Game Over

by MaveriKat

In a world where videogame productions are more of an emphasis on production and the stars are very real people, how do they handle life in the limelight? In general? Or more importantly, the rise and fall of popularity? Two foxes on either end of the spectrum will meet and find out from one another. Rated M for Drug Abuse, Violence, Adult Language, and Adult Situations.

5. Conflict of Interest

Disclaimer: The "Star Fox" videogame series is owned by Nintendo and Platinum Games. The "Sly Cooper" videogame series is owned by Sony, Sucker-Punch Productions, and Sanzaru Games. There are also many other videogame properties but rest assured, I credit their creators and developers for the wonderful IP's that inspired this story. Said story itself is a fan-based non-profit work of fiction written strictly for entertainment purposes only. Please support the official releases.

Game Over

By MaveriKat & Nanya,

Beta Read By Innortal

Chapter 5: Conflict of Interest

Holding the plush red leather-covered door open for the vixen, Fox smiled at her as she exited from Room 3. "Here you are, Miss Fox," the Papetoonian pilot responded with a grin. "Sorry to have overloaded you with all of that," he replied in earnest as the woman had her arms crossed in front of her, doing her best to carry all the gold coins he'd given her. I wonder how those coins weigh like nothing when they're in a Hylian wallet but once out they're so burdensome, the male vulpine couldn't help but wonder.

Shaking her head as she came towards him, the Hispanic vixen assured him, "Oh it's quite all right, McCloud. No need to apologize at all. If anything, I want to say thank you." She hefted up the mass of golden coins in her arms, the woman offered an amount of decency by the sheer amount of currency that covered her tits better than the pasties she wore. "You helped me a lot more than you realize." Oh, how she couldn't wait to show this to Duke. Hopefully this would get him off her tail and allow her to work at a reasonable pace for the rest of the night.

As the woman walked through the door back into the main room, a small chuckled escaped from the male vulpine's lips. "I think I should be the one thanking you... you put up with..." he blushed enough that it showed up through his facial fur. "Well, a lot. I doubt I was the all that comfortable to be around." He took a deep breath as he closed the door for her. "I was a friggin' mess."

Even though he was being serious, Carmelita couldn't help but offer her fellow vulpine a teasing smile. "Not to mention you made a mess too." She winked at him, pleased to see his face take on a deeper hue of crimson. "Not that I minded. I believe such is the point of the V.I.P. rooms. Considering what you've been dealing with, you more than needed and deserved it, Fox." Then, as an afterthought, the Latina beauty added, "And besides; you were more than generous with your apology." She hefted her arms a bit, making the coins clink as the motion made them slide against one another. "An apology that's worth its literal weight in gold."

Turning back to the woman, the male vulpine queried, "But not proverbial weight?"

Shaking her head, the woman stepped up to Fox once more. "No." Grinning, the Latina vixen honestly told him, "In that way, you paid me far more than I deserved, Mr. McCloud."

He blinked his eyes in surprise at her honest admission. Before the currently grounded pilot could ask what she meant by that, the woman leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Uh..." the fox blinked his eyes again before a small smile crossed his muzzle. "That's very sweet of—MURPH!?" the man's eyes went wide as she came closer, giving him a kiss on the lips once more, eliciting a jolt of pleasure up his spine once more.

God, did Fox ever wish he still had toes to curl.

When the touch of lips ended, Fox's expression broke out into a goofy grin that reached from ear-to-ear. "Carm? You really, really know how to make a guy feel special."

Returning the other vulpine's smile, the vixen whose face was framed navy blue tresses gave a small nod. "It doesn't hurt that you make it easy. You are a really sweet guy, McCloud," she said earnestly. It was nice meeting a guy who wasn't afraid to wear his emotions on his sleeve. After dating someone like Sly who was all secretive, it was refreshing to actually know how a person felt and get an idea of what they were really thinking.

Not to mention, his generosity and good locks were a selling point. "And really, the pleasure was all mine," she said firmly as she winked. A small, melodious giggled escaped her throat as the male fox turned away for a moment, all bashful. It was just too adorable! "Now if you don't mind, I need to get back to the dressing room and freshen up. I don't think you would want to smell all hot and sweaty from out time in the back for the rest of the night..." she smirked and gave him a mischievous grin. "Or would you?"

The poor Papetoonian vulpine sputtered for a bit at what she was implying. "Er, well, you see..." he chuckled nervously. Managing to straighten up, Fox reached behind his head with his right hand, gently scratching the back of his neck. "That is, I sure as heck wouldn't mind... but I think some of the other patrons would." Lowering his arm, he offered the woman a small smile. "I want to make sure you're successful tonight."

"Well, you're always free to help further," Carmelita offered with a wink. Deep down, she felt much better about how that sounded. Definitely don't want to come off as some gold digger.

Grinning wider, the male fox nodded his head firmly. "Of course!" he chirruped merrily. "If you get up on stage, I promise to make it rain more gold... shoot..." the fur's smile started to take on that silly curve that expressed just how happy he was. "Maybe later I could get another turn in the VIP Room with you too!" He still had four thousand-plus coins to go thanks to Mario. And while he intended to give whatever was left back to the Italian afterwards, that didn't mean he wasn't going to give the lovely vixen as many opportunities to earn as much of it as she could.

The blue-tressed vixen puckered her lips, blowing her fellow vulpine a kiss. "Muchas gracias, guapo. I'll see you later." With that said, she turned about and walked up the steps and onto the stage, making a beeline for the back curtain to ready herself for later in the evening.

Watching her disappear behind the red-clothed barrier between the main room and the backstage, Fox just stood there for a moment, practically bolted to where he stood. Just thinking about Carmelita gilled him with a sweet feeling, joy and relief not felt in ever-so-long. Oh McCloud, you sentimental fool, he thought with a bit of self-depreciation... although he wasn't upset about it. He felt such an attachment to the woman for the kindness she afford him. He wouldn't have blamed the vixen for running after he–for lack of better words–began crying like a little bitch over Krystal and completely broke the mood. But she remained with him and was sympathetic to his plight. Atop of being oh so incredibly sexy about how she handled it, he thought as his grin became lopsided.

McCloud didn't believe in the concept of, 'love at first sight'. Hadn't for a long time... but there was something he could admit. He might finally be ready to move on for the first time in five years. And all it took was a sexy Latina stripper to make me feel okay about myself again.

Oh yes, Fox couldn't say he accepted that the idea of, 'love at first sight' was a real thing... which was why he was going to try and see Carmelita again and again all night long if he had to. He really needed to thank Mario for his help in setting this up. I would have spent all night drowning my sorrows in more booze if the fatass hadn't pushed me into a night of adult entertainment. More importantly, Fox realized. I wouldn't have met her.

With that thought in mind, the vulpine finally turned away from the back of the room, intent on finding the plumber. The male fur immediately caught sight of his Italian paisano where he'd left him; sitting by the bar. Only now the mustached man was joined by Link... and in all honesty, the Hylian wasn't looking too hot. With worry now beginning to cut through the giddiness his time with Carmelita had given him, the male vulpine made his way around the tables, making a beeline for the bar towards the front of the club.

Upon reaching the pair, Fox brought up his hand, waving in greeting. "Hey," he called out to his friends. "Is everything okay?" His green eyes darted over to the Hero of Hyrule, who was holding a cup of coffee between his hands. "Link?"

Bringing the cup to his lips and quickly downing the contents of his already half-empty cup, the blond closed his eyes, enjoying the burning sensation and the caffeine boost it afforded him. "I'll be okay..." he said slowly, a jittery tremble going through his body as his left ear twitched; eyes darting to the right and glaring at something that wasn't there. "Just..." he shook his head. "Naryu damn it. You explain it, Mario." He turned on his stool back towards the bar and called to the woman behind it, "Another refill, please."

Watching for a moment as Lara refreshed his cup with more coffee, the vulpine winced as the Hylian attacked it with gusto. No cream, no sugar... good God, he didn't even wait for it to cool, just chugging the burning liquid that was so dark brown it was practically black. As the sylvan male attacked the caffeinated drink, the Papetoonian turned his gaze towards the Italian, who was using the bottle of Jose Cuervo: 1800 Coleccion to refill his shot glass. "Um... care to bring me up to speed?" he asked of the mustached man.

Rolling his eyes, Mario released an exasperated sigh. "Oh, it's-a simple, Foxy boy. Turns out my brightly colored pills..." he trailed off as he lifted his glass, tilting his wrist back and forth to make the amber contents swirl within. "Well, to be blunt? I changed de recipe behind them recently. Turns out, they're a bit stronger than what a Hylian can take and it left poor Link here trippin' so many balls you'd think'a he was some PokéMon League Champion."

The vulpine pilot cringed in sympathy for his blond friend. "Ow... that's gotta suck..." he murmured as he looked over to the pointy-eared male decked in black leathers, the man now lowering his empty coffee cup for Lara to refill yet again. "Sorry you had such trouble, Link."

"He's doing better now," Lara replied for the Hylian as she topped him off. "He's gone through two pots already but the coffee seems to be helping him. The caffeine boost is making him more alert and helping his body process all the crap that Mario hopped him up with." Taking a moment more to make certain the sylvan male was settled with his coffee, the brunette then turned her attention to Fox, "And from what I understand, had given you as well." The woman's gaze then hardened, practically boring into him. "You didn't happen to do anything to Carmelita that I should know about, right McCloud?"

