"All right, Shiki! Drink up!" Weisz declared, ogling the waitress in the skimpy bunny costume.
Shiki stared a the glowing green fluid in the martini glass with suspicion in his dark eyes. He picked it up and took a sniff. It smelled like apples. And something else he could not quite place. Whatever it was made his nose sting a little and his mouth water. He was not sure if he wanted to drink that.
"What is it?" he asked, setting the glass back down as everyone else picked theirs up.
"It's your first alcoholic drink, buddy," Weisz said, slapping his friend on the back.
"Oof," Shiki grunted, lurching forward. It was a good thing he was not holding his drink or he would have spilled it.
"You're officially a grown up today!"
"Yeah, come on, Shiki!" Rebecca exclaimed, holding her glass high in preparation for a toast. "It's our best friend and Captain's eighteenth birthday! We're here to celebrate! Woo hoo!"
"I'm excited to try my first alcoholic drink too," Homura said, raising her glass.
"Yeah, ladies! Let's do this!" Weisz tapped his glass to theirs.
All eyes turned to Shiki since he was staring into his glass still sitting on the table as if the discern the future instead of taking a drink.
"Come on, man. It's your birthday." Weisz nudged him with his elbow. "At least toast to making it to this important milestone."
"Okay," Shiki sighed, picking up the glass. "To my eighteenth birthday."
Though the toast was less than enthusiastic, his friends exclaimed "cheers" and tapped their glasses together.
It was extremely subdued for a nightclub. Rather than complete darkness with blinding disco lights whirling around and no deafening music, there was only the droning mumble of conversation and light from a single giant chandelier.
Small flamelike bulbs dotted the arms which spread like the tentacles of an octopus from the central metal rope securing the fixture to the ceiling. Crystals dripped from the zigzagging arms like raindrops frozen in time, refracting the light and creating rainbows that reflected in the shiny black tabletops.
Suddenly the lights dimmed and everyone's attention went to the stage where the red curtains were drawing back. Shiki placed his glass back on the table without taking a sip while everyone else drank theirs.
A woman stood on the stage at the big silver microphone on a stand. Her jet black hair hung in soft waves over her porcelain white shoulders bared by the red dress that clung to her curves and pooled on the floor at her feet. Her eyes were dark but shiny like obsidian stones set in her pretty but pale face.
The man at the piano to her left began to play and her ruby red lips parted and out came a silky smooth voice. The song was about a woman longing for love and never receiving it no matter how much looked for it.
"Oh, I could love ya, baby," Weisz muttered, finishing off his drink. He raised his hand to signal the waitress. "Hey, honey, another round for me and my friends."
So far Weisn was the only one had finished his drink. The women gingerly sipped theirs while listening to the lovely songbird on the stage. Shiki left his drink untouched.
"Would you like something different?" the waitress asked him, her ears twitching.
"Whoa," Weisz gasped realizing her ears were not a decorative headband. "If you don't want that, order something else."
"The Green Goddess isn't for everyone. How about a Cherry Picker? It's a good drink for the first timer."
Weisz snickered. Shiki ignored him and the not so subtle implication. Rebecca and Homura rolled their eyes and shook their heads but made no comment to the hopeless pervert.
"Sure," Shiki returned, giving the helpful woman a smile before reverting his gaze back to the stage. "Do you think she would be my friend?"
"Seriously, dude? After all this time?" Weisz muttered.
"I still haven't made a hundred friends yet."
"A woman like that is meant to be more than a friend. Hey, it is your eighteenth birthday. You're officially a man. Maybe you should make it official all the way and - "
"Weisz," snapped Rebecca to cut him off knowing exactly what he was about to suggest.
Despite all of their travels and the trials they had experienced, some of which they had barely lived through, Shiki was still extremely innocent and trusting and always on the look out for his next new friend. He did have his moments of being a bit curious about the female anatomy and a little lusty but never to the degree of the lecherous Professor. His enduring naivete despite everything is one of his most endearing traits.
"I'm sure she would want to be your friend, Shiki."
"Even if it is just for the evening," Weisz added receiving an elbow to the ribs from Rebecca. "Oof!"
"Why don't you go talk to her after she's done with the song?" Rebecca suggested.
