River. Now, it's a residence of royals. Every year, many, many, MANY people come on over, from far and wide, to gamble...and that's not all.
In this part of the city, there are three casinos. There's the Casino Bolivia, the Casino Punjab, and the Casino Philippines. By day, all three are seasoned with culture. Around the clock, they exploit the rules of capitalism...and ever-compete, to become the dominant casino.
For many, this means hiring sluttier cocktail waitresses and card-dealers...and downgrading their wardrobes, whenever there's a new breakthrough in slutty fashion that Las Vegas won't arrest on sight for indecent exposure. As strict as Sikhism and Catholicism tend to be, even they, as sacred as they are in their respective clients' homelands, can never keep this from happening in a country where religion is optional, and proud of it.
By night, the alleys between the casinos take on a new role. Groups of men, as well as a few women, come out here, dressed as hip-hop folk.
The Bolivian Latinos come dressed in green...for the coca plant, which their motherland proliferates by the bushel...for medicine, and for poison. Only a few bear Catholic crosses...and none stick out.
The Filipino Latinos come dressed in white and brown...for the rice that their motherland produces. Only a few bear Catholic crosses...and none stick out.
The Punjabis come wearing cotton...imported straight from their motherland. They wear yellow...for the vast fields of wheat that there are over there. Only a few bear Sikh khandas...and none stick out.
Their leaders wear gold chains around their necks. They have the closest connections to the men who live in their respective casinos' penthouses...if they themselves don't live in a penthouse. They sure don't dress like they do...aside from the bling.
In a triangle, they stand. Each family stands in a rank, facing the other two. It looks like there's going to be a standoff.
In the background, one of them plugs in a boom box to an extension cord. They attach a smartphone to it, and put the smartphone on Pandora. Together, the two devices play hip-hop music.
And, the three families have a dance-off. For all, it's very impressive. Or would be, rather, if they didn't all do over-labored jobs of trying to outcompete one another.
For hours, this goes on. For them, it feels more like minutes. Some of them are drunk. The Bolivians, of course, are high on coke...or pretend to be, anyhow.
Down the alley, a fat calico loafs, and sleeps on the fire escape. He doesn't seem very inspired by the "gang warfare" that's taking place just down the street...
Like thunder down the alley, a cavalry fighting vehicle drives. It's very fast...as it should be. It's armed with a chain gun, an antitank missile launcher, and a medium machine gun for backup. The side of the CFV bears the logo of ACME Detective Agency.
One of the Communal Furies is at the wheel. She drives fast, and screams as she does. The radio blares. Full in the CFV with her, the other four Communal Furies, plus their leader, Granny ACME, rides and yells with her.
Granny ACME is quite the ferocious titaness. She's hardly a recruit now, but she's sure become one of ACME's more dangerous assets...
They drive right past the fire escape where the cat snores. The cat purrs, and rolls over on his back...barely acknowledging the treat of Granny ACME and her SWAT team.
From above, the sum of that SWAT team invades. They're a bunch of ACME agents...who fly via winged harnesses. The wings on these harnesses are made of metal feather-like blades. When wielded right, these blades can be thrown, like knives.
And naturally, all of these ACME Archangels are branded with the ACME magnifying glass.
Like a starling murder, they land among the three dancing hip-hop groups. Some wear special collars around their necks. They twist little dials on these collars, and let loose with a barrage of ear-splitting screams.
The screams destroy the boom-box...causing it to spray sparks, and even shatter. Alas, the part that plays the music is left intact.
The CFV arrives, and parks...and the cavalry dismounts. One of the Communal Furies, who calls herself Hammer Harleen, flaps her long blued steel-blue hair, and throws her Uru hammer. It smashes the stray boom-box part, that's playing annoying hip-hop music, and flies right back to Harleen.
Hammer Harleen bears the likeness of Margot Robbie...if Ms. Robbie were a Viking shieldmaiden/thunder goddess.
While the Archangels hold the three families at knife-point, the Furies search them. They're all like female wrestlers. Not a Punjabi, Bolivian, or Filipino dares argue.
Those who do argue end up finding out, the hard way, what happens. What happens is that they get humiliated, by getting beaten up and defeated by a girl...in an alley at night, surrounded by their homies.