Feeling the British woman's glare practically burrowing into his very soul, the vulpine male gulped nervously. "Er... nope! Not in the slightest! I certainly didn't break down crying like a little bitch over Krystal or nothing! Honest!" He began to chuckle quite nervously as he broke out into a cold sweat, unknowingly taking a step back from the bar on reflex, the woman's steely gaze starting to initiate his fight or flight response. "Tipped her nice and everything too, and not just because she comforted me!"

Raising an eyebrow at that response, the mustached Italian turned his gaze from his drink to the male fur. "...You know, dat was an oddly suspicious denial, Fox..."

Rolling her eyes, the woman behind the bar rolled her eyes. While that wasn't the most masculine sight she'd ever witnessed in her life, Lara couldn't help but feel sympathy along with the relief that Carmelita was okay. She'd need to make certain to talk to the vixen as soon as she can, but for now the ponytailed woman came around the bar. "Come on, Fox," she knelt down before him and gave the vulpine a hug. "Relax. Anything that did or didn't happen wasn't your fault." She tilted her head to the side, motioning to the short-statured male sitting on one of the stools. "It's Mario's."

"Hey now!" the Italian short-stacked cried out indignantly. "There's nothing wrong with my brightly colored pills!" Turning back to his drink, he murmured, "I just need to keep'a in mind de dosages I allow these two. At least it seems McCloud can handle it." He then took another drink of his tequila, just feeling annoyed. As someone who was often atop of everything, he took it as a slight whenever something he was responsible for went or was implied to have gone out of control.

Managing to relax a little as it appeared Miss Croft wasn't going to beat him up, Fox tentatively returned the hug... the man releasing a little churr as she hugged tighter for a moment. Finally though, Lara released him before standing up at her full height once more. Looking up at the woman, the vulpine asked, "So I'm not in trouble?"

The woman offered the shorter furry male a smirk. "Not for the moment, at least..." she told him softly as she reached down with her right hand, ruffling her fingers through the fox's short white head-fur that was his hair. "Now come on. You were in the back for a while. I'm sure you could use another drink besides the champagne, right? I think Mario's still got some more tequila he's willing to share." He looked over to the mustached man and queried, "Right?"

Lifting up the limited edition run of Jose Cuervo, the Italian shook the bronzed pewter decanter. Hearing a considerable sloshing within, the male brunette nodded his head. "Of course," he chirruped as he placed the bottle back down on the counter and pat the stool to his right, opposite to where the Hylian was sitting. "Take a seat, Fox. I want to hear all about your time with'a de new girl..." he smirked and teased, "Particularly de part where you certainly didn't, 'cry like a bitch' over Krystal as you pointed out."

Feeling a blush run over his cheeks as his friend smirked at him, Fox could only murmur, "Hardy-har-har. Yeah, laugh it up, Doctor Mario..." he shook his head in annoyance. Still, he knew Mario meant well. As soon as Lara moved out of his way to return behind the bar, the Papetoonian vulpine made his way to the offered seat and climbed up onto the stool. The fur's gaze turned to the tray, catching sight of his shot glass still there before his hand reached out and took hold. Hefting the small crystalline cup to the short human, the pilot asked, "Care to top me off, Doc?"

Raising an eyebrow at the use of his–admittedly, little known–title, the mustached paisano considered it for a moment before nodding his head. Taking hold of the bottle, he then tipped the decanter slightly, causing that amber Mexican tequila to go pouring in. "There you go," he said before tilting the bottle straight up once more and putting it back onto the bar counter. "Now spill and I do not mean the drink. How was she?"

Bringing his shot glass to his lips, Fox took a moment to down the contents, allowing the burn to settle in his throat for a moment before exhaling. "She..." he smacked his lips as the alcoholic burn lingered. "Carmelita is incredible. So kind... so caring..." he smiled again. "So very, very understanding..." the vulpine released a wistful sigh. "No matter what I said or how much of an idiot I was, she rolled with the punches. She was accepting about the kind of guy I was and had been through..."

"You know," the Italian decked in a Hawaiian shirt spoke up. "Not to try and break de mood or nothin' but dat might be because you had the gold coins to spend..." he turned on his stool so he was facing towards his furry friend. "And you did drop her some gold, right?"

Nodding his head slowly, the Papetoonian pilot admitted, "Well, yeah. But she was being sweet and up front before I dropped two-hundred gold coins on her. Then she got really affectionate and..." he blushed. "It got to be very emotional for me—eh?" he blinked his eyes as Lara brought him a glass of orange juice.

"Trust me," the woman said in all seriousness. "First the tequila shots, the champagne, and now more tequila? You need something to really keep you hydrated." She smirked and leaned in. "But go ahead, continue." She was curious as to how Carmelita performed.

Looking between the two who were completely focused on him–and the blond Hylian who was completely ignoring him as he took hold of the coffee pot and pouring himself another cup–the vulpine blushed under their combined scrutiny. "What is there to say? She was kind... genuinely kind. She did all kinds of sexy movements with her body, caressed me... but it was the gentle hugs, the sweet kisses, and her soft words that really did so much for me."

A very sweet smile crossed Lara's lips as Mario raised an eyebrow. "Dat's it?" he queried irritably. "Dat's what you focus on? Not de smokin' bot body or dat sexy accent? Just what she said to you? Sweet little romantic nothings?"

Smiling in an almost goofy fashion, the vulpine nodded his head and released a happy little sigh. "Yeah..." he finally responded. Just talking about the vixen, even if embarrassing to admit how he felt to others just filled him with a warm, happy feeling.

Now the other eyebrow came up on the Italian's face. Realization dawning on him, the Nintendo Icon cursed, "Dio cazzo dannazione!" he slammed his fist down on the table.

Needless to say, that made the vulpine jump in his seat. From all his years working at the Big N, there were certain truths one learned. One was that while overall a violent jackass behind the scenes, Mario could be a pretty laidback guy. He also learned that if the man started swearing in Italian, that was the surefire sign that the plumber was pissed. "Wuh-what? What did I do!?"

"You broke'a de cardinal rule!" the mustached videogame star shouted as he pointed an accusatory finger at the vulpine. "You don't fall in love with a stripper!"

Fox was taken aback by that accusation. Not so much by what was demanded of him but what was implied. "You... you think I'm in love?" he gasped in surprise, his voice lilted with a tone of awe and tinged slightly with fear. "...I... I love Carmelita?" he whispered to himself, as if trying to believe it. His eyes widened as he considered how she made him feel... emotions that he hadn't had for anyone else but Krystal up until now. Is he right? Do I love Carmelita? He thought in confusion... and in all honesty, a little giddiness.

A warm smile played across the British woman's features. "No offense, McCloud... but it's clear as day to anyone with half a brain." She released a soft chuckle. "I'm glad to see you have a thing for Carmelita." She just hoped it wouldn't take the girl away from the club so soon. She only just started working at the Game Over. It would be a shame to lose such a lovely lady because of love. That's how they lost their last permanent vixen on staff.

"I'm not," Mario huffed. As both British aristocrat and Papetoonian vulpine turned to him, the mustached member of Nintendo explained, "Listen Fox. You wanna take her home after tonight to get laid? Dat's good. But trust me when I say dat wanting to date her or make'a her your girlfriend is a really bad idea!"

The anthro fox huffed. "Why's that? You think Nintendo is going to punish me again? Been there, done that, got and sold the t-shirt. I'm not afraid of them throwing another hissy fit."

"Oh, I ain't afraid of the Big N on dis," the Italian corrected his vulpine paisano. Bringing his right hand up, he then thumbed over at Link. "I'm more afraid of his wife." At Fox's incomprehensive look, the man released a long sigh. "Look, Fox. I got a one-emo-a-year limit. I've been'a good and patient man, having to deal with you being de mopey bitch all dis time. If we let you bring home a girl from here and you keep her around, it's just gonna raise too many questions. Questions that will expose Link, cause his wife to get on his ass and dat means I gotta be de one there for him!" He leaned over and reached out for the vulpin's shoulders. Shaking the fur, he shouted, "I AM NOT GONNA BE LEFT HOLDIN' DAT BAG OF SHIT!"

"Dude!" the blond Hylian spoke up to interrupt the pair, twitching irritably as he did. "Could you please not talk like I'm not here?" he queried in a firm tone as he put his cup down. Slowly, the sylvan male turnedthe swivel of his mounted bar stool so he was facing towards the pair. Once he was, he then added, "But I will give Mario this, Fox. I really, and I mean really don't want my wife to know I was here if I can help it. So if you want to try and pursue anything with Carmelita... give it time. Come by on your own for a few weeks and get to know her some more before offering to take her out on a date. Can you do that for me?"

Although it was a bit of an annoyance, the vulpine released an exasperated sigh. "All right, all right... I get it. No trying to push for relationships because it's going to put the friend I respect in a jam."

Nodding his head firmly, the mustached brunette replied, "That's a good foxy boy!" He turned back to his drink, swirling the contents in his glass. "I knew I could count on you!"

Smirking at his friend's reaction, McCloud couldn't help but jab, "I was referring to Hyrule over there, Doc."

Before the plumber-turned-doctor could comment how he knew that, he was interrupted. "Hey, hey!" a rather nasally voice suddenly shouted, breaking through the atmosphere of the club akin to a railroad spike through an ice-skating rink. "The original Party Animal is here to grace you with his presence!" The male voice called as obnoxiously as possible.

