Christmas Lingerie Caper

Christmas Lingerie Caper
Date of Scene:	21 December 2013
Location:	Southern Manhattan
Synopsis:	The Don goes looking for new material in Southern Manhattan, Zack gets hurt a lot.
Cast of Characters:	Tifa Lockhart, Avira, Deelel, Aerith, Don Corneo, Setzer Gabbiani, Emi Dennou, Zack Fair, Adrian Meshia

---

Don Corneo has posed:
There appears to be a giant Zeppelin landed on the outskirts of central park with a large portion of the street taken over by what appears to be a little tent like area. There a lot of photographers lined up with what appear to be judges and people taking down information and handing out clip boards for people looking to join whatever it is that's going on here. Of course, also guys running around with measuring tape and checking out how tall or what sizes various women showing up are. They appear to be in uniforms too, part of some kind of security team? Big guys, burly guys, that might well be either rentacops or some kind of amusingly decked out thug squad.

Don Corneo is at the middle of it, his red white-lined fur coat combatting the chill as he answers questions and gets around with the occasional use of a cane, talking animatedly and more or less being a bit of a ham for all the attention.

"Thank all you lovely ladies for coming out for signups, the new magazine feature is going to be a blast! Hi-hohoho!"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Coming through toward the park, a pair of Midgar-ians (or whatever they are called) walks past. Perhaps a bit of an oddity, mostly because of the young lady walking next to what at first glance appears to be a pile of boxes. The lady is Tifa, and she apparently got someone to carry her boxes for her today, as she went for shopping.

And since the only way back to Goug is through the park from here, it would be hard to miss the zeppelin there. She hmms, and prods her partner's side "Hey, any idea what's going on over there?" There seems to be a gathering of some sorts. That is, if her friend can even see over the pile of boxes.

Zack Fair has posed:
He can't, no worry about that.

Zack Fair cranes his head a bit to look, but unfortunately, that stack of boxes is just *way* too big. On the other side, the only thing that can be seen is Zack's huge black spikey hair. It's practically a mane, for God's sakes.

"Not a clue!" Zack replies cheerfully nonetheless. "Why? You wanna go check it out?" He isn't particularly hindered by the huge stack of boxes (SOLDIER superheroism is practical *and* practi-cool), after all; it's not like he's got anything to object to here.

"Probably some kinda festival or something."

Avira has posed:
This is probably the biggest crowd of women Avira has ever witnessed in Central Park, short of a New Kids on the Block concert. It wasn't just that there were a lot of women here. There were a lot of /attractive/ women here and as Avira looks around, she can't help but feel a little out of place. Technically, she really is.

The short huntress would have firmly refused any offers baring clipboards with sign-in forms on them. No, no, she's just here to support a friend. No need. It takes thankfully little convincing to get those particular offers to stop. "Seems they might already have some security, Deelel." Avira says to her friend. "So I'll be your morale support today." With a big wide grin, Avira gives the Program two big thumbs up.

More likely Avira thinks she'll have to explain confusing User World things to her.

Adrian Meshia has posed:
It's true, this location is full of women. It's also true that many men have come to watch and, yes, ogle. Adrian is not here for that purpose. Here, he doesn't look out of place in his expensive looking suit and long dark grey wool overcoat. He could probably mingle among the crowd as he wishes, but he doesn't.

He keeps to the edges, circling around the crowd. He does seem to be looking at many of the women present, but it's far more calculating of a gaze rather than anything crass.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel was always interested in art and humans had some forms she'd not thought of before. Program art did not often use life subjects for the most part, images were kept at times, much like a human would keep photos and she had been curious here. She'd been eager to give it a try but she'd been wise to hire Avira as a guard after all she didn't know everyone. Thankfully Deelel at least could catch on faster than some programs might even if she still could trip over her feet often. She got back up quickly metaphorically.

"It seems so but I like having someone I know and trust here as well. I also need someone to possibly hang on to my disc."

That implies a very large level of trust with Avira given how discs effect a basic.

"This should still be fun!"

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
Setzer... ina is still walking around, although her temper is somewhat cooled down, a sign maybe that things are finally getting back to normal. Manwhile, she was having fun. Which brought her here...

Okay, the zepplelin brought him here. something was going on, and with that many women around, it was time to... go native, sort of. Walking among the crowd, she was taking in the sights, wonder if something interesting would go on...

And what was up with the guy with the cane?

Emi Dennou has posed:
The Dennous commeth.

The full swath of Network have come, perhaps in the hopes of spotting a lot of people in lingerie, or perhaps because they expect that Avira is going to be selected and maybe they'll get to tease her. Or perhaps even more likely, they expect Zack Fair will be selected and want to see him in lingerie. There's a lot of options here.

The crowd move together, not unlike the Delightful Children from Down The Line. The pack moves around through the crowd, practically clearing a path through just through sheer total breadth.

But ultimately the one they find first is Adrian. They notice the way he's looking at teh ladies and approach him en masse.

O_O O_O O_O O_O O_O O_O

Don Corneo has posed:
"Woah woah woah, what have we got here?" Avira's refusal to fill out any of the offered clipboards of course does not mean she hasn't lost the attention of the security, OR the Don. He comes over himself, personally flanked by two men in what look like full-length armored long coats and visored metal masks that cover a large portion of their face. They do not however ignore the don when he holds up his cigarette holder absent mindedly to the one on the left, who hurriedly replaces the old cigarette stub with a fresh one and holds a zippo lighter carefully up to it so he can light it, the cigarette holder hanging out one corner of his mouth.

"And who's your smoking hot friends here?" A pair of security would usher Deelel and Setzerina up to the front, or at least try to. As he walks around Avia people make space for him, security and photographers alike, checking her out.