"Invite her over for a drink," Weisz helpfully advised. He exhaled with satisfaction after taking a long draw from his fresh drink.
"You really should slow down, Professor Pervert. I'm not carrying you back to the ship if you get too drunk to walk," Homura warned him.
"We'll leave you in the alley and let some other drunk find you," Rebecca said. Lifting her hands and curling her fingers, she made the grabby motions Weisz used when he threatened to grope her breasts. "They can have their way with you."
"Ew," he muttered, covering his chest with his arm as if to protect himself from some future predator. His fingers absentmindedly massaged his sore ribs from her assault on him earlier.
Rebecca and Homura covered their mouths in effort to hold back their giggles while the man stared at them in wide eyed horror. It's never as funny when the shoe is on the other foot. But despite all of his touchy feely-ness, they knew the man never meant them any real harm. He had definitely gotten better and developed a little self control over the years they had been together.
"I'll be right back," Shiki declared, sliding off of his tall chrome bar stool.
"What? Where's he going?" Rebecca murmured, glancing around.
"You did tell him to go talk to her, remember?" Weisz reminded her.
They watched Shiki weaving his way toward the stage. through the tables and milling people with drinks in their hands.
The singer had finished the song and was taking a bow to scattered applause with an unwavering smile on her face.
"Oh, come on people. She deserves more than that," Weisz muttered irritably.
Hopping off his bar stool, he placed his fingers in the corners of his mouth to emit an ear splitting whistle. Rebecca and Homura clapped loudly as much to cheer on their friend as to congratulate the singer for a job well done.
"Shiki always has had a lot of balls to just go right up to someone and ask them to be his friend. Hey," he began, leaning over to Rebecca. "Why didn't you stop him? You always fuss at him like he's a little kid for doing that?"
Rebecca shrugged, a gentle smile lifting the corners of her pink lips. "Why not? It's his birthday."
Rather than bounding up on the stage and forcefully confronting her with an enthusiastic offer of friendship like he would have in the past, Shiki patiently waited at the steps on the side of the stage. Rebecca had reprimanded him dozens of times for doing such a thing. Apparently some of what she had said sank in at some point.
He kept his eyes on her face as the woman walked toward him. She offered him a nod of acknowledgement and a friendly smile but bypassed him to go backstage behind the curtain.
"I'll be back in a minute," he heard her tell someone on the other side of the curtain.
"Don't run off anywhere," a man warned her.
"As if I could." She laughed it off, but her words had been rather ominous and not funny at all.
The woman came around the edge of the curtain, standing at the top of the stairs. She gazed down at Shiki, smiling pleasantly, waiting for him to say something.
"Hi," he greeted her.
"Hello," she returned.
"I liked your song. You have a beautiful voice."
"Thank you." She hesitated, waiting for him to say something else. "What's your name?"
"Shiki. What's yours?"
"Ruby."
His eyes skimmed down her body taking in the entirety of her hour glass figure enveloped in the shiny satiny material the same intense shade of red as her name.
"Really?" he mumbled.
"Yes, really," she giggled. "Well, it was nice meeting you Shiki but - "
"Will you - " he blurted loudly placing his foot on the bottom step. He cleared his throat making a concerted effort to speak at a lower volume. "Will you join me...me and my friends...for a drink?"
He turned to point to his friends who raised their glasses.
"Looks like you're celebrating something," she said, giving them a wave.
"It's my birthday."
"Well, happy birthday, Shiki. I would be delighted to join you on such a special occasion."
Ruby extended her hand to him. Her nails were long, painted the same color as her lips, with a little diamond like jewel embedded in the middle.
Looking up at her now, Shiki could see her eyes were brown. Incredibly, deep, dark brown. And kind. But sad. He took her hand, her fingers like silk against his own calloused fingers, to assist her down the four stairs. She slid her arm through his to be escorted back to his table.
"Everyone, this is Ruby," Shiki introduced her at the table.
As he told her his friends names in return, she shook each one of their hands. Weisz took her hand, bringing it to his lips to his the back of it.
"I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, Ruby," he said, giving her a wink.
She simply nodded and slowly drew back her hand as not to embarrass the hopeless ladies' man.
