Dime was astonished by the magnificence of it all. Who knew that a fusion of a bar, a Chinese restaurant, a nightclub, an arcade, and a bowling alley would be so incredibly profitable? The former owners had even rebranded the Chinabarclubcadealley to the much easier to pronounce Super Night Out. This place was the talk of the town recently, pulling in crowds of customers every single evening.
The staff did not believe him when he said he was actually 1000 years old, so he had to ask Snake to order a glass of vodka for him.
“You drink vodka?”
“It tastes good and yummy. Better than everything else.”
“I would have thought you were a strawberry milk kind of person.”
“Why?? Is it because I’m short? I’m an adult! I can drink! I’m the oldest person ever!!!”
Snake gave him a strained smile and he stormed away to spend too much money on arcade tokens. At least the machines were not patronizing. They were always fair and equal, especially since he could keep shoving in coins generated from thin air for endless revives in the shooter booths. A terrific party favor, one that Dave greatly appreciated.
“Holy shit. This booth is so rigged. Literally unplayable. There’s no way anyone can react fast enough to shoot these goddamn targets!”
“Sounds like a skill issue?”
“Dust, if you have enough time to talk, please put a coin in the slot. I think I’m going to need a few revives.”
The staff would later find the cabinet stuffed with coins, not even the correct type of token. But they were gold, so they weren’t going to say anything about it and simply steal all of it and run.
Vola was surprisingly good at bowling. It was impressive how often he could pull off a strike, always aiming with incredible precision. The only thing that Wisp did not like about it was how he threw it.
“Christ Vola, I’m trying to unjam the pin setup machine! You almost hit me with that!”
“Maybe you should move out of the way, dumbass.”
“MAYBE YOU SHOULDN’T THROW IT LIKE A SHOT PUT AT MY FACE?”
“You don’t own a personal shield generator, and it shows.”
Of course Wisp didn’t own a personal shield gen. That shit is expensive. The batteries were of the highest quality and the barrier itself could take heavy caliber fire. Even a typical person would be completely immune to an attack from a normal human. Only with a great force, such as a building collapsing on said person would be able to break the forcefield and kill the user. And with great power came great cost. Namely millions of dollars.
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“Thanks for the recommendation though Wisp. Nice place. Good food. Convenient target practice.”
“The staff and customers are not targets for you to throw knives at. Or bowling balls. Or keys. Please keep that to yourself until we have a night out at a shooting range.”
Yes, it was the Tooth Hotel Night Out! Rico had suggested getting everyone out of the house and moving, doing something fun and interesting instead of sitting in the lobby or in their rooms doing nothing of purpose. Everyone was apathetic about it initially, since no one knew where to go, until Wisp told them about a small mom and pop shop opening up downtown where all the villas were. Of course, by the time they got around to actually going, everything had changed. Many more additions and a lot more people.
And everyone thought and wondered why so many people would rate this place five stars with rave reviews. Turns out they weren’t wrong. The staff were all extremely accommodating, sometimes bending over backwards in the interest of the customer, to Mei’s delight.
“Okay, okay, can you guys make the shape of a wedding cake out of shot glasses? And then turn it into a flaming vodka fountain?”
Acid watched the workers do that very thing with mild trepidation. She could already imagine the whole thing falling over and burning them both in their little side booth.
“Babe this is really cool and it’s a very good display of skill on their part but can you not bump the table? I’m going to get burned.”
“It’ll be fine I swear! You saw how smart they were when they played Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes.”
“You gave them a REAL bomb. They could have died. Obviously they tried their hardest solving the damn thing.”
“They better try their hardest making me a wedding shot glass alcohol fountain or I’m not leaving a tip.”
The workers sagged in fatigue from fulfilling all of Mei’s strange requests, rapid fire, one after the other. They only had so much stamina. And all of this for minimum wage, since the current labor market and job shortage was so acute that there was almost nowhere else to work. The alternative was homelessness, and no one wanted to be homeless with imminent warnings of a Dust Storm taking place.
“I’m sorry for my friend over here. I’ll tip you all $500 for every single separate thing she asks you for, if that’s ok with you.”
And they perked up immediately. $500 was like a whole week’s pay! And for every request? They were going to be flush with cash, to spend on Twitch streamers or the latest FIFA game that is basically identical to the ten before it. Unze smiled as he walked away, knowing he could just beg Dime to foot the bill.
Rico sat at the bar, chilling out with a few cocktails with the bartender.
“Wow. You really make a mean cocktail, miss. And you don’t even look that old. How do you do it?”
Cinnaburn wiped the glass she was holding, placing it among the rest and pouring another customer a mixture of a few different wines and mixing them up in a shaker.
“I’m not that good at bartending, honestly. I just took the job recently since there was nowhere else to go. I think I’m doing okay though, because it’s all in the wrist.”
She used her dual fire beam emitters to light a glass on fire with the cocktail inside and slide it over to some guy at the end of the counter, who downed half of it in moments. Rico sipped his drink approvingly.
“4chan’s been talking about your skills, actually. Said you could mix some of the greatest concoctions known to man. I’m glad to say you don’t disappoint.”
Cinnaburn looked away awkwardly, unused to being praised so wholeheartedly up close.
Kyki raised a hand from the table they had reserved everyone in the Chinese restaurant.
“Hey guys! Dinner’s here!”
Everyone flocked to the table immediately to try out the food. It was… delicious was insufficient to describe it. There was just something so savory, so ethereal yet filling about it. Snake picked up one of the wrapped cookies included in the meal, raising it in the air.
“A toast to the friends we’ve made!”
And all replied: “Huzzah!”
Wisp felt, for once, like he truly belonged somewhere, content with his placement here in life. Yes, it was going to get better. Things were finally looking up.
Snake broke open the fortune cookie.
“Your greatest betrayal will be your saving grace… I don’t really get it. What’d you get, Acid?”
“Ummm… it says my happiest moment will be when my final plan fails. Doesn’t make much sense. Wisp?”
He broke it open and looked at the note.
“Doesn’t really say much, actually. Just some pictures of doors.”
Door 1 was a plain, normal door. Nothing too special.
Door 2 was a door with no handle. Missing an important piece.
Door 3 was a door ruined, crumbling. There was no putting it back together.
And it said to pick one.
Door 2, why not?