"Hrm, might have to use some kind of tights or the like to cover these up, maybe stockings, you've done lingerie shoots before haven't you?" he gestured to the various scars and marks on Avira's dark-skinned legs. "I can see it now, the dusky jewel of Manhattan, you'll be a smash success!" he throws his hands up, eyes to the sky.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart shrugs her shoulders at Zack "Well, I can't say I'm not curious. If you don't mind, we can stop by at least." She skips a bit ahead. She's wearing her leather dress, but she doesn't have her gloves on. Which is fortunate, having them on usually means she's about to punch someone or piledrive something. Which usually isn't what you want from her.

Maybe she should have stayed away if she had known two things. That its the Don (which she has met some time before), and that its about lingerie.

But she ends up getting closer to the grouping, peering around curiously, with Zack in tow "What's going on over here?" She didn't notice the Don yet... despite being rather hard to miss most of the time.

Zack Fair has posed:
"I'm good," Zack replies cheerfully as Tifa leads him up towards the group. Zack attempts to peek around the boxes, but to no avail; he's stuck with nothing but hearing. And, sure, Zack has really good hearing, *buuuut* it's not even close to enough to figure out what's going on.

He does, however, hear the key word 'lingerie'. "Ah, it's probably some kinda fashion show or somethin'," Zack informs Tifa. "I saw one of these things getting set up last time I passed this way! Fashion's pretty in right now, apparently. Some people just don't have that natural sense of style like yours truly." He laughs.

Avira has posed:
Having 'operated' on the Grid before, Avira knows very well what happens should a Program become parted from their disc for too long. "If you need me to hold it, I guarentee that it'll be in safe hands." Avira speaks to Deelel in a low voice, careful to not really indicate to those who might be listening in nearby that Deelel's Disc is a Good Thing To Steal.

In Manhattan, Avira's slowly had to become accustomed to people looking at her. Months ago it bothered her but gradually she had become desensitized to it. She wasn't unaware of the attention but it no longer bothered the formerlly very shy (!?) woman. "Deelel." Avira answers the Don, glancing to him over her shoulder. "I'm afraid the silver-haired woman isn't with me." There was something vaguely familiar about Setzer though she couldn't really place it. She'll actually follow after Deelel as she's encouraged forward, only to slow to a stop as the Don cuts in front of her. "....ummmm."

Mentally she decides that Maid calendar from months ago didn't count.

"No, no I haven't. I, uh, I'm actually not here to sign up, Mr. Corneo, just to give my friend a hand, y'know?" Alas, Dennous, one of their desires may be thwarted.

Adrian Meshia has posed:
Adrian is interrupted in his search by the five. It's like a swarm, they come upon him, wide eyed stares and all. The man represses a sigh. For once, he knows for an absolute fact that these girls are not who he is looking for.

Only seven of them exist. Why would five of them look so much alike and be roaming about together? Madness.

The dark haired man regards the five with cool eyes, wordless for a moment. His voice is far warmer than his eyes, like honey melting in a cup of tea.

"Can I help you?"

Emi Dennou has posed:
Six! That's one less than seven. That probably doesn't change anything.

The girls look at each other and then back to Adrian. They remain oblivious to their other schemes falling through right at this moment throughout this process before they turn their heads--simultaneously--back towards Adrian.

"You are watching the women. Are you a judge? The Network graciously refrains from offering the 'creep' judgement." One of them says.

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
The gambleress frowns at the sudden attention. A spark of her usual femate temper sparks as the security gets closer. "If you're thinking of touching me, think carefully, otherwise..."

What follows is a small, imaginative tirade of anatomically impossible (or is is?) things that she would do to the poor guard, including poker chips, decks of cards and a roulette table. "-so, it might be better for you to ask first. And be gentle while doing it." she finished, glaring at the security guard. Even if she weren't still a woman, the tirade would be pretty similar. Can't be that hard to be a gentleman, especially since she head the word lingerie somewhere among the chatter.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel had an idea they'd be modelling off something she got that much she pause at the woman who could be Setzer's sister. She looks back to Avira and says with utter faith in her friend.

"I know." She'll detach the disc and hand it to Avira. It should be fine for the duration of a show, or a photo shoot after all.

"Yes I am Deelel."

She follows along as she heads forward and is unaware of the Dennou's dreams at the moment some of which might confuse the poor old program.

Don Corneo has posed:
"What? Of course your friend can sign up, she has some uh, sleek features there!" Don nods energetically, unclear if he was talking about programs there or not. "You should really think about it too, then we can give you some hands--err give you a hand, a hand with the application!" he stumbles several times over that sentence, apparently meaning more than what he might have intended. He's already circling around Deelel and Setzerina as they are brought up, turning his head this way and that, giving them both a once over inspection, holding a hand up to gauge the exact dimensions of certain areas and all that.

"Okay, so gonna need any of the ladies that are signing up for the show to head in to the tent for auditions," the Don announced, and there was a flash from a pink materia set into one of his rings, many of the women already milling into the tent itself. What kind of madness was going on here? A few of the male bystanders suddenly are wondering where the lady friends they came with are going, but are hastily shoved back by the men in security outfits, uh oh.

Adrian Meshia has posed:
The absence of 'creep' is noted. Not that he would have cared. On some level, he is absolutely a creep, but not like the collective is thinking at all. The reality is much, much worse.

Adrian forces a disarming smile. If he could only make it touch his eyes, it would be far more effective. As it is, if they're not looking too closely, it may pass muster.

"Ah, no. Not exactly. I am a..." Think fast, Adrian. "Agent. Perhaps one of these contestants will be suitable for my employer."

Vague enough to not actually be a lie, but far enough from the truth to not be obvious. The life of a politician.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart shakes her head at Zack's flirting. Well she can't say that she doesn't enjoy it either. She usually gets on the receiving end of desperate or drunk (when not old) men, and she feels pretty at ease around Zack for this. "So are you saying I should go and try it out? If my 'natural sense of style' is that good, I'd make their show that much better, right?" She says semi-sarcastically, but she seems to consider. She looks toward the tent where the girls are going on. "Well, it might be fun to try at least." She heads in after the rest, giving a wave "Put those down for a minute at least." She smirks, before disapearing inside.