Raising his head from his drink, Mario looked over towards the club's entrance... and cursed. "Fuck."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Muchas gracias, guapo. I'll see you later," Carmelita cooed as she finished blowing McCloud a kiss. Turning about, the Hispanic vulpine made her way up the stage's right set of steps, climbing onto the raised platform. Once there, she made her way straight for the curtain that separated the stage from the backroom. Pushing her way through–albeit carefully as to not unbalance all the money she was carrying–the vixen was all smiles. "Hola, chicas! I'm back!"

The woman blinked her brown eyes as she saw there were now more people in the back than before. A freckled elven woman in high-heeled brown leather boots with the largest rack she'd ever seen, a blonde lady with a lithe, athletic build with a shoulder tattoo of a phoenix with violet flowers wearing what looked like a fetishist's version of a Japanese kimono, and a woman in black and red leathers with striking crimson hair that she recognized as being the main character from the BloodRayne games.

They chose to ignore her for the moment, their attention currently focused on their own needs for the moment. However, further along to the back wall was a woman the female fox recognized from earlier; the violet-tressed succubus Lilith. The infernal beauty was grinning at the sight of her in return, those crimson eyes focused on the haul she carried. "Wow, Carm!" she chirruped in excitement. "You really went to town, didn't you?"

Needless to say, that statement made the other women look up... all eyes homing in on the sheer amount of cash the vixen was hefting up in her arms. "Um... hello?" the vulpine woman tried again. "I'm Carmelita. I'm the new girl here, I suppose. A... pleasure to meet you?" she gestured about with a wave of her head, making her hair bob with the motion. Even if she was trying to be polite, her tone sounded rather unsure.

"Hey."/"Hi."/"S'up?" The other girls greeted simultaneously. They weren't too enthusiastic, though it wasn't because they were disinterested in getting to know the new girl. It had more to do with just how distracted they were by the sheer volume of money she had.

Finally though, it was the busy sylvan girl who managed to put a voice to what everyone was thinking. "Okay, I gotta know! Just who the heck were you entertaining!? Crash Bandicoot?" The busty redhead asked in absolute shock and awe.

The woman dressed in robes that could have been from a geisha house snorted. "Come off it, Malon. You know better than that! Crash would never give that kind of scratch out. Hell, he hasn't been able to for years!" The blonde woman considered the likelihood of possibilities before calmly suggesting, "Maybe she got lucky and had one of those Television stars here?"

The busty elven exotic dancer scoffed at that concept. "Please! The last time we had any television stars come by the Game Over, Lilith here was being used to help capture a pedophile."

"...Point," Setsuka admitted after a moment. "It's why they tend to avoid the place nowadays." She drummed her fingers atop her vanity for a moment of thought before adding, "Still... it was a lot easier to make the kind of scratch the vixen is raking in when we had more than just our fellow videogame stars and regular folks looking for a good time as our clientele."

The vampire exotic dancer rolled her eyes. "Oh please," the pale-skinned redheaded woman snorted in annoyance. "We're better off without them. Remember when Uwe Boll kept coming through here? It's that asshole who sent my career spiraling down the toilet!"

Nodding her head in agreement, the blonde woman in oiran-styled garb relented, "All too true." She then watched as the vulpine woman made her way over to the dresser at Lilith's right before speaking up again. "So, tell me sweet-cheeks. How'd you manage to earn so much money? I barely saw Mario move from the bar and he's the only one I know that tips to THAT level."

Carefully dropping her load of golden coins onto her seat, the Latina vixen knelt beside it; reaching for her drawer marked with a dollar sign. As the furry woman pulled the wooden container out of the vanity dresser, she explained, "Actually It was thanks to Fox. He hired me for a couple of hours in the VIP rooms... and he tipped me nicely."

Looking down at the gold as the Hispanic fox was scooping handfuls of the coins into the open drawer, Lilith couldn't help but comment, "Very nicely if you ask me." She whistled as she saw the storage compartment filling rapidly. "Damn, girl. I think you managed to meet your quota and then some!"

Carm couldn't help but give the infernal dancer a very foxy smile. "Thank you. In all honesty, I'm just surprised as you are." However, the Latina sure as hell wasn't going to complain about it! Thanks to McCloud, she had a stable job again! Still, she realized there was still something she needed to know. "So, um..." the vulpine woman turned to look at the other two ladies in the room besides the one the woman dressed as a Japanese entertainer named, 'Malon'. "I'm sorry, but I don't recognize you, what was your name again?"

Pausing in her make-up application, the blond woman shook her head. "Well shame on you, Miss Fox. Both of us got our start on the Sony Playstation 2 alongside you..." she wagged a finger at the vixen. "And here I thought you were some sort of detective."

The fox fur with navy blue tresses blushed as the admonishment. "Actually..." she began softly, wondering how to approach the matter in a diplomatic fashion. "It's just you I don't know, ma'am. I recognize Rayne here... kind of hard not to recognize the woman who's career Boll turned into a train wreck."

To that bit of news, the redheaded vampire growled as the other women–with the exception of the vixen herself–began to laugh at that rather apt description. "I'll never forgive that bastard; turned my name into box office poison!" she shook her head in an agitated fashion. "Damn it, before he came into my life I was on top of the world! Two best-seller games! A fan-favorite side-scrolling downloadable game! Shoot, I was even in Playboy Magazine for crying out loud!" She grit her teeth, showing off her fangs. "And yet, because of that fucker Boll, all I'm ever remembered for is a trio of God-awful movies that were just money-laundering schemes that were based on abusing the loopholes of German tax laws!" She roared as she continued to rant.

Wincing as she realized she touched a nerve, Carmelita paused in shoveling the gold coins into her tips collection drawer. Gazing towards the agitated redhead, she apologized, "Sorry about, Miss Rayne." With the–technically–undead stripper's attention turned towards her, the fox with navy blue tresses continued. "I didn't mean to go opening old wounds there. It's just how I knew you right off the bat... no pun intended," she said in a very apologetic manner, hoping the vampire would know she was being genuine about it.

Shaking her head at the tantrum the woman sitting at the vanity next to her was pulling, the woman shook her head and placed down her powder-puff down into the make-up tray atop her own mirrored desk space. "I'm sure you meant no harm," she said, hoping to help diffuse the redhead's anger. "As for me..." she shrugged her shoulders. "Well, okay, fair enough," the blonde murmured before nodding her head to the vixen. "By the way, I'm Setsuka. I used to work in the fighting game industry where I crossed swords with the likes of Ivy and Maxi."

"...Oh, you're from..." Carmelita blushed through her fur as she finally remembered the woman dressed like a kinkier version of a Japanese courtesan. "Sorry, it's just..." she trailed off, trying to think of a polite way to tell the woman that she never really stood out in such a colorful cast.

Said fighter-turned-stripper didn't seem bothered. "I understand. I only got to be in a couple of the Soul Calibur games before they fired me and gave that whiny bitch Patroklos a second paycheck so he could replace me on the cheap." She still couldn't believe she didn't make it past the fourth installment of the series. If she were Ivy, she would probably be in some big name crossover fighter with Tekken or something by now. "So you're new girl, huh? Been on stage yet?" she offered, hoping to change the subject.

To that inquiry, the Hispanic dancer shook her head. "No, actually," she replied as she went back to dropping handfuls of coins into her open collection drawer. "I kept getting pulled into the VIP rooms right away every time I stepped out on the main floor."

Both Rayne and Setsuka raised an eyebrow at that. Usually girls had to at least dance on stage before getting pulled into the back. Advertise themselves to make one of the customers desire them enough to drop cold hard cash. All the girls had to go through it!

Unless they were Lilith... but that had more to do with everyone thinking she was Morrigan more than anything else.

"Well, I'm not too surprised," the blonde dancer said in all seriousness. She turned about on her seat once more so she was facing her dresser. Now looking at Carmelita's reflection in her mirror, the human woman explained, "The new girls tend to be popular. Everyone wants a first crack at 'em. So tell me, besides Fox who else has pulled you to dance for them in the back?"

"Cloud Strife," the Latina anthro replied as she finished depositing her coins into the drawer. Dulce Jesús! Two-hundred and fifty coins on the dot and my drawer is full! she thought with excitement as she tried to push it closed. The action made the wooden frame of the vanity creak as it tried to resist the weight of all the money.

Clucking her tongue, the blonde woman who had an excellent parasol show for the club replied, "Ah. Figures. Cloud always has a soft spot for newbies. He once told me it goes back to his days first working on Final Fantasy VII for Squaresoft. He had to figure it out all himself. The man got no direction of help from the producers or director. He was merely given a script the same day for the scene's shooting and just had to roll with it." She smirked as a thought occurred to her. "Still, he is very nice with how he tries to get girls settled with this kind of work. Quite gentlemanly."

It was then the succubus stripper threw her two coins into the ring. "Nah," she called out in opposition. "I bet it was because of these!" Lilith proclaimed right before groped Carmelita from behind. Her chin resting on the vulpine's right shoulder , she explained, "The whote new girl status plus decent rack equals maximum profits!"

"H-hey! Quit that!" Carmelita protested, causing the violet-tressed sex demoness to let release her. Whirling about the face the infernal dancer, she crossed her arms over her breasts protectively and demanded to know, "What was that for!?"