"Hello, Miss Ruby, so glad to see you joining us on the floor tonight," the Bunny waitress greeted her, placing the red drink in the tall tumbler in front of Shiki's stool. "Your usual?"
The Bunny Girl server placed a stack of napkins in front of Weisz.
"Yes, please," Ruby returned, casting a sidelong glimpse at the blonde as Shiki pulled up a stool for her form a neighboring table. "I'd love a long slow comfortable screw against the wall."
Weisz promptly choked on his drink. Laughing at him prevented Rebecca and Homura from being shocked by the name of the woman's favorite drink.
"That's a very interesting drink choice," Weisz wheezed, wiping his chin with the napkins the waitress handed him.
"It's very good." Ruby's lips twisted into a wry grin. Her right eyebrow jumped up then back down. "You should try one."
Weisz started coughing again despite not having taken a sip of his drink.
"I think our newcomer is enjoying torturing the resident pervert. She's a smart lady to pick up on his perversion so fast," Homura said, talking to herself out loud as usual. When all eyes turned to her, she gasped, covering her mouth. "Sorry."
Ruby laughed to dispel the tension that suddenly set in.
"I work in a bar. I've dealt with worse. Much worse," she muttered with a forced smile. "So...what brings all of you here besides a birthday party for your friend Shiki? The same thing as everyone else? A little r and r, rest and relaxation?"
"That's what we're hoping for anyway," Weisz muttered, draining his glass.
"Trouble has a way of finding us," Homura said as if to clarify his sudden morose mood.
"We're just visiting for a few days. Then we'll be gone again," Rebecca sighed. "Off on another adventure."
"That's good. No one should ever stay here for very long." Her eyes slid upward. "Otherwise you might never be able to leave."
That sounded like a sinister warning. Her eyes were fixed on something above and to their left.
Shiki followed her line of vision. On a darkened balcony sat a man who could only be seen in silhouette. Although sitting, he still looked incredibly tall - and wide. His eyes moved back to her.
When she picked up her drink, he noticed a glimmer of something. His eyes followed her every movement as she put the glass back down then ran her fingers through her hair to push it behind her ear. Faintly, for a second, he saw the light glinting off a thin, otherwise invisible string attached to her wrist.
Gravity strings. They were like having a fish perpetually on a hook to be reeled in at will should they get out of line. But these were connected to people. Shiki glowered into the darkness above at the figure watching all of them. And they were connected to him.
"How long have you been here?" Rebecca asked, noticing Shiki's odd behavior. He was not just leering at the woman, he saw something. But what?
"Working at this bar or on this planet?" Ruby asked.
"Huh?" Rebecca has not expected the odd response. "Uhm...either one?"
Ruby was trying to tell them something but speaking in riddles in order to not alert the man in the shadows.
Weisz had the sinking feeling trouble had arrived in a pretty package wrapped in red silk. Their luck sucked right out loud. He raised his hand for another drink. The Bunny Girl nodded and went to the bar.
"I swear I've been working in this club since I could walk. Washed dishes in the back at first. Then became a waitress. I was even a bartender for a while. Finally I hit the big time. A stage performer. You know, the typically working up through the ranks crap...such as they are," she said with a wave of her hand. She sounded more annoyed than proud. "What about all of you? What do you do?"
"We're adventurers. We've visited many different places. Made lots of friends," Rebecca returned, her eyes on Shiki who was still looking at the unknown something.
"Friends?" Ruby scoffed before catching herself. "That sounds nice though. Friends."
Shiki's head turned. He was glaring at the mystery man in the balcony, the one who had to be the boss here. What else is he? Warden? Glancing around, he noted the same silvery strands attached the wrists of the all of the waitresses, the bartenders, even the piano player who had returned to the stage. The Big Boss was a slave owner - plain and simple. None of these people were here because they wanted to be. He gritted his teeth.
Then Rebecca saw it. Like when the light reflects off of a spider's web, that tiny glimmer of silver light on a miniscule line. Seeing Shiki's lips pressed into a thin angry white line, she had the feeling their vacation was about to be over.
"How long have you been on Venus' Garden?" Homura inquired, tapping Rebecca on the thigh to indicate she had noticed the filaments too binding the people to the Boss.