She has missed the whole mention about Lingerie, but she does give a glance at Corner as she finally notices him. Is that his work somehow? Partly thanks to him, last time, she was dressed as a chocobo-girl for 3 days straight ~_~ She points at him "I better not be dressing up as a chocogirl this time."

Emi Dennou has posed:
The Network doesn't seem to be suspectinig anything of THAT nature. They're closer to curious than wary--and Adrian's explanation is not beyond reason. One turns its head away to observe Don as he speaks. She raises her eyebrows and frowns and that frown seems a lot more wary than anything cast Adrian's way.

"We know some people." The first Dennou adds. "Perhaps we could introduce you, if you want. We know they are good looking because everybody wishes to drop their pants for them, The Network has catalogued several who have expressed interest either directly or through offhanded remarks or looks."

Avira has posed:
A warm smile forms on her face as Avira takes the disc from Deelel. Very carefully, she attaches it to one of the belts around her waist and double checks it to make sure it's secure.

Somewhere along the way she unknowingly CRUSHES DENNOU DREAMS. If she knew this was actually happening, Avira might actually be a little upset! She likes the Dennous!

"Sleek features /indeed/." Avira winks, "Her graphics are totally high end. We're talking 64 bit-" hey it was impressive in the 90s, "-here. Look, as for me, I don't think I really have the skin for this sort of thing." She gestures to her face and legs. "This is just the stuff you can see. It's kind of a battleground with the rest of my clothes off."

She'll take to following after Deelel, at least up until the tent, "What, I can't go in to cheer her on?" A light laugh escapes her, "Come on, I promise I'll behave and won't do anything untoward with poker chips." With one hand she gestures over at Setzerina. Her little rant had not gone unheard by the huntress.

Zack Fair has posed:
Zack is incredibly sensitive to sudden changes in his environment. It's not a superpower - it's literally just training, a soldier's instinct. As soon as the atmosphere changes and men start getting shoved back, Zack's eyes narrow a little bit.

And then Tifa goes forward. "Woah, hey, hold on-"

The pink flash. Zack puts two and two together. Despite his appearance and his general demeanor, Zack Fair has *never* been a stupid man, nor is he the sort of man to lose focus at critical points. As everything goes to hell, Zack Fair hits that critical focus moment.

He almost goes for his sword, before he remembers he's got a pile of boxes from Tifa's shopping stacked higher than he can see. So instead, he takes a different track.

His boot comes down on a rock. He's pretty sure this isn't going to be one of those 'talk things out' situations. So instead of wasting time arguing...

Stupid SOLDIER Tricks.

Zack bounces the rock up onto his foot, a grin on his face as he closes his eyes. There's a lot of noise and chaos going on in the area - but he's pretty sure he can figure out where to aim. After all, he learned this from...from...from...

A momentary lapse of thought. From where? Where did he learn it from? Zack pauses for all of a second, almost fumbling. His head hurts a little.

There's a rush of stars around Zack as he sends the rock flying. Never rely on skill when you can have good luck, too, right?

The rock goes flying right for the only voice Zack could pinpoint: Don Corneo.

Zack is *really good* at this kind of thing.

Adrian Meshia has posed:
Adrian looks at the Network carefully, weighing his options. On one hand, he could wave them off with a thank you and go about his business. On the other, they may lead him to some likely candidates.

Not that he'd be able to tell at a glance.

The man nods once, crisply. "Very well. I accept. Lead on, ladies."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel has noticed how fast Avira has picked up on program slang and it makes her happy on some level. She plays along.

"No second rate skins here let me tell you."

She nods to Avira, she's seen programs with damage so bad it's left scars that couldn't be properly fixed short of Flynn himself of Clu stepping in.. She gets up to the tent for a moment as she's heading inside unaware of just what's going on with the light, nope she doesn't know just yet even as Zack starts up his thing she steps inside...

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
She can't really say she feels comfortable with the way Don looked at her... and that cane. Ye gods, THE CANE! Who was this... guy? And that pink light...

"I do expect your staff to be gentlemen." she states with a predatory smile, leaving the 'or else' part unspoken, but her posture changes slightly, hinting towards someone who is used to... unpleasant situations.

After all, you can't run a casino if you're not willing to do some... unpleasant things. Only to the right people, of course.

Don Corneo has posed:
As Tifa is ushered into the tent to get all lingerie'd up, the security team steps in front of the huge rock headed right for the proprietor of the event, who seemed quite surprised at this! The rock breaks apart on the metal plating under one of the sec team's coats, but it looks like it hurt.

"Woah, woah woah--hey no need to throw things now," The Don points distractedly at the direction of Zack as a few of the team move out to deal with him, apparently carrying what look like stun batons.

"That's right lady's just head right on in, nothing to see here--so, this is Zack Fair? I think some of my friends are going to be pretty glad to meet you," the Don calls out, stepping aside as more women filed into the tent behind them.

The sec team do not in fact look happy to see Zack at all, in fact, they are looking to be rather poised to ruin his face, didn't that armor they seem to be wearing under their coats look like... SOLDIERs?

Emi Dennou has posed:
The Dennous smile suddenly (like that scene where Lilo smiles at Bubbles the social worker), and it's gone almost as quickly as it came. They lead Adrian on towards the most eligible bachelorette (even if she's seeing someone) ((they think)). Thanks to materia mind control, they find it's a lot easier to navigate the park.

"Avira!" Emi Dennou says. "The Network has found you an agent! Please inform him of all the men's hearts you've broken so that he accepts your strength in the industry, The Network requests humbly."

Shida starts counting on her fingers but then gives up and tries to give her a hug.

Avira has posed:
Deelel heads unerringly into the tent and Avira is all geared up to follow. She does pause briefly, watching with some surprise as someone hurls a rock at Zack. From her vantage point, she can't quite see the spike-haired Ex-SOLDIER, Tifa's stack of boxes blocking him from her view. In retrospect, she isn't surprised that someone's come to make trouble at this event. That happened a distressing amount of times in Manhattan.

