Before the first chapter, Junior's Club. (Malachite Twins)

You cast a longing gaze around the room. Beacon is where the action happens -Until it doesn’t, because it burns down to the ground- so you are understandably **** to leave, but here isn’t where you want to start, and there’ll be time to infiltrate later on. That or to just walk in, really.

Anyway, a worry for later. For now, there’s a place you want to buy out, and a couple of adorable enforcers that just happen to be twins to try and talk out of their clothes. With that in mind, as you disappear from Bearon you change your own clothes into something classy but easy to move in.

Then you teach yourself martial arts. Because damn it, Remnant is dangerous and immortal or not you don’t want to make a fool out of yourself. Also, martial arts are cool.

So equipped, you land some distance away from your target, away from prying eyes and walk the rest of the way. When you finally arrive, you can’t help but feel a bit underwhelmed. You know it’s there -Hello omniscience- but honestly, anyone walking down the street wouldn’t give the building a passing glance. Is this what they call a discreet front?

Oh well, the fun’s inside anyway.

Nobody tries to keep you from entering, and that reminds you of the Yellow Trailer, and how Yang seemed to simply strut through without anyone asking for a miserable license. Is Junior so confident only the ‘right sort’ can find the place? Or does he honestly not care?

Maybe there’s a surveillance system and he recognised Yang from somewhere? If so, he seriously miscalculated, no way the destruction was worth it.

The place itself looks more or less like you imagined, and with that I mean between the lightshow, the crowding and the honestly not that tasteful music there could be a manslaughter two meters away from you and you’d never know.

Casting a glance around -Huh, is that Torchwick? How often does he come here?- it doesn’t take long to locate the twins. They’re being talked to by a couple of guys who are pretty much drooling over them, looking mighty bored and a bit disgusted. You also notice how everyone else seems to keep their distance from the scene.

If you were to hazard a guess, regulars know the twins well enough to not mess with them, but there’s always a couple of idiots who didn’t get the memo or so drunk they don’t care about crossing the line. Judging by Melanie’s twitching eye though, they’re dangerously close to becoming red splatters in a wall.

Huh, you’d wondered how exactly to approach the girls, and here you have a perfect chance. Giving yourself a subtle allure, designed for females to find you more interesting and incite a slight aggresion on males, you put on your best cocky smile and step into the situation.

“Gentlemen, I hate to interrupt such a fine display of manliness” Something tells you the sarcasm will fly over their heads, but it’s amusing all the same “But you’re kind of obviously bothering the girls.”

The four of them turn towards you, and you tentatively reach for their state of mind. Both Melanie and Miltia are feeling a mix of annoyance, relief and curiosity, while the guys mainly feel arousal and a predictable spike of aggression towards you under a heavy blanket of inebriation. Not like you couldn’t tell that last one with just looking.

“Who t’ fuck are ya?” At least they can still talk somewhat coherently, small mercies “And what t’ hell are ya goin’ to do about it?”

“Yeah, ya think yer a knight in shinnin’ armor or some shit?”

On second thought, they’re better off keeping quiet. Also the twins seem awfully curious about your answer. Something tells you they’ll feel insulted if you act like they need help. Fair’s fair, you guess, they could send this two idiots packing without breaking a sweat, in fact, they were about to when you interrupted.

“Oh, no, of course not!” You answer instead, surprising everyone “I doubt this two ladies in particular need any rescuing. It’s you gentlemen I was trying to save a beating.”

That earns you an appraising look from Miltia and, of course, the guys’ wrath. At that, you cocky smile stretches into the realm of shit-eating. Unfortunately, when one of them reaches to grab at you, and before you can show off your divine martial arts, Melanie decides she wants to relieve stress after all.

What follows are five minutes of the graphic description of ‘beating the shit out of somebody’. It’s all quite entertaining, and kind of hot, at least until she decides to start kicking crotches. Still, with nothing better to do, you get comfortable near Miltia to enjoy the show. She arches a brow when you lean on the wall at her left, but doesn’t comment any further.

For a while, you just keep silent, taking note on how Melanie’s frustration melts away. Miltia too, is feeling less aggravated, side-eyeing you with a mix of curiosity and amusement, but refusing to feel any anticipation.

“Wow, look at her go.” You comment after a while “Your sister knows her moves. Do you girls have to do this often?”

She’s surprised you’re addressing her at all, and also feels… flattered? You’ll have to dig a bit on that at some point “Not that often” She finally replies “We do have a reputation, but sometimes...”

“Someone just loses their common sense at the bottom of a glass?”

She nods, with a somewhat rueful smile in her lips. “And since it’s bad business to scare the customers, we have to behave.” Then, waving a hand towards her sister. “We’ll get in trouble for this.”

“Nevermind anyone here would swear the idiots were asking for it? Yikes." She doesn't talk much, but her voice is really cute. "It can’t be easy to balance the roles of bouncer and eye candy.”

“Is not. Pays well though.” She tries to be nonchalant about it but her emotions clearly hint she’s more resigned than happy about her current situation.

“I sure hope so.” For a moment, you contemplate offering them a job and just hightailing the place. But since you were planning on taking over the whole business, that might be seen as counterproductive.

… Then again, you’re God, who cares about that?