"I honestly can't remember. I know I wasn't born here, but I've been here all my life it seems." Her eyes flickered back up to the balcony. "Don't go to the casinos. You'll lose more than money."
That's it! These people are being held against their will as payment for debts - whether it be their own or someone else's. Rebecca had the feeling Ruby had been over to this man as collateral by her parents. She glanced at Homura who glowered furiously at the man upstairs running this shit show.
Glancing around they saw beauty and glamour. Rich people in fancy clothes drinking their drinks this lovely, gilded prison full of indentured servants - unaware and completely uncaring. Everything that glitters truly isn't gold. A twenty four karat turd is still just a piece of shit.
"Shiki," Rebecca called.
"Yeah, I see," Shiki said, standing up.
"See what? What's happening?" Weisz inquired, glancing around in confusion.
"Ruby, I have a question for you," Shiki said, taking her by the hand.
With his other hand he grasped the string. Her eyes, wide with surprise and fear, flew to his.
"Do you want to be my friend?"
"I would like to have a friend." Her fingers tightened around his hand to hold on tightly.
"Would somebody please tell me wh - " The words died on his lips when he saw Shiki's ether gear firing up, the green lines appearing on his forearm. "Damn...why do these things always happen to us?"
Before he could break the thread that held Ruby tethered to the man on the balcony, the man activated the gravity line, snatching the woman away. Apparently, he had done this before because she did not scream as her body flew through the air. The shadows encapsulating his hiding placed devoured her preventing them from seeing her.
Two of the bodyguards flanking the Boss hopped over the ledge from the darkened balcony landing with hard thumps on the white tile floor. A third guard jumped down as well, landing on their table and smashing it to the ground like a flattened mushroom, scattering the friends from each other.
"Shit! The party is officially over!" Weisz yelled, picking up his bar stool to fling it at the man standing on the destroyed table.
The guard caught it, smashing it to the floor where it warped into a piece of twisted metal. Rebecca leapt over the table behind her like a hurdle jumper to kick the man who had a face like a gorilla in the middle of his broad chest. He clambered backwards, arms flailing as if trying to fly, knocking over two tables and sending snooty patrons squealing and scrambling for the door.
Homura unsheathed her Ether swords to combat two more men dressed in black suits coming toward her while they reached into their jackets to retrieve guns. Slashing her right sword to the left, she disarmed the bodyguard in the worst way by cutting his arm off at the elbow. The gun and his arm went spinning across floor sending more horrified, shrieking customers out the door. Next she swung the sword in her left hand toward the other guard, cutting the barrel of the gun and melting it.
"Oops! I missed!" she exclaimed when he smiled at her in triumph with his fists raised in preparation for an old fashioned fisticuffs.
Twirling her sword, she cut his hands off at the wrists, sending him down to his knees howling in pain.
"I didn't miss that time!" Homura glanced back at her friends engaging in their own scuffles. "I'll cut all of the gravity ties! You start getting everyone out of here!"
Homura swung her sword to cut the line binding the wrist of the Bunny Girl waitress. The woman was so shocked and relieved, her knees weakened and stumbled backwards. She caught her before she fell and pushed her toward the door.
"Go! Get out of here!" she yelled as the stampede of people flowed around them like water filtering out of the door.
A line of huge goons standing shoulder to shoulder advanced upon them like a wall of impending death blocking the door and their only escape route. Weisz set off a spray of ether bullets. The bullets punched hole through everything they hit, including each of the men standing in their way making them fall like gigantic human dominos.
Above them, the chandelier swung slowly on its cord. The metal cords had been hit by several bullets. The frayed outer lines snapped making the crystals jingle like coins in a pocket. The remaining lines were weakening fast from the not only the back and forth motion of the heavy fixture but also the changes in gravity exerting force on it from above and below as well.
"That's not good," Weisz muttered. Seizing the nearest recently freed Bunny Girl, he herded her toward the door. "Go! Hurry! Everybody hurry! We gotta get out of here!"
Weisz tucked two newly liberated bar employees, females of course, one under each arm, and headed for the door. Rebecca and Homura followed with the bartenders and piano player in tow.