Fortunately, it looks like the Don's security forces are on the case. Clearly nothing will go wrong. Turning, she's about to go after Deelel when a familiar voice calls out her name.

"Emi?" she says, turning to meet Adrian and the six-pack of Dennous. "I-..what? Uh. Hold on a second, Emi, please clarify."

Shida pounces upon her with a Dennou Hug. Warmly, Avira wraps her arms around her and returns the hug.

Adrian Meshia has posed:
Adrian follows, his gait smooth and almost snakelike. Weird. The crowd seems to part and the man can't tell if it's because of him or the girls. Either way, they arrive at Avira's location without incident.

He keeps an eye on the scuffle, but otherwise ignores it unless (or is that until?) it spills over to his location.

The rest of his attention is on Avira, giving her a once over. She does not quite seem like the type he is looking for, but the purest Hearts often hide in the oddest locations. This thought amuses him.

Zack Fair has posed:
Zack has no idea who that guy is. But he does know SOLDIERs when he sees them. Or, well, hears them. There's something seriously wrong; SOLDIERs don't usually round up girls in the middle of New York City for...whoever the heck that guy is. He's not a ShinRa Elite, that's for sure; ShinRa Elites don't *do* this kind of thing.

Zack takes a minute to move the boxes into one hand. His eyes flash with mako light as he dips into his pocket to grab...something?

"I don't know you, pal, and I don't know your friends, but I do know this - nobody messes with girls on my watch! And you know what else I know?" Zack's lips spread in a broad grin as he tightens his hand around his Portable Handheld System.

Zack flips the PHS around to display the camera. If he can't see properly, he can see just fine by proxy! Wow, that's one ugly mug. No time for that, though. "I know what a materia flash looks like. I know when somebody's playing dirty. And I know how a guy as sleazy as you operates!"

"On top of that...I know how to do this!" Zack's eyes flash a brilliant green as the SOLDIERs approach. The PHS does the same, channeling the magic of the Digital Mind Wave; a moment later, there's a loud chopping sound. Above Zack's head, lines of mako energy draw themselves in the air; a moment later...

A moment later there's a magical helicopter hovering over Zack's head. Zack lets out a loud whoop and thrusts the PHS upwards as the helicopter rains down machine-gun fire in a circle around him. The helicopter is being incredibly careful not to hit any of the innocents, but the SOLDIERs who are coming after him...well...

...well, Zack doesn't exactly mind killing people who are trying to kill him.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
There's alot of shuffling inside of the tent. Looks like the girls are getting all dolled up. Which includes Tifa too. But for what purpose?

From Tifa's point of view, it all goes pretty fast too. Its like a blur of clothes being tossed, hairdressers and clothescrafters all busying, buzzing, and pretty much making a tornado of the whole thing. In fact, the tent is probably swaying on the outside too with the racket going on.

Moments later, its a slightly-dazed Tifa, and not exactly knowing what hit her in there that stumbles out. She's wearing red boots covering a part of her lower legs, while most of the rest of her legs are bared thanks to an all-too-small red skirt, both boots and skirt lined with the white fluff that is characteristic of the holidays. For a top, all she seems to be wearing is a red ribbon that wraps around her chest, as if she was a big present ready to be unraveled. A holiday hat in red and white on her head, she seems to have received a touch up of makeup too, with a bit of blush and highlights for her skins and eyelashes. Her hair got tied up in her old fish-tail style with a white fluff too. @_@

Emi Dennou has posed:
"He's an agent." Emi tells Avira. She thinks back. "Did we mention that?" She looks to the others. After a moment they nod in succession. "Yes, we mentioned that. This man says he's an agent." She looks back to Avira. "His name is ... .... ..." She looks back to Adrian. "...?"

Shida hugs! And after a few hug moments lets go. "There was something strange. There was this pink flash. Did you notice that, Avira?"

Some people don't have the right priorities, Emi thinks.

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
Setzerina giggles, even as the staff does their work on her, setting her up with some skimpy outfit.

Of course, her giggling does not bode well, mostly because the slasher smile on her face hasn't vanished. She knows something's wrong, knows that she's not herself, but she can't place a finger on the exact reason yet.

"I'm going to make that guy regret this," she giggles again, an unsettling sight to anyone nearby, "and his little craft will go down as well. You hear me? Hehehehehehhe..."

Don Corneo has posed:
It would appear the Ex-SOLDIER Security team is intent on taking their stun clubs to Zack's face, but what's this? Magical Helicopter?? Don Cornero looks up slackjawed as suddenly there is likely a lot more wind being blown around as the thing hovers above them. "Well, that is a thing," he nodded with a bit of casualness, though he blinked and ran for cover as suddenly there is machine gun fire spraying down over the sec team, though they look like some of the shots either bounce off their armor or they are able to take cover in time.

"Okay gonna need the engines fired up soon..." Don speaks into a handheld phone of his own, and behind the tent the whirring of the Zeppelin which was idling there begins to pick up. Of course, it will take a bit for this to happen. Meanwhile, a lot of people have settled into the auditions tent and appear to be getting setup quite nicely in some of the hottest fashions from the best botiques in the city. No expense spared, that's the ticket!

Meanwhile, the sec team take more jabs at Zack, as there is apparently something of a brawl with him going on in the lot out front.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is not as far along into the tents as Tifa is a bit ahead of her it's a bit crazy given Deelel is quote the anomaly given her not being a human it takes a bit as she's trying to explain things she's forced to reskin herself for what's going on she's practically flailing as she comes out now in a one of those Ms. Clause outfits, short sleeves vest, skirt, boots, gloves and Deelel is looking very confused now, also those circuit lines they match her light suit's normal positioning of them exactly. She's also kinda got a whole @.@ look on her face. She's not sure which way is up.

"What what is going on what is this!?"

It's a lot more inefficient than a program needing to do some cosmetic work.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith was not one to rest while one of her best friends got captured and used for things she did not agree to. And while she would have loved to see her in some silly outfit any other time, the fact that it was Don Corneo, who'd gotten the two of them into trouble before, soured the occasion.