The completely unrepentant crimson-winged woman merely shrugged. "Just emphasis," Lilith replied before she winked at her. "Besides, if you can't handle a little skinship then you, my dear Carm, need a word of warning." Smiling deviously, she took a step closer. "There are a few girls that work here who love doing that to everyone."

The vampire snorted at her fellow lady of the night's antics. "And you're one of them," Rayne brought up in a half-teasing, half-serious manner, causing Lilith to stick her tongue out at her in response.

Hands on her hips, the violet-tressed woman unashamedly replied, "Guilty as charged!" She was a sex demon, after all. Why wouldn't she take the time to grope a couple of the girls? "But beyond that, just don't be surprised if you get felt up a few times by the clientele."

Staring at the succubus curiously, the Hispanic vulpine queried, "What? Who are you talking about?" She wanted to know if she needed to avoid someone.

"Just a general warning," Lilith merely waved off her worries. "If you want specifics... well, I haven't seen them in ages, but do watch out for Midori and Setsuna. They're quite the deviants at times."

Carmelita blinked her eyes once, twice, thrice. "Who?" She queried of the succubus further. "There are way too many people in the industry with those names to even think of taking a stab at guessing."

"They were Playstation One stars back in the day... although I use the term, 'stars' loosely in their case," the bat-winged woman admitted. "They were two characters from this cult classic fighting game, "Evil Zone"," the succubus explained. "They got married afterwards and really haven't done much else besides come here whenever they're stateside." The crimson-winged cutie smirked. "They're ALWAYS up for afterhours fun too, if you catch my drift..."

The vixen blushed a little, getting a feeling she knew all too well what the succubus was referring to when she said, 'afterhours fun'. "Well, be that as it may..." she looked about the room once more. "We've got Setsuka," she motioned to the blonde. "Rayne," she motioned to the redhead. Her gaze was drawn to the infernal beauty once more. "There's you, Lilith. And..." she finally settled on the freckled ginger with pointy-ears. "I'm going to go out on a limb but... are you from the Legend of Zelda series?"

To that inquiry, Malon nodded her head, feeling a bit pleased with the woman's guess. "Why yes I am," she replied as she sat up in her chair. "Honestly, I'm a bit surprised that you managed to recognize me. I was in less than a handful of games," she replied in all honestly. "My main claim to fame, of course, being Ocarina of Time while also having a couple of appearances in a few of the handheld entries of the series."

"Ah," the vulpine woman chirruped. So it was her. "Well, to be honest, it was your name that got mentioned earlier that got my attention. The only thing that came to mind was a horse trainer from the Nintendo 64... although you really grew up, considering what I knew of the girl in that game."

Malon pouted but didn't argue. It was true, she had grown up considerably. Hefting her breasts up in her arms, the Hylian craned her head down, glaring at them. "You two sure as heck didn't want to grow when we were making those games, did you?" She muttered before releasing them, causing her impressive mammaries to sway for a bit. "Believe me, Carm. I can see what you mean."

"Still," the infernal exotic dancer chirruped. "That was kind of crazy what happened earlier." Lilith giggled at the thought, causing the redheaded Hylian to give her a dirty look. Noticing it, the woman smiled wider. "Oh, don't look at me like that," the succubus said with a teasing tone. "If I had a customer pull that, you'd be laughing your tits off."

The pointy-eared elven woman thought about it, considering what it would be like if their situations were reversed. Finally, she nodded in acceptance. "Point," she murmured as she realized she would be laughing at the succubus' expense. "Although if my tits fell off, there would be holes in the ground," she said, indulging in a little self-depreciating humor.

The back-and-forth between the two made the vixen blink her eyes in surprise. "Was there some sort of problem earlier?" she inquired. As the Hylian raised an eyebrow, the Hispanic vulpine explained, "Forgive me if that seems like prying. I just want to make sure my co-workers are all right."

"Oh don't worry about me, I'm fine... just got blue beaned is all..." the freckled sylvan beauty replied with a sad little sigh. "I was just coming off stage when Mario came in with Link and Fox. Seemed all three of them were here to celebrate the pilot's upcoming return to games and Mario, bless his stout little heart, managed to con Link into accepting a lap dance from me!"

Now Carmelita blinked her eyes. "Really? So you were in the back too?"

Nodding her head, Malon explained, "Yep. I took him to room five, 'The Blue Room'. The cool color scheme is supposed to help customers relax... and oh, how I wanted Link to just relax. I wanted to show him how special he was to me..." she frowned as she crossed her arms over her impressive chest. "And then it turns out Mario got him as high as a kite! Link went all trippy, following a hallucination of Navi around the club! He was shouting hysterically like he does in the games all the while too."

The foxy woman tried to control herself, really she did. But even she had to bring her hands up to her muzzle to hold it shut; otherwise she was going to laugh aloud. The mental image that the redheaded elven dancer had painted was rather humorous.

Rolling her eyes at the furry woman's reaction, freckled sylvan beauty murmured, "Yeah, it was a little funny... but at the time I was petrified. I had no clue what happened. Turned out, Doctor Mario switched up the recipe for his pills recently. And Link had a terrible reaction to 'em..." she shook her head. "He's doing better now, thank Naryu, but it's obvious he's no longer in a partying mood. Still, it was kind enough for him to tip me..." She smiled as she thought of the three hundred gold Ruppees that were filling her vanity drawer.

"Oh, give it an hour," Rayne spoke up from where she sat at her vanity dresser. "I'm sure once he's had a chance to settle down, you can try seducing him again. Get up on stage and dance for Link as if he were the only one in the club. That will get his blood pumping again..." she smirked deviously. "Hell, if Mario is the one setting these little rendezvous up, he might even pay for you to give Link a table dance!"

"As fun as that sounds," Setsuka interrupted. "I think Sam and Chell have been out there long enough. And since the new girl hasn't been on stage yet, how about we get her ready so we can send her up there for the first time, huh?"

Carmelita gulped at the shared nods and devious grins she was receiving from the others. "...Just keep the groping to a minimum," she blurted out, resigned that this was going to happen no matter how she felt.

Coming up behind the vulpine beauty, Lilith released a little chuckle as she brought her hands down on the anthro fox's shoulders. "No promises," she chirruped as she sat the furry woman down into the chair before her vanity. "But know we will be helping you cool down and applying more make-up and perfurm..." she then began to knead her fingers into the Hispanic spitfire's shoulders. "Trust me. When we finish, you'll be ready in no time at all!"

Trembling a little under the other woman's surprisingly sensual touch, the Latina game star turned exotic dancer couldn't help but ask, "Do you do stuff like this all the time?"

"All the time," Rayne insisted as she stood up from her seat, pulling her own top's leather straps into place once more time to make sure they were settled to give her some decency. "When someone needs to get ready fast, we all pitch in back here. It's really no big deal. We've all been on the receiving end of this at one point or another."

Hearing that explanation, Carmelita was able to relax a little. "Well, that's—"

"Get her!" Lilith commanded, causing the vixen to yelp as she was pounced upon by all four of the strippers.

The next thing the furry woman knew she was being wiped down by several towels to get the sweat off of her, before she was spun onto a chair and makeup and perfumes were being applied. She tensed up in her seat, going stiff as she swore she felt someone touch her butt, which was probably the reaction that the person was going for as it allowed for easier access to some parts of her body with towels, powders and perfumes. "What's with the powder?"

"Talcum powder," the violet-tressed infernal dancer explained as the puffs of power were wiped down against here fur so that it couldn't be seen. "Keeps you from getting a rash and chafing badly. Trust me, I may be a demon but even I'll tell you this stuff is a god-send."

"Lilith isn't kidding!" the farm girl-turned-stripper agreed. "Trust me, Carm! It's no fun to be up there when parts of your body start chafing from some sweat that was missed." Malon warned, getting nods from the rest of the girls. The poor Hylian had suffered many times from her boobs and thighs chafing from too much sweat. It wasn't like those poles on stage were wiped down in between performances either; everyone used and perspired on them!

Now it was Setsuka's turn to impart some advice. "Plus, it will help you keep your grip on the poles," the blond woman dressed in Japanese-styled costume chirruped. "If you want to be able to keep on spinning, you'll want to be dry and fight off friction. Not all of us are lucky as to have Aperture Science goodies like Chell does."

Nodding her head, the redheaded vampire had to agree, "I know what you mean. If I wasn't certain those longfall boots of hers were specifically designed for her feet alone, I'd ask to borrow them." She smirked as she elicited a little squeak from the vixen as her hand idly stroked over the fur's butt with a towel a little more intimately than necessary. "Oh, relax, Carm. We just need to get your outfit settled."

Gulping nervously, the vulpine woman with navy blue tresses squeaked out, "Muh-maybe. Just not used to being the center of this kind of attention." She closed her eyes as the Hylian began using a soft cushion to begin patting her face down, leaving a little puff of powder as she did.

"Maybe, sugar," Malon replied as she continued to help dry off the other woman's facial fur. "But you'll also be on this end too at some point. Quite a bit, actually. Time crunches happen more often than you'd think due to VIP Room visits. We leave the customer only to find we're supposed to be on stage in less than a minute if not five minutes late."

That explanation made the Latina vulpine blink her eyes in surprise. "Really?" She hadn't thought of it that way. She probably had leeway with this being her first night but it was likely going to become more difficult to sneak in customers if there was a set rotation.