The Boss's steps made a deliberate and loud pounding on the metal stairs when he descended in the suddenly silent and deserted bar. The only ones left inside were him, Ruby, and Shiki. The man held Ruby to his side, his powerful arm around her waist holding her like she were of no more significance than a child's play ball. To him, that's all she had ever been - a play thing. A human doll to be dressed and used, bandied about from man to man to with as they pleased. For a high price of course.
Ruby held onto his forearm, kicking in a vain attempt to free herself from the trap of his arm. She never screamed though.
The broad shouldered giant approached Shiki slowly, calmly, the caught fish under his arm wiggling helplessly. The man had a startlingly handsome face which deceived many people, especially women, covering his true evil and downright cruel nature.
"Let her go," Shiki ordered the man, the green lines on his arms glowing more brightly.
The man threw back his head and laughed uproariously. He grabbed Ruby's chin, turning her upright to pull her face toward his lips.
Shiki raised his fist as if to punch him but froze in place when the man placed his tongue against her jaw and licked upward to her temple. Ruby visibly shuddered and grew even more pale, almost gray.
"This little treasure is my favorite. I raised her and trained her myself." He affectionately brushed the backs of his fingers over the cheek he had just licked like a disgusting lech.
"Ruby, get ready to leave here," Shiki said. "You have to help me celebrate my birthday. You're my friend right?"
"Yeah, I am," she replied confidently.
"If you want to steal my precious little jewel, it will have to be over my dead body," he taunted the young man.
Shiki shrugged. "If that's how you want it..."
The weakening metal chord creaked while the chandelier continued swinging like a pendulum above them. The crystals started to shiver and clink as they turned to hang sideways rather than downward.
Ruby's body felt light like a feather. Her hair started to rise around her face as if statically charged. The pressure on her body changed from being pressed downward to being pulled forward.
"Reach out to me!" Shiki yelled.
Extending her arms and legs as straight as possible, like a superhero flying the through air, she zipped toward Shiki when he changed the gravity on her body making her light enough to easily snatch her out of the vile man's arms.
"What the hell!" the man shouted in disbelief, his face contorting into an ugly mask of fury. He couldn't believe it. That insolent brat snatched his treasure right out of his arms!
Shiki raised his arm straight into the air. There was a high pitched zing then a ping when the final strands of the braided steel rope broke under the gravity center attack pulling it downward.
Large and lumbering, the Boss could not move fast enough to get out of the way. Shiki turned and dove behind an overturned table with Ruby held securely in his arms.
The chandelier smashed him into the marble floor, landing with a resounding crash. The crystals shattered, exploding like tiny individual bombs, spraying sharp shrapnel in all directions. The shards rained down making a tinkling sound like wind chimes when hitting the floor.
For a long moment, Shiki continued to hold Ruby, her face buried in the t-shirt covering his chest. She was shaking from head to toe so violently he could feel the vibrations throughout his body. He did not know if it was a good thing or a bad thing he had been through so many life or death situations it no longer phased him.
"Are you okay?" Shiki asked her, prompting her to lift her head.
There were no tears in her eyes. No fear. She no longer looked sad either. Her black eyelashes lowered to her sickly pale cheek, shuttering her doe eyes off from him.
"I'm fine. Better than I have been in a long, long time," she said, opening her eyes to meet his. "I'm sorry I ruined your birthday party."
"Why don't you come back to my ship? We can continue the party there," he said, standing to his feet. He held out his hand to her. "I have the feeling you're no longer safe here anyway."
"I-I can't...I sh-shouldn't go with you," she stammered, gingerly placing her hand in his.
"Why not?" He pulled her to her feet.
"Thank you for saving me. For saving all of us. But I can't put you in anymore danger."
"I can take care of myself. Besides, it's what friends do for each other. You're my friend. Aren't you?"
"Yeah," she giggled. Then proudly declared, "I am indeed your friend, Shiki."
"Great! You're my sixty ninth friend!"
"Sixty...nine?" She blushed hotly despite it being apparent the sexual connotation of that number was lost on him.
"Yep."
"And you are my first friend."
"Really?"
"Really."
He smiled so broadly she could see all of his front teeth on top and bottom and his eyes disappeared into thin slits. He was absolutely thrilled to be her first friend. Taking her by the hand, he pulled her along behind him in his excitement.
"I can't wait to tell everyone. I got a new friend for my birthday! Friend number sixty-nine!"