All expected, of course.

What one would not have expected was for her to jump into the fray with Zack, her staff ready for action and her eyes glowing with determination.

Avira has posed:
"Agent? I'm not really sure I need an agent." Avira looks Adrian over and giggles. "Though on a second thought, maybe I do need someone to manage my PR. Since I'm not exactly hiding who I am in Manhattan anymore. Or was. Heck. I can't really tell."

She pauses, then rubs her chin, "I did see a pink flash. Then everybody seemed to go into the tent. Some kind of signal maybe? I was about to head there myself. I might give this lingerie thing a shot after all. If only for a...certain someone." She wonders if she could get pictures for herself. That there will be some is a given.

She tilts her head to the side with a finger on her chin, "I'll need an agent for that, right? For management." Both Tifa and Deelel stumble out and Avira pauses. "Uhhh...on a second thought..."

Adrian Meshia has posed:
The pale man regards Avira with a detached air. "Perhaps," he says. As aircraft become involved in the scuffle, the man frowns. Mentally, he prepares to defend himself, even though it may just make the collected group turn on him instead of the old lecher and his goons.

It's still better than dying.

"I forgot my manners, my name is Adrian Meshia." He produces a business card holder from his coat pocket. It gleams silver in the light as he flips it open and pulls one out. He hands it to the scarred woman. It has his name, a legit Manhattan phone number and everything. The paper is heavy and cream colored and the ink is a metallic black. Patrick Bates would kill over it.

Zack Fair has posed:
Watching Zack fight holding a stack of boxes in one hand and a PHS in the other is something to behold. As the SOLDIER guards come swinging in with sticks, Zack's heavy boots come swinging up to catch the sticks each time; the sticks get caught in his bootheel, or parried by Zack's arm-bracelet. The fact that he hasn't dropped any of the boxes he's carrying - /or/ let them be damaged - is possibly more impressive than the fact that the guy's pulling this off in the first place!

Then Aerith comes dropping in, and Zack pauses. "Hey, you're the girl from the bar! Glad to see somebody else knows what a materia flash looks like, huh?" Zack flashes a grin over his shoulder at her as he swings his foot around to catch another guard in the face. "That guy up there's using pink materia of some kind. I caught the flash of it when he used it on the girls, but I don't know what it does - think you can keep him here long enough?"

"I mean," Zack adds as he slings his foot downwards, "I got this."

Zack closes his PHS in one hand as his fist snaps outwards. He pummels the first SOLDIER to get within pummeling distance of him, hammering away at the other man with one hand as he balances packages in the other. Then he bounces the packages to his other hand and hammers away with that one! Without being able to grab his sword, he's a little restricted in what he can do..buuut...

Zack tightens his grip around the PHS and brings it swinging down onto the first goon's head. Immediately afterwards, he chains another smash onto another, then another, then another. Zack's fast enough that even their clothing's getting cut...so this is what a First Class SOLDIER can do?

"You guys might wanna back off now; there's nothing worth dying for here, especially not that fat perv. One chance! Better take it!"

Emi Dennou has posed:
Emi blinks. Is that...the sound of a Zeppelin? This is the strangest lingerie event she's ever experienced. She taps Shida on the shoulder lightly and starts heading around the tent. She is naturally inquisitive and this has gone weird enough. There are some things that Dennous do not understand, like why someone would want a bunch of women in their tent, but she understands zeppelins.

Omi takes over for dialogue. "We were considering something like..." She begins.

Tifa and Zeelel stumble out. "...Er."

Shida smiles at Adrian. "Nice to meet you, Adrian!"

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
Meanwhile, Setzerina found a way to sneak out. With so many women in various states of undress, it would be expectable that one or two managed to make it out. Giggling to herself, she makes her way towards the zeppelin, not trying too hard to sneak in.

The metal rod on her hand might have something to do with it. After all, who in their right mind would go after a chick clad into something that some would describe as a dress composed by two strips of fabric on the front and behind, along with some stockings and stiletto heels?

More people than you think. Libido is a strange thing.

Don Corneo has posed:
"Hey Zack, welcome to the jungle," one of the Ex-Soldiers responds to his threat by calling a team of his buddies to come put the boots to the black spikey haired guy, though not quite the same boots all the girls were getting outfitted in, unfortunately. (Or fortunately?? some did have stiletto heels, and all!)

Suddenly, a wild Aerith appears. The sec team look around and scratch their heads but one narrowly gets their head grazed by the flower girl's flying assault. The group of security involved with the brawl pile in on the two.

"Holy smokes--just beautiful, beautiful, look at you girls, this month's December edition is gonna be GREAT!" Don Corneo is clapping his hands in applause for the various looks of Deelel, Tifa, and likely Setzerina as well.

"We're gonna make a fortune!"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith on the other hand is having none of that, as she uses the range of her weapon to maximum advantage. Anyone heading toward her is poked, batted aside, rammed in the side of the head... no one gets through.

The cetra doesn't mind one bit in heading after Corneo himself, but there seem to be more of them heading toward her, now that she's announced herself. So she does the logical thing and takes one big swing at the majority of them.

Avira has posed:
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Meshia." Avira takes the card and looks it over, recognizing the area code on the number as a Manhattan one, before pocketing it. "So I thought for a moment I really would try the lingerie thing out but..uh...I don't wanna end up in ribbons. Also there seems to be a fight going on. Maybe I can use my home turf influence to break it up." She ruffles Shida's hair, as she is wont to do around Dennous before stepping away and carefully making her way over to the brawl between Zack and the ShinSec SOLDIERS. Once there, she takes notice of Aerith, recognizing her. Zack is out of luck because she hasn't really met the guy before.

"EXCUSE ME." She says loudly, "But what seems to be the problem that necessitates such /force/?" Surely this is an overreaction for just a thrown rock.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart looks a bit dazed still. Maybe that's the effect of the pink magic? Even Zack talking over the radio doesn't seem to register all that much with her. And she's standing there in front of everyone, barely wearing anything, as if she wasn't realizing what's going on or what she was wearing.