This is Stompa. She's a brunette, and wears anti-matter boots.
This is Mad Harriet. She has green hair, and wields power spikes.
This is Aurelie. She's a brunette, too.
This is Lois Lane-Kent (a professional alias; NOT her real name). She's a brunette, too...and wears her hair in a bob, unlike most of the others.
You've already met Hammer Harleen. Her hair is blued steel-blue, and she wields an Uru hammer, who she affectionately calls Loki.
As the Furies search the three families for VILE memorabilia, Granny ACME stalks around each of them, in circles. She wields a phone-and-cable flail. With it, she spontaneously swings it around, and strikes her victims in the ash with it...right before slithering up to the backs of their necks, and whispering in their ears, "Granny loves you..."
The Furies finish searching the three families, and give Granny the thumbs-up. Granny smiles, flips the bird at all three families, and hops back aboard the CFV. Once all six are inside, the doors close simultaneously.
All around, the ACME Archangels leap, and fly away. Once they're gone, Granny ACME finishes withdrawing her forces.
The three families have been freaked out too much...and not to mention excessively insulted and emasculated. Plus, Hammer Harleen destroyed the better part of their boom-box. (At least she was merciful enough to leave the Pandora-playing smartphone intact...) So, the three of them exchange handshakes, and return to their respective hoods.
The chairmen of the three families gather in a triangle, where three alleys meet. In one pair at a time, they shake hands. First, the Filipino chairman shakes hands with the Punjabi chairman. Next, the Punjabi chairman shakes hands with the Bolivian chairman. And finally, the triangle is unbroken when the Bolivian chairman shakes hands with the Filipino one.
Every now and then, they get each other mixed up, and end up going home on semi-peaceful terms. But this is usually just when the Filipino homie has had too much rice wine, or the Bolivian homie has snorted too much coke.
On the shores of Lake Mead, ACME has a facility. It's called the Yoonity Orphanage. This is the lair of Granny ACME.
The CFV races by. As it does, Granny hops out of the back, in flats, with her precious old book in hand.
Outside the front door, there's a lever. Granny reaches out, and pulls it counter-clockwise.
Before her, a panel opens. It leads into a very dark chamber. Across said chamber, there's a pair of other panels. Near it, there's a control pad. Atop it, there's a big green pad.
Granny puts her hand over the green pad. It lights up...shining X-rays right through her hand. For a brief moment, one can see her carpals.
The panels part ways...revealing a lit elevator chamber. Granny gets in. Behind her, the panels shut her inside.
Now, she's dropped through a tube...that takes her into a series of tunnels beneath Lake Mead. Once, a VILE thief used these tunnels to steal, and smuggle, the plug of Hoover Dam.
The elevator slows, and hits rock bottom. The panels open. Inside the elevator, Granny ACME stands tall...if only for a prolonged brief moment.
Now, she steps outside. Behind her, the elevator doors close. Around her, her lair awaits her exploitations for tonight...
Among her effects, there's an android resting in a pod. He's Warrick the Warbot. Usually, Warrick is Ivan Idea's responsibility. Alas, these days, Warrick seems to prefer Granny ACME as a den mom...so that's the way it's been. Idea still works on the Warbot's tech, whenever that becomes necessary...
Within the refuge of her lair, Granny ACME removes her disguise...revealing the face of Kim Yoonity. As a senior ACME agent, this new superheroine mantle is her latest upgrade.
She slips her bare feet from her flats, and leaves them by the elevator doors. Atop a lectern, which has a spotlight shining down on it most times, she leaves her old book. The book has a high-tech combination lock on its binder; one of many Ivan Idea-generated upgrades.
Ahead, there's a dashboard. Yoonity boots it, and punches in several codes.
Before her, a videophone screen covers the wall. It portrays the ACME Chief's face.
"The Three Families check out," she tells the Chief. "They're just as much VILE as we are."
The Chief nods. "Good work, Agent Yoonity. Keep me in the loop. Otherwise, you are now free to clock out. This is the Chief signing out."
With that, the screen goes black again. And with that, Yoonity turns around, yawns, stretches, and starts making her own dear fragile way towards bed.
True; the Three Families might not be VILE. But it's not unlikely that their business in Las Vegas will attract VILE villains... And real Casanovas of them, at that...