Nodding her head in agreement, Lilith couldn't help but say, "You're damn right it happens." She then hefted up one of Carmelita's breasts so the fur under them could be wiped and dried off completely. "Happened to me just last week, actually. I felt really bad for the guy. He wanted to talk for a bit and get to know me better after our turn in the VIP room but I had to run to the stage. It was too bad; he left right afterwards too." He was so cute, Lilith had to fight the urge to let her demonic side take over and rape him to death in the back... she liked this job, after all and it was likely that even with her long-standing with her club, breaking the rules to such a degree would get her ass tossed to the curb.

After a few more minutes of wiping, powdering, applying make-up–which included one of Lilith's special lipsticks–and several gropes from the girls, they finally declared Carmelita ready.

All of them sweat-dropped as the vulpine woman stood up... only to yelp as she put pressure on her leg. "Don't tell me it's a leg cramp." Setsuka muttered, knowing how much those sucked.

Giving her let an experimental kick and swivel of her foot on the ankle joint, the vixen with a beautiful face framed in navy blue tresses replied, "No, no. It's just..." she blushed a little. "I think my foot fell asleep."

There was a bit of laughter amongst the group. "Well don't worry... it happens," Malon chirruped as she stood beside Carm, the taller elven woman helping the furry lady steady herself. "We're just glad to have another friendly face working here with us. It may seem odd and a little off-putting at first, considering all the different walks of life we originate from... but we do try to look out for each other like we're family."

Rayne nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah. It's just some of us tend to be a tad bitchier than they should." So saying she thumbed over at the violet-tressed succubus for emphasis.

Sticking her tongue out cutely, all Lilith said in her defense was, "You're all just mega-jelly that I get two paychecks."

Well used to the infernal beauty's childish outbursts, Setsuka merely shrugged. "At least I never had to wash dishes."

Lilith twitched. Truly, she had no defense against that. "Anyway," she huffed irritably. She leveled an annoyed stare at the blonde exotic parasol dancer before turning her attention back to the Hispanic beauty. "Well, Miss Fox... I believe you're as ready as you're ever going to be. Break a leg, cutie!"

As Malon released her, the vixen stretched a bit, making sure that her muscles were back to full working condition. Smiling as she felt limber again, the Latina spitfire nodded her head. "Thank you..." the furry woman looked about the room. "I thank all of you. I promise, I'll do my best to make you all proud!" She winked and gave them a thumbs-up. "Wish me luck!"

As the woman turned to go, the Hylian realized something. "Oh, wait!" Malon shouted nefore reaching out to grab the vulpine woman's arm. "Before you go, a word of warning. Watch out going on stage. The top step is a bit uneven compared to the others."

"Oh, right." Rayne nodded her head. "The final step to the stage is half the distance up. If you're not mindful about it, you'll end up falling flat on your face... a couple of the ladies here have done that."

Bringing her closed hand up to her mouth, the succubus started mock-choking into it. "Cough, cough—Sam—cough, cough!"

Ignoring the little dig at the Australian dancer who wasn't present, Carmelita merely replied, "I know. That's why I've been going straight through the curtains to avoid it. I discovered it earlier when Miss Croft was giving me an interview and she had me give her a demonstration on stage." She smiled though, pleased that they were looking out for her. "To be honest, I'm surprised you girls just don't go straight out there through the curtain yourselves."

"We can but it's considered bad form," Lilith replied. "Too much of a chance of opening the red tarp wider than intended and showing off what is supposed to be our private area..." she smirked deviously. "And I don't mean the space between our legs. So we usually just used the door down there," she motioned to the end of the room furthest off to the front left where Duke had ducked his head through earlier. "Takes you out to the left side of the stage's back area."

Blinking her eyes, the vixen nodded her head. "Ah, I see... well, I'll head out that way then. I don't want to make any waves."

As the Hylian released the gentle grip she had on the vulpine girl's arm, Malon smiled and wished her, "Good luck then!"

"Thanks!" Carmelita chirruped before heading towards the door that served as an exit. She was going to give this club the show of a lifetime if she had anything to say about it. And hopefully, Fox will still be there to enjoy it, she thought a little giddily.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Pulling into the parking lot of the Game Over club, a gold-painted 2005 Hummer H2 SUT made its way down the rows of parking spaces, the driver looking for an open spot that was close to the entrance. As there were none to be had, the vehicle kept on moving before parking up right in front of the club; a section that was reserved as the emergency lane for fire-trucks, police cars, ambulances, or any other emergency service vehicle. The passengers felt they had every right to it. After all, this was an emergency... a party emergency!

As the engine shut off, finally leaving the open air in blessed silence, it took a few moments more for the spinning rims to stop. As they did–revealing them to be a logo of a certain videogame mascot–the doors swung open, with no care as to if there were anyone in the way. It was then that two men coming out of the passenger side, and one short anthropomorphic fur from the driver's seat; the smaller male needing to jump down slightly to land on the ground due to the Hummer being up on a higher frame than most vehicles. Pausing to look over the front of the club, all three were grinning wide. It was a time to pick up some hotties.

With that in mind, they made their way over to the wooden barrier in the front that served as the entryway. Pushing the doors to the entrance open, the trio of men started waltzing into the Game Over club like they owned the place. "Hey, hey!" a spiky blue fur shouted as he walked ahead of the two taller humans of his crew. "The original Party Animal is here to grace you with his presence!" He called out in voice that could have been normal was pitched to slightly obnoxious levels as it shouted out to be heard amongst the crowd gathered.

Raising his head from his drink, Mario looked over to the entrance... and cursed. "Fuck," he growled irritably. He looked between his two friends and murmured, "Boys, keep your heads down..."

To that whisper, Fox raised his head... and cringed before he joined Mario in drinking his tequila so he wouldn't hopefully gain the attention of just who walked in. Link on the other hand, who still wasn't feeling too well while coming down from those pills Doctor Mario had slipped him merely settled for keeping his back turned to them and his attention on sipping his coffee, which had most thankfully been refilled by Lara.

Raising an eyebrow, the red-eyed man with devil horn piercings working the front door took in the sight of the short-statured icon of Sega. The blue hedgehog was decked out in a black sleeveless vest over an elbow-length black t-shirt, a pair of gold chain necklaces hanging down to his bellybutton, hot neon-pink pants, a pair of leopard-print Converse sneakers, and finally to finish off the look the fur wore a vintage black leather motorcycle cap with chain between the body and billfold. "That's a new look for you..." the bouncer commented in a guarded fashion as he tried to make heads and tails of the look. Finally, he realized he just didn't care enough to be polite. "Trying to look the part of an ass, Sonic?"

The rather tall–for an anthro blue-quilled hedgehog–male that stood at five foot, ten inches, scoffed and adjusted his sleeveless, open chested leather vest, the motions making the two length gold chains to jingle and jangle against one another. "Just felt like wearing this is all. It's not like I give a shit about what others think about me!"

The bouncer rolled his eyes as the Sega Icon flushed pompously. "Yeah, yeah, just keep yourself in check, okay Mister Nice Hat?" The hedgehog had a rather nasty history of causing trouble at the Game Over. The little speedy bastard had a way of skirting the edge of getting himself thrown out on his ass without actually getting to the point where they could chuck him out by his blue–although in this case, girly pink–britches.

That comment managed to make the spiky blue douchebag sputter in shock. "Wuh-what's wrong with my hat!?" Sonic squawked in shock. He happened to like the hat. "I'll have you know this is a collector's item!" Still, even with the small outburst, he could hold himself back from truly blowing up at this fool. Now, if someone commented on my pink skinny jeans, I'd have to hurt someone, he thought irritably. Skinny jeans were way past cool!

The bouncer shook his head, not desiring to talk to the speed freak further if he could help it. With that in mind, he looked at the two big guys behind Sonic. Both stood at a little over six feet tall, one had silver hair and a bright light glowing from behind the left lens of his sunglasses as if he were the Terminator, while the other one had military-short hair and a fairly average face. "Jack, Shepard..." Volt greeted the two as he recognized them. Although he had to wonder why the hell they would be hanging out with Sonic...

The man with silver-tresses brought his right hand up to the side of his head and tilted his black sunglasses down, revealing a pale blue eye and in place of his left, a triple-light cybernetic implant that was akin to an eye-patch. "That's, 'Raiden' to you Krueger! Not Jack," the Liberian cyborg snorted before flipping his sunglasses back into place. He then took a moment to adjust the long, silver chain over his bare torso of black polymers and gold and silver metal exo-skeletal plate components. He had long-since given up on shirts, considering that he didn't have any skin below his nose anymore. At least it beats all that nude cartwheeling I had to do.

Thus, the ninety-five percent artificial man could get away with walking into stores that tried to enforce the, 'no shirt, no shoes, no service' laws. They should have been glad he was at least considerate enough to wear a an open long-sleeved black shirt to cover his arms and matching black parachute pants with rather unique crimson footwear.

"So you say, Cyborg MC Hammer with spiked shower slippers..." Volt grumbled. "Was just tryin' to be polite is all." Oh yes, it was beginning to make sense why the stooge of a corrupt game studio was hanging out with Sonic now. Douchebags of feather flocked together.