Even the fighting nearby doesn't get much of a glance.

But Corneo is probably right, the lined up girls are all scrumptuous in those barely-there-clothes.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is looking at Tifa for a moment and shakes her heads a bit, and is still wondering about the nature of this, this was not the sort of live art she was expecting, no not at all, she's one very confused program as she looks to Aerith, Tifa and Setzer with a bit of a confused look in her face.

"What is he talking about...."

She's starting to understand but it's taking a bit for her to puzzle all this strange behaviour out, but memories of Ivo are coming up, and that leads no where good.

Adrian Meshia has posed:
Adrian watches passively as Avira storms off to try and put back a semblance of order. He doesn't think her odds are very good at making it happen. Still, it surely will be entertaining to watch. He slips his hands into the pockets of his overcoat and observes.

Zack Fair has posed:
"Well," Zack observes at Avira as he spins around, tanking the blows with his back (quite painfully, too; SOLDIERs are no jokes, even third-class goons like these guys) rather than block with Tifa's boxes, "I'm kind of a wanted guy, huh? An escapee from ShinRa justice." Zack flashes Avira a big, wide grin as his eyes flood with green light.

"Nevermind that whole 'New Zodiac Braves' thing! Man, the number of people who want my head on a plate must be *huge*." Zack pauses as his hair starts to stream upwards. "You know, I bet somebody might say something like, 'that's the measure of success as a mercenary', but I think I'd rather say something like, 'it's a good thing I'm way better than them.'" His grin widens.

Zack thrusts the PHS up, and a gentle breeze blows across him, quickly healing his wounds. If Aerith is paying attention, it shouldn't be too difficult to guess what he just did...so somewhere he apparently remembers her, even if he doesn't *consciously* remember her!

Zack Fair has posed:
"Well," Zack observes at Avira as he spins around, tanking the blows with his back (quite painfully, too; SOLDIERs are no jokes, even third-class goons like these guys) rather than block with Tifa's boxes, "I'm kind of a wanted guy, huh? An escapee from ShinRa justice." Zack flashes Avira a big, wide grin as his eyes flood with green light.

"Nevermind that whole 'New Zodiac Braves' thing! Man, the number of people who want my head on a plate must be *huge*." Zack pauses as his hair starts to stream upwards. "You know, I bet somebody might say something like, 'that's the measure of success as a mercenary', but I think I'd rather say something like, 'it's a good thing I'm way better than them.'" His grin widens.

Zack thrusts the PHS up, and a gentle breeze blows across him, quickly healing his wounds. If Aerith is paying attention, it shouldn't be too difficult to guess what he just did...so somewhere he apparently remembers her, even if he doesn't *consciously* remember her!

Don Corneo has posed:
It seems to be a little one sided against a team of dudes, but when Zack is joined by Aerith things really seem to heat up. A guard is knocked clean out by her smashing attack, a helmet skidding across the cement reveals what looked like a scarred man with some years on him, and definitely looked like they had seem some fighting before.

"Oh crap, watch out!" another one comes out, and brings out a little dart launcher which zips a small projectile at the flower girl. Knock out darts!

Of course, Setzerina might find the Zeppelin a bit unguarded at the moment, due to everyone fooling around the tent and in front of it. Is she going to mark up Corneo's ride? oh no!

"Woah wanna be careful there honey, you could get knocked over," Corneo tries to corral the dazed females like Tifa away from the fighting at least, just so they don't get harmed. "Why don't you head on back to the Zeppelin over here, I think you're a finalist!" he grins. Is the Don intending to step out at this point?

Meanwhile, the security team still has the two 'heroes' to deal with out in front of the tent, and are doing the best they can.

Aerith has posed:
She was lucky enough to be able to keep track of several things at once... but when she got poked in the neck by something, her vision blurred for just a brief moment. Aerith grimaced as she determined someone was trying to make life difficult with poisons. It wasn't that hard to just push through it, though. In fact, that's exactly what she did as she pulled the dart out of her neck and promptly tossed it toward another guard, hoping that there was something left in there.

More of them came at her, but she knew the rules of fighting... focus on one, then use him as an agent against the others.

So that's exactly what she tried to do.

Whether the dart hit the guard she aimed at or not, she rushed at him and proceeded to bash him upside the head, then smash him upwards, right on the chin. Her staff glowed a pale green as she tried to knock him skyward.

It wasn't hard to guess what she'd do next...

Emi Dennou has posed:
Emi spots Setzerina. She blinks blankly at her several times. She sighs and rubs at her face and intends to sneak right on in after Setzer.

"Hm...Perhaps we should come along. In case you need electrocutions to back up your claim." Shida nods to herself, and then glances up and over to Adrian. "We are sorry for the trouble, but thank you for comign with us this far."

The Dennous follow, a bit bewildered by all the commotion.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart is getting pushed toward the airship! Her mind in a cloud, she doesn't seem to realize what's going on at all. She just ends up... following in that direction. Anyone that knows her a little bit would know something is off just looking at her. She's usually upbeat and headstrong, but she might as well be sleeping right now. Not to mention the clothes, of course.

Even the fact that its Don Corneo doesn't seem to register. She'd be more on guard normally, but she might not be in the right state. Along with a dozen other girls alongside her. Maybe its because Deelel is a program that she's not in the same state as the barmaid.

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
Cursed aides, she thinks furiously, trying to get out of the spotlight so she can try to sneak out again. The next aide that finds her gets clobbered over the head and tied with lace panties from a nearby drawer. Nobody will stop her from entering that airship. She lost her rod along the way, but that was fine. There was something much better that she found, something called a curling iron. Setzerina couldn't help but wonder why women subjected themselves to this kind of torture instruments. There was no way in hell that she would allow anyone to touch her hair with that thing.