Tilting his head, the silver-tressed man who was a favored poster boy of modern-day Konami offered, "I could wear high heels if you want me to." After all, such WAS the basic peripheral for his Standard Body. He just happened to be in the mood for his black-spiked Chinese slippers so he clipped on the custom feet that could fit into them.

"Thanks, but no thanks," the blond bouncer replied in all honesty as he was reminded of why he never thought much of the friggin' asshole. And here he'd thought he had a beef because the guy would steal the starring role from Snake in the Metal Gear Solid games whenever he could. Still, as horribly dressed as the Liberian male was, when it came to Shepard...

...

Honestly, if it turned out the man had forgotten to wash his laundry and this was all that he had left that was clean, the horn-headed blond could forgive him for that. Really, the professional bouncer hoped that was indeed the situation. The brunette was wearing... madras pants. They were seriously ugly; looked like someone had started making a patch-work quilt but decided it was too much effort so they turned what was left into pants instead. That wasn't even the worst of it, as the protagonist of Mass Effect was also wearing a stained brown shirt and a large, dark hooded coat with a fur liner on it and white Buscemi sneakers so brand new the sales tags–and anti-theft devices–were still on them.

From his appearance alone, Volt wouldn't be surprised if Shepard drank Mountain Dew, ate Cheetos, and wiped his hands on someone's pet cat if this was his standard attire.

The blond bouncer with multiple facial piercings hoped to God it wasn't the case. As the old saying goes, 'don't meet your heroes', he thought irritably before shaking his head. Still, as much as he wanted to turn them away as they were Krueger had to be professional about this. So straightening himself up behind the podium, the facial-pierced bouncer crossed his arms over his burly muscles chest and told them, "You know the rules, gentlemen. Twenty-five dollar entry fee and one mandatory drink purchase per person."

Sonic sneered at the inquiry. "Seventy-five bucks for all of us?" He asked with agitation clear in his tone. "That's a bit pricey for an on demand fee," he replied as he took a step closer. Looking up at the bouncer, he smirked. "Tell you what, Volt... you can put it on my tab. Lara knows I'm good for it!"

Turning about slightly to look over his right shoulder, the bouncer saw the British shaking her head, the club's co-owner obviously having caught what the hedgehog said. Nodding his head in response to her, the blond male turned back to the trip, glaring at them with his red eyes. "Sorry pal, your credit isn't good here. Cash or go home." And he was hoping they chose the latter.

Placing his hands on his hips, the blue-quilled anthro made a scene of huffing irritably. "Fine! Have it your way." He turned to the silver-haired member of the trio and told him, "Raiden! Make with the dinero. You know the Hedgehog Supreme only saves his rings for the bimbos and booze." He raised his right hand and began snapping. "And I mean now! Don't want these balls getting any bluer than they already are!"

Shrugging his shoulders at the rather blasé manner, the frontrunner of Konami replied, "Meh, whatever..." he reached into the right pocket of his parachute pants. "It's not like I'm hurting for any cash. We're making a killing forcing players to pay for protection in Phantom Pain so their bases aren't ransacked by computer generated opponents while they're away having a real life." The cyborg grinned deviously; he wasn't even in the game and he was still making money hand over fist. And with David having quit in response to the company's dismissal of Kojima, he was going to be seeing that much more.

Tapping his foot rather impatiently, the blue hedgehog chirruped in that familiar annoying tone, "I'm wa~aaaaiti~iiiiing..."

Retrieving his wallet, the man whose body was ninety-five percent prosthetic, flipped the trifold leather container open and began flipping the monetary notes between his fingers. Finally, he retrieved a fifty, twenty, and five dollar bills before handing them over to the horned man with numerous facial piercings. "There you go, my good man. Seventy-five on the dot. Now goon, take it. We've got ladies to lay claim to!"

Cringing as it seemed the Yakuza gofer had no money troubles and was more than willing to frivolously part with it, Volt took the cash from the mechanical hand comprised of white and beige polymers and metals, being careful not to cut himself on the silver-tressed man's lengthy, sharpened–and admittedly, rather feminine–fingernails. "Fine," he finally growled out. As he began to put the money into the cash deposit box, he told the trio, "Cause no trouble."

Sonic let off an almost, mocking laugh. "Oh don't be silly. We're not here to cause trouble... we just are!" he winked at the blond with devil horn piercings before he and his posse made their way around the podium. The hedgehog's green eyes gazed about the room, ignoring the patrons for the most part to let his eyes settle upon the stage. The blue fur smiled wide as he caught sight of the dark and pale-skinned beauties that were currently up on the stage. "Raiden, you and I are going to take a sit by the table near the back-stage door, to see who comes down first." He then pointed at the man at in the old, fur-lined coat. "Shepard, get us some drinks..." reaching into the right pocket of his pink skinny-jeans, the hedgehog retrieved a handful of gold rings. "This should be enough to get us some beers."

Taking the cash, the man with a shaved head nodded in affirmation. "Okay, you want bottled, mugs, or in glasses with emergency induction ports?" he queried as he counted the rings. Twenty rings could get them all bottles... and him a bit more. Maybe if he just drank at the counter before returning?

Rolling his eyes, the hedgehog sighed. "For the love of..." he shook his head. "Shepard, they're called straws! Straws!" He snorted. "And for the record, no. Just get us some bottles, that's why I gave you a good deal of rings!"

"Right, right," the former star of a major videogame franchise that ended up screwing its fans over in the end replied as he nodded his head. "Sorry, Sonic," the human apologized to the furry individual whom he had been basically leeching off of for financial assistance the past year. "Just so used to hearing Tali call 'em that... it kind of stuck with me."

"Whatever," the blue-quilled male replied as he made his way over to the corner table and pulled back one of the seats before sitting down into it. "Just get us some fucking drinks. Raiden and I will run interference," he told the human as the cyborg came to sit down as well; the mechanical man taking the seat closer to the door while the hedgehog was seated closer to the stage to keep both ends covered. Seeing the human standing there, the mascot of Sega narrowed his eyes. "Now, fucktard!"

"Right, right!" Shepard yelped before making his way over to the bar–he would have sworn he felt Sonic's eyes glaring daggers into his back. Taking the seat on the stool to the left of some guy dressed in black leather, the human slapped his hand on the counter. "Heya! I'd like to get—OH! Hey, Lara!" he chirruped as he realized who the woman behind the bar as. "Didn't realize you were bar-tending tonight..." he grinned in a silly fashion. "How've you been, beautiful?" He straightened himself up in his seat, practically puffing up like a peacock–a comparison made all the more prevalent due to the raised wide-brim furred collar of his coat. "You're usually working in the office when I visit. What's the occasion?"

Raising an eyebrow at the man's blatant attempt to try and charm, Lara kept her reply and demeanor rather neutral–despite her desire to crinkle her nose at the B.O. wafting off the man who likely hadn't seen a shower in weeks. "Sometimes I like to keep an eye on the girls." Particularly the new ones, she mentally added. Her stare meeting the blood-shot gaze of the rather rancid-smelling individual before her, she did explain, "Make sure they aren't doing anything or hanging with people that would endanger their safety." The tone of voice and message were very meaningful there, as she was trying to convey to the man that he and his friends better not cause trouble.

Of course, such went right over the videogame star's head. "Well they're big girls, they can handle themselves," he said nonchalantly. "Anyway, I'm going to need three beers, preferably bottled." He then looked over his shoulder to check back in on his pals. Seeing their attention now drawn to the pair of ladies on stage, he smirked and turned back to the Tomb Raider. He leaned in a bit before whispering to her, "Preferably the cheapest you got. If you would let me buy a fourth bottle so I can have it here before going back to the table, it would really be appreciated." As he said that, he was dropping the twenty rings on the table top.

Raising an eyebrow at what amounted to twenty dollars and the desperation in the man's eyes, Lara let out a sight. "We have tall boy bottles of Pabst Blue Ribbon for a buck seventy-five." She involuntarily shuddered. Being of more sophisticated pallet, to her Pabst tasted like nothing but urine that was a thickened and heavier in flavor. Still, it was for guys like Shepard that the club kept the stuff on hand; people who didn't care and just wanted to get blind, stinking drunk for cheap. "What you have here will cover quite a few bottles."

The man blinked for a moment, looking down at the rings. It was obvious he was trying to do the mental math and failing spectacularly. "So... two rings a drink... but there's change... so it would be more than just ten drinks... is that enough for... two six packs?" he murmured, to himself, trying to figure out how many quarters added up.

Rolling her eyes, the British woman answered for him. "Eleven bottles with seventy-five cents left-over. But you know what, Mark?" she spoke up, using his first name to make sure she had his attention. "I'll toss in the twelfth bottle for free if you promise not to spill any on the floor." Plus, if she kept him drinking at the bar, he wouldn't be in any state of mind to bother her girls. From experience, she knew the spiky blue bastard was going to cause enough problems as it was. The little prick always did.

His blue eyes going wide for a moment, the man nodded his head firmly. "Sure! I'd be glad to!" The man chirruped excitedly as he practically hopped up and down on his stool, licking his lips. Getting a few minutes away from his friends while getting buzzed sounded like his kind of evening. "Thanks again, Miss Croft!"