In the meanwhile, the captain of the Blackjack leaves a trail of knocked-out aides in the tent, closely followed by someone else, she dimly notices among the haze that makes her a giggling psycho, instead of just a psycho.

She finds the ship surprisingly poorly guarded, and pouts cutely at the realization that she will not be able to stab her stiletto heels on anyone. "Well, at least I should have enough time to mess up his engines." she says, half to herself, half to the strange girls following her. "If they're anything similar to the designs I know, then a good enough whack should break them good."

Avira has posed:
Avira looks shocked. She'd never turn her back on a bunch of guys like that in the middle of a fight! It'd hurt like hell! "You are? I've never heard of you before though. Even with the Zodiac Braves and I-" she pauses, "-have heard of them." No, she most definitely has not associated with those dangerous heretics in the past. Nope. Never. She finds herself double shocked at just how cheerful Zack is in the middle of the fight.

"Well! I'm impressed by your exciting reputation. But I'm also wondering if you can arrange it so you are not fighting each other out here." She half addresses the ShinSec goons too. "This brawling is kind of frowned upon here! Besides."

Avira hooks her thumbs onto her belt. "You don't want me to intervene. And I will!"

Adrian Meshia has posed:
All of the women wander away, and Adrian is left in the crowd alone. "Interesting," is all that he says as he seems to melt through the throng once again. This time he's looking for a better watching spot.

Chaos is so wonderful around the holidays.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is pushed along towards the airship but given her confusion is not due to the magic but due to prehaps to best put irt cultral issues. Skimpy clad women, the Don almost leering about things and she moves along, she's got an idea of what'a actually going on but she'll play along if she can get aboard she can sabotage things, the Don won't be expecting her to be totally lucid, or so she thinks,

Zack Fair has posed:
Aerith gives him a moment, and Zack gets a breather as he heals himself. He flashes another grin at her, then takes off for the stage. He's not letting Corneo get away.

Zack dodges around one of the guards, blocking the strike with his PHS (that poor phone is getting beat to death). "Sure," he tells Avira as he races past her, "I can do that. But first, I'm gonna go stop *that* fat perv from stealing my date."

"I'm pretty sure he's using some kind of mind-control materia, and, shocker, I don't look too kindly on guys who have to resort to that kinda thing to get girls!" Zack laughs, turning around to face her as he runs by. He winks around the packages, then leaps up the stage in a single bound.

Mako: It's a hell of a drug.

Zack lands somewhere between the Don and the airship. He levels the PHS at the big guy slowly. "Okay. So. Here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna blast that ring off your fat finger, and then we're just gonna let nature take its course, huh?"

Zack grabs the packages with both hands. He flings them up into the air, then whips out his PHS and goes into a stance unmistakable to both Aerith and Tifa: Sephiroth's.

Then he comes swinging in. But Zack isn't aiming for Don Corneo - he's aiming at the jewelry. "ZAAAAAAAAANTETSUKEN!"

Don Corneo has posed:
"Don't worry ladies, Don Corneo is always prepared!" Don escapes to his Zeppelin over yonder as the fight continues. Apparently, a good amount of the girls are heading up the stairs into it along with him. Of course, this does not prepare him for whoever might have gotten in there when he wasn't paying attention. Whoops!

Of course, back on the ground, the sec team have gotten tired and the remaining few have regrouped and set up a defense line against Aerith and Zack, breaking out riot shields, stun sticks, and apparently machine guns as well. They advance...

"Okay, let em have it, go!" the remaining assembled team come at the two, while one is taken down by Zack's Zantetsuken, cutting right through the metal and plastic shield he'd been carrying. Ouch!

Aerith has posed:
Aerith frowned as they lined up for what looked like their final push.

"Really?" She whirled her staff and set herself. "You've seen what mistakes you've made, and still you do this?" She smirked. "Then you deserve what's coming."

They fired. They charged, they yelled, they came at them with shields.

Aerith simply moved forward, whirling her staff in a figure-eight, the weapon glowing with spirit energy. The bullets scattered as she advanced, yet one of them managed to nick her right cheek.

The smirk was gone, replaced with an expression of impassivity. They closed in on her, a few with stun sticks trying to take Aerith out before she could use her weapon again.

The first one met the front end of her staff, right between the eyes. The other two almost had their heads knocked clean off as she swung just enough to knock them aside. Aerith whipped her staff the other direction, and three more were flattened.

"I really don't want to hurt you," she said as she continued to rebuff their efforts, "but he's got a friend of mine. So..."

Aerith tossed her staff into the air and gathered quite the bit of spirit energy into her hands. Pale green motes of light rose from the ground and the air, rushing toward her within a split second until she held the rough equivalent of a basketball in front of her.

"Get out of my way!!"

She released the blast, but it wasn't aimed at the guards. It was designed to ignore them entirely, to cut through them and to reach the primary target... the Don.

Avira has posed:
"...what?!" Avira grits her teeth and whirls to face the retreating Don and zeppelin. "He's -stealing- them? I thought this was just some photo shoot!" Would photo shoots need mind control...? Wait, was that why she was suddenly so interested in joining everyone in that tent!? For a few moments, Avira pales with the thought and quickly shouts something into her radio.

"Good luck gotta go!" she says quickly and flees the brawl, having not actually gotten involved-which is good, meaning that the security forces barricade won't be gunning for her. The huntress runs for the blimp. "Hold up! Stop! I gotta pull a couple people off that ship!" she calls out, only to stumble suddenly when she receives a response from Deelel. "...hm! Actually, nevermind!" she announces and runs /back/ to the fight between Zack and Aerith and the ShinSecs.

"Hey! Hey Zack, gotta a second, I got something I need to tell you! I'll be really fast, I promise!"

Emi Dennou has posed:
From riiiiiiiight behind Setzer...

Emi is staring at her with a nonplussed expression, you've seen the one before in your animus. "...Mess up his engines...? Why?" She pauses. "Are you talking to someone?"

The other DEnnous Dennou.