Turning about, the woman bent down and pulled open the door of the mini-fridge along the back wall and beneath the shelves of high quality liquor. Once open, Lara then retrieved three separate four-pack cardboard containers from the fridge. "Here," she stated firmly as she turned about, using her foot to close the door while she placed them down on the bar counter before the guy. "Drink up, don't spill, and enjoy." Really, if putting up with him being a bit smelly and maybe a bit flirty was all she had to do to keep the situation with the blue bastard a bit calmer, then she was more than willing to do it. Honestly, she wouldn't be surprised at all if Shepard wasn't really that bad a guy, but Sonic just egged him on and brought out the worst in him. Although the lack of hygiene is something I need to talk to him about, the British aristocrat-turned-club co-owner thought irritably.

It was that moment the door which served as an entrance to the backroom opened; Carmelita stepping out through the frame as it did. Almost immediately, the vixen's eyes were drawn to the stage. Ah, Good. I can see Sam's routine is slowing down. I'll take over for her and—"GAH!" She gasped out as her line of thought was broken by something firmly clasping onto her arm. She gave it a tug on reflex, snarling in her native tongue, "Las manos fuera de la mercancía, tirón!"

A chuckle resounded within the range of her triangular ears' hearing, before a haughty male voice chimed, "Ooooh... a Hispanic... and you're a feisty one to boot.

Her gaze was now turned to the source of what held her; some silver-haired man dressed like a cross between MC Hammer and the biggest douchebag she'd ever seen. But from there, she realized that it was no wonder it felt like a vice was clamped down around her bicep! This guy was some sort off cyborg! Realizing she wasn't going to be able to fight her way free, she told him point-blank, "It's against club policy to touch the girls on the main floor."

Considering her instance for him to release her arm, the man nodded at the vulpine stripper. "True... but I just wanted to get your attention. With your eyes on the stage, I was certain you would miss me." He then smiled wide, showing off his pearly white teeth—the bottom artificial set being made from literal pearls at their core

Although she glared at the man, Carmelita couldn't argue with that logic. She probably would have missed him. "Very well," she finally relented. "What do you want?"

"Just a table dance, nothing much." The man used his free hand to jerk his thumb over his shoulder behind him. "Besides, it's not so much for me. You would be entertaining the main man, Sonic."

The woman's eyes widened at the sight of the smirking hedgehog anthro. "Oh dondad mío..." she whispered in surprise. The Latina vixen couldn't believe her luck. Sonic? Here? Sure, his games lately weren't all that good but they still sold like hotcakes. Other than Mario himself, there wasn't anyone more famous–or infamous–in the videogame business than the blue blur.

Grinning wider, the cyan-quilled male tipped his hat to his fellow furry. "You got that right, sexy. Sonic's the name and babes are my game! Because I know how to play 'em better than anyone else. I alone can make 'em work it..." he waggled his eyebrows at her in a suggestive manner that he felt was charming... but certainly had rather creepy undertones.

And just like that, with the mix of bravado and boasting, the vixen's excitement died almost as soon as it began; Lilith's earlier warning coming back to her. The implications came crashing down on the vulpine woman like a ton of bricks. "Someone like Cloud Strife is definitely one of the better customers but there are others who come here, real douchebags–like that Sonic jerk–who make you work you tail off for a couple of bucks," the blue-haired furry woman could hear the succubus's voice chiming out in the back of her head.

The vixen could feel the fur beginning to rise on the back of her neck; Carmelita's tail even puffing up a little in response to the dread rising in her body. "Actually..." she spoke slowly as she motioned to the stage, choosing her words carefully. "Could I take a rain-check on that? Sam is almost done and it's my turn to get on stage." At least that way, she had a chance to getting more customers... maybe even Fox would show up to watch. Not that she needed him to give her more money as he'd been more than generous with her already. However, his presence would help even out the–if the succubus' warning was true–cheap-ass hedgehog.

It was the cyborg who was the first to respond. "I suppose we could ask your Australian friend on stage to dance for us once she comes down, but how fair would that be?" Raiden asked with an almost haughty tone, smirking as he saw realization dawn on her. "Really, it's not so hard to dance for a few minutes, is it? I mean, we're paying customers and you're the one that's supposed to be providing a service. Shouldn't we get our money's worth?"

Now getting a seriously creeped-out vibe from the mostly artificial being, the vulpine tried to politely excuse herself. "Don't worry, Sir. You can watch as I dance on the stage with—HEY!" she shouted as the man forcibly pulled her down into one of the seats. The furry woman tried to sit up, only to have the silver-tressed Liberian stand up and move his hand to firmly press down on her shoulder.

Fox, who'd been watching the interaction as soon as he heard Carmelita's voice was snarling as he saw the man do that. His lips curled back into a sneer, his sharp teeth were firmly on display in a show of aggression; his tail whipping back and forth wildly in agitation. "Why those miserable sons of bitches!" The anthropomorphic fox snapped irritably. The Papetoonian pilot moved to get off his stool only to feel a hand gently pat his left forearm. Turning his head, the furry individual saw that it was the Italian's right, stroking him in an effort to reassure him. An eyebrow raised, the vulpine curiously asked, "Mario?"

"Just give it a bit," the mustached man told his buddy in a calm manner. "If they keep'a dat shit up, they're going to get thrown out. Even then, dis is going to get broken up soon enough. De bouncers here aren't complete idiots, you know." He took a sip from his drink before placing the glass down with his left hand. Now freed, his left arm motioned over to Volt who was standing by the door, the blond man's arms crossed over his muscular chest and obviously becoming irritated with that pair's antics.

The pilot growled at hearing that; annoyed that the mustached human would be so laid back about them treating Miss Fox that way! The vulpine wanted to go over there and...

"Calm down," Mario said firmly he picked his drink back up. "I've seen de bouncers let customers get away with a lot worse. If she calls for help–and she probably will–they'll be all over them like meat-sauce on mama's pasta!"

"...What?" Fox gave his pal a dirty look. At least the Italian had the decency to shrug his shoulders in embarrassment, acknowledging that it was a bad one-liner; a reminder of that really silly television show the man and his brother that Luigi did all those years ago. Still, even if the mustached human was taking this in stride, the anthro couldn't help but feel irritated by how disrespectfully they were treating her. Carmelita was the nicest woman he'd met in years that actually showed him any kindness of THAT nature. He felt a desperate urge to act, even if his pal assured him it would be taken care of.

Carmelita hissed in both aggravation and a bit of pain as the hedgehog moved his seat so he was right up next to her right side. "You know, for someone who insists on me dancing for them, your friend here sure isn't giving me the freedom to do it."

The blue furry waved off the woman's worries as if they were nothing. "Oh, don't mind Raiden here. He's a real pal... and he could be your pal too. You just need to treat him right," the fur in pink skinny jeans said meaningfully. "Of course, the first step to treating him right is to treat me even better." The hedgehog grinned, showing off those pearly whites. "So let's get to know one another. I, of course, need no introduction. But who are you, beautiful?" He brought his right hand up, caressing her left cheek. "Just what failure of a game series do you come from?"

Glaring at the blue-quilled bastard, she practically pulled away from his hand as best she could before barking out, "Fox. Carmelita Fox." She wasn't going to give this guy any info beyond that, let alone her full name if she could help it.

Lowering his hand as the woman tilted her head away, the speedster considered her name for a bit. "...So you're a, 'Fox' you say?" Sonic snorted. "Figures. You vulpes always have the least imaginative names. Still, you gotta be a game girl if you're working here..." he was looking at her tits now, practically salivating. "So tell me, are the pasties you're wearing the logo of your series?" he questioned as he reached his right hand up, cupping the underside of her left breast and hefting it up in his palm. "Ooooh... nice and soft!"

Her lip curling back in a snarl, Carmelita twitched in aggravation. "Sir, stop it!" she snapped at the blue prick that was man-handling her. He wanted some attention, well fine! He'd get it; in the form of a bouncer up in his business! All she needed to do was get free of the hedgehog's mechanical flunky. "If you do, I'll get on your table and—"

"I'll stop when I want to!" the blue-quilled bastard that appeared to have raided Justin Beiber's wardrobe snapped at the woman, interrupting her. Other than that flying rodent Rouge, none of the women he worked with in his series had a chest like this! Whenever he got to ogle or even grope them was generally just no good, particularly when they called for Sega's security staff. It was why he came to the Game Over more often than not. After all, so many retired game stars had lovely tits! Or a nice ass! Or both!

Carmelita grit her teeth, knowing she was seconds away from throwing caution to the wind and slugging the son of a bitch then and there, damn the consequences to her job security. "Sir," she growled through clenched fangs. "I will ask nicely once. Stopping acting like an agujero de culo and get your hands off my tits! Now!"

The lights of the cyborg's left eye flashed behind the lens of his sunglasses. "Oh-ho-HO!" Raiden chirruped in delight. "She really is a feisty one, isn't she?" He gripped her shoulder harder then, purposely pressing his sharpened fingernails into the flesh to where it bordered on piercing skin. "I think a girl like her wants some rings bad, Sonic."

"Of course she does," the blue hedgehog scoffed. "All strippers are nothing but gold digging whores." He smirked at the rage that crossed her face from the insult as he released her tit. "But she is correct on one thing. There is more to her than a nice rack." He slipped his left hand between her and the backrest of the seat, making her cry out as his hand gripped her right butt-cheek. "Spic-chick's got that Brazilian ba-donka-donk!"

The silver-tressed male laughed heartily, his hand keeping a firm grip on her shoulder as she struggled beneath him. "Must be all those beans and rice! We sure she's really a game actress and not another of those illegals?"

And with that, McCloud was seeing red. The male vulpine couldn't take it anymore, couldn't watch as they mistreated her so shamefully! Ignoring the warnings of his friend, the pilot threw Mario's hand off from him and jumped off the stool. Now honing in on the trio, the Papetoonian practically had tunnel vision as he stormed over to their table. "HEY!" He snapped at the pair that were roughly man-handling the vixen. "Just who the hell do you think you are!? You leave that woman alone and you leave her alone now!"

Sonic blinked his green eyed once, twice, thrice. "Who the hell am I?" He grit his teeth as he felt anger burn through him. "Who the hell am I!?" He repeated as he released the woman, pulling his hand out from behind the blue-tressed vixen. Leaning over the table, the blue-quilled mascot of Sega pointed an accusatory finger at the cape fox. "Listen you dip shit! I am Sonic the Hedgehog, that's who I am! Just who the fuck do you think you are not recognizing such greatness as moi before you!?"

"Captain Fox McCloud!" the vulpine male stated firmly, glaring at the blue bastard through narrowed eyes. "Remember me now? I was the one who was kicking your ass while we were working on the latest Smash game, or have you already forgotten because I left your sorry ass black and blue when we were done?"

Sonic snorted at that thinly-veiled threat. They both knew he was only able to get through the Motion Capture for the tournament only because the Smash Ball was banned. The hedgehog knew he would otherwise have been kicking everyone's ass during production. "Oh yeah, I remember you now! You're that washed-up has-been!" He smirked as her entwined his fingers before him. "Tell me: when was the last time you actually starred in a game? A decade ago?"

"It probably wouldn't take much to get rid of this annoyance." Raiden commented, causing Carmelita to give him a dirty look, which the man pointedly ignored. Still, he warned her, "Please don't try anything stupid with me, girl. You'll only hurt yourself." Raiden might have been a bit of a jerk, but he didn't need to have a girl break her hand trying to punch him and end the fun so soon.

However, the stand-off was broken when a male voice boomed throughout the main floor. "Enough." The quartet turned their heads to see that it was none-other than Mario himself who shouted. Taking one more sit of his tequila, the man of short stature but commanding presence put it down on the back counter before pushing himself off from his seat. His steely blue gaze taking in all four of them as he walked up, the short human waited until he was amongst them before continuing. "Just ease up already, Hedgehog. It's quite obvious dat our lady friend there is just'a trying to do her job. Just let her go so we can all enjoy her wonderful dancing."

Blinking his eyes, the blue-quilled mascot of Sega continued to look towards the man that was dressed more appropriately for Hawaii than he was California. "Well, well... it figures. Wherever there's a Nintendo has-been, it's always because they're following you around so they can at least have the job of wiping your ass," the Hedgehog smirked as he straightened up in his seat, his hands parting so they could press down on the tabletop. "Although I suppose I should be thanking you. I got another sweet game and sweeter paycheck on the horizon thanks to the deals our companies made. I look forward to children everywhere once more learning the difference between a real athlete and some fucking out-of-shape fat ass when our next Olympics videogame hits the shelves."

His eyes narrowing slightly, the mustachioed man replied, "Yeah, yeah you got some skills... but you should be grateful dat I kept you relevant. Otherwise you wouldn't have de money to enjoy de high-life like we are now," he said, trying to play up to the hedgehog's pride while reminding him just why Sega was still around. "So look, we're all here tonight to enjoy ourselves some'a nice titties... but if you throw yourself at de girls, you're just gonna make them uncomfortable." He smiled in a disarming fashion. "Really, there's no need for all'a dis grand-standing. Just let Carmelita go on stage so she can give her first performance. You can look for one of de other girls in the meantime."

Snorting, the spiky blue prick waved off the short human's words. "Do you think I'm an idiot? Don't be coy with me you fat fuck. We both know you're just trying to play nice because Nintendo will have both our asses in a sling if we're caught duking it out. Besides, why should I have any beef with you? I know you're the one who's all butt-hurt because..." he smirked deviously. "Genesis does what Nintendon't. You wanna be a bad boy, but in the end? You have to be the goody two-shoes. You wake up every morning and know, and I mean you know that even with all your money, all your fame... it doesn't make you happy. You may have won the console wars for Nintendo, but you lost yourself! You're the one who's stuck being the face of a game system, the face on a fucking t-shirt!" The fur's smile became outright malicious. "Despite all your accomplishments outside of the game industry, there is no 'Doctor Mario' Mario. No, there's only, 'It's-a Me! Mario!' Mario... while, I, on the other hand, am free to experiment and reinvent myself as much as I want. Something you'll never be able to do."

Watching as the human's knuckles turned pure white from how hard he was clenching his fists, Fox would have sworn that the mustached plumber was going to kill the spiky blue bastard. And he couldn't blame him, considering the vulpine knew what the real Mario was like. Yet, somehow, the icon of Nintendo just grinned and bore it. "Ha-ha... oh yeah, dat's a good one..." he managed to smile a bit more naturally. "Now come on, Sonic. You know she's not worth'a de hassle. Just let Miss Fox go, all right? I'll even buy you a round of drinks, good ones. Not that donkey piss you guys always chug down."

Needless to say, that caught the Hedgehog off guard. He'd been trying to purposely get a rise out of the overweight plumber, hitting him where it hurt. But for him to still be so calm and friendly? "Well... I suppose..." Sonic said slowly before turning to Raiden. Giving his pal a nod, the Liberian cyborg nodded his head in return before releasing his grip of the vixen's shoulder, letting her go. As much as he could be grating, Sonic knew that Mario was right in this instance. There was no point in starting a fight, especially this early in his evening. "You get me and my boys the best drinks this place has to offer and we'll have a real good time."

Standing up, Carmelita gave Mario a grateful look before quickly rotating her arm in the socket, easing the tension. She looked over to Fox, managing to give him a smile as well. The Hispanic vixen may have considered herself an independent woman but it was nice to know there were people that would look out for her in an emergency. She definitely needed to thank them later once things calmed down.

Even though the attention wasn't on them, both Lara and Volt sighed in relief as Mario successfully diffused the situation. Hopefully there would be no more issues tonight and they could all just continue with business as usual. I definitely need to give that plumber a free drink for this one, the brunette woman thought. It always amazed her that, as often as he could be a pain in the butt, the good Doctor Mario was just as much a peach.

However, the damn Hedgehog fur just couldn't leave well enough alone. "Hmm..." he murmured as he saw the vulpine male relaxing. The asshole threatened him, and no one got away with doing that! "Hey, McCloud! Tell me something: didn't you have some sort of blue fox girl that you used to hang around with? I seem to remember promotional artwork that had you two in it." Sonic mused, before smirking. "Then again, considering you haven't had a game in forever, she probably just ran off with the first guy who had the scratch to pay for her lifestyle. I wouldn't blame her though, I mean look at that woman! She was way too good for you, man. Probably shaking up with anyone who will pay her to tap it..."

Fox twitched, the relief he felt immediately gone as tension filled him once more. "What did you say?"

"You heard me," Sonic said with a haughty town, giving the Papetoonian that aggravating smirk of his. "So to me, it makes sense you'd be head-over-heels for another vixen, considering your last one dumped you... or... was it the other way around?" He chuckled as he leaned forward in his chair. "Hot as she was, we all knew she was the friggin', 'Wesley Crusher' to your game's 'Star Trek'. And what happened?" He queried. "I've seen quite a bit of porn of her over the years too. So tell me, which is it? Did she dump you or did you kick her worthless ass to the curb because she was a used up whore?"

Everyone just stared at the rather cruel verbal onslaught of the blue bastard. Even Raiden had to whistle in both awe and shock. "Dude... that's cold. I'm pals with an honest-to-goodness Oyabun and even I think that's cold."

Turning his head to look towards his buddy who was standing beside the vixen that refused to please him, the blue fur queried, "But am I right?"

Grinning, the cyborg replied, "Oh fuck yeah you are."

"Amen," the Hedgehog chirruped. "So go on, Fox. Take your Spic bitch sloppy seconds. Raiden and I have some good drinks and better women coming our way."

The male vulpine was biting his lower lip as he felt a red-hot rage burn within him; a growing inferno of revenge that demanded satisfaction. Not only for how they insulted him, but Krystal AND Carmelita as well, in some perfect trifecta of utter asshole behavior. He was just about to kick the smug speedster out of his seat only to find himself beaten to the punch.

Literally.

It was as if everything were in slow motion, a ballet of violence as Mario's fist collided with Sonic's face as he popped the Hedgehog in the mouth. A couple of the blue blur's teeth went flying as the Italian's clenched hand caused the fur's face to turn to the side as the head snapped back; the hedgehog and the chair falling back entirely with a loud crash.

"You ungrateful, spiky blue mother-fucker!" Mario snarled, his chest heaving as he breathed heavily in barely contained unadulterated rage. "You can say whatever shit you want about'a me! I don't give no fucks what a no-talent hack like you has to say! Blow off whatever steam you got because of your fucking failure as a First-Party Mascot with me as much as you want. But nobody talks like'a dat to my friends! NOBODY!"

His eyes wide, Fox couldn't help but feel awe and even a bit of pride at that statement. Mario truly considered him a friend?

However, the vulpine's awe soon turned to dread as he realized a horrible truth. With the first punch thrown, this Mario Party was now a Smash Brawl.