Zack Fair has posed:
Zack has *no problems* hurting people who are trying to hurt him. It's a thing that being a wanted man tends to get you used to. The boxes fall, and Zack catches each one in careful order just as the bullets suddenly come punching into his back. Zack coughs as he suddenly finds himself riddled with holes; he barely acknowledges Avira, instead using what he can of his free hand to cover his chest.

Zack's eyes flare up.

"Okay," He says slowly, "I'm done playing with you. I tried to give you a chance; I tried to get around you and get rid of the ring. Now I'm done."

A red circle appears around Zack. It's covered in markings, magical of all nature. "You know who I am. You know what I can do. You know I'm a First-Class SOLDIER and you know I offered you a chance to surrender. What happens now is on your heads."

Suddenly, the world goes dark for everyone except Zack's targets, and Zack's targets alone. The red circle begins to spin to life. And then...

And then they are bathed in fire.

A moment later, Zack and his targets come surging back into the real world. Zack exhales and stumbles forward. He's not happy.

He's /really/. *Really*. REALLY. Not happy.

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
Setzerina couldn't help but laugh. Here, she found more than she begged for, as one engine powered the two forward fans through massive shafts. she was expecting independent engines, but this was perfect. With two fans out, the zeppelin would have it's mobility greatly crippled, and if everything else failed... she looked up, to the place where the gas was stored. A large enough hole would force the ship to land, and buy her enough time to prepare something else, if she didn't disable the other propellers first.

"Because I don't like him, I think that man down there was planning something bad, and I really, really don't like when people try to make me a fool." she explained to the girls, while grabbing a large wrench from a shelf nearby, not caring if she got oil on her or on the dress.
"Now, if I do this," she muttered, pulling the wrench to loosen some large screws, one after another, staining herself with even more oil (she forgot how dirty it was to work on airship engines), before throwing the wrench to the assortment of gears and getting a conveniently placed rag to clean her greased hands.

"Escape this, pervert." she spat, looking out a window and finally realizing what that Don is trying to do: run away with the girls. Well, that plan is wrecked, but that isn't enough for her. Opening the window, she grabs a pipe wrench and throws it at him. He's probably too far, but she's higher up, so she could only trust on Lady Luck for this. She was going to feed him his damned pimp cane even if it was the last thing she does.

Avira has posed:
Being shot is a good reason to ignore someone else entirely. This act sort of abruptly changes Avira's plans to explain about her inside man on the ship. Instead, she backs herself out-not that she would get caught in the crossfire.

Don Corneo has posed:
The ShinSecs appear to be pulling back as the Zeppelin is actually pulling up and taking off. A few grab at the ropes that have been extended so they can try and climb up. Those that can still walk, that is. Several are dangling from it like tethers as it begins to rise up and pull off into the sky.

"Phew, well least the audition was a success! Hey, why are all these people knocked out..." Don Corneo looked around suddenly seeing a few of his aides on the floor and wondered aloud. Stepping over to the security cameras he spots Setzerina & Dennou apparently, messing with the engines!

"Oh crap."

Meanwhile, what Shinsec is left are apparently getting a bit... out numbered, since several have broke and ran. Most of the remaining one's are cut down by Zack's Octoslash, and sent tumbling thanks to the massive fire, ouch.

"Woah! can't we talk about this hon!?" Don Corneo has to duck to avoid the huge pipe wrench sailing over his head, and all of a sudden the Zeppelin lurches with a BANG.

"Holy smokes, some one get down to the engines!" Things aren't looking good on the Honey Bee.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel has plans to sabotage the ship, but it's dangerous then again she might be the only one on board whom is immune to it. She's just playing along Deelel's got her plans she may need to get off but if she does that leaves everyone else on the ship at Don's mercy. She does not like where this seems to be going at this point in time. She wait for the distractions is a chance to move and she's now making her way down to the engine, to try to while everything else is distracted as she comes in behind the Don.

"I'm sorry, but your not have the proper permissions, so we can do this the nice way or the hard way. Let everyone go or I can see how much of a pounding you can take."

There's a very predatory grin on the program's face. Ang would be proud.

Emi Dennou has posed:
Emi says, "Oh." She doesn't think the first is a good reason, the third is little better, but the second is probably true. She does say, though, "Couldn't a crashed ship hurt innocent people as well, however? Or will it just fail to start?" The latter is perhaps more understandable. And proven when she tumbles over thanks to the Honey Bee lurching about.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN? Who knows, the storyline isn't picked up next issue.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart seems to come back to her senses when the airship gets shaked like this. Maybe its because Don Corneo got smacked around too. Well, smacked by the airship falling apart at least. She eeps as she jumps out of the zeppelin before it cuts off any paths of exit, landing in the grass below it... graceful landing too, if it wasn't for her clothes.

Which is about the time she realizes it, and crosses her arms over her chest >_< "What the hell is going on here!?"

Zack Fair has posed:
Zack heads over to Tifa. He's bleeding, and he's battered, but he hasn't dropped a single package, and he's got a broad grin on his face. "Mind control Materia. Lingerie models. ShinRa knows I'm alive. Long story. Merry Christmas."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith scattered the remaining guards and glanced up at the fleeing airship... as it suddenly had engine trouble. She jogged toward the zepplin as she saw someone leap out, and grinned once she noticed it was Tifa. "I don't know about his story, but I just came to get you out of here. And what he said about having a Merry Christmas."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart keeps her arms in front of herself, but stretches a hand down to pull the skirt as low as possible. Although its not much shorter than her old skirt, she doesn't feel right in these clothes either. "... Merry Christmas? Really? Is that all you gotta say about this?" -.-

Well, Zack might have gotten a present of his own seeing her like this. "... and what happened to you?" She doesn't have her potions handy right now. Its in her 'other suit'.

Zack Fair has posed:
"I got shot!" Zack replies, "I was trying to save you!" He turns around to display the bullet wounds. "See?!"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith groaned as she headed toward the blimp. "Quit showing off and let's finish this. I need to have a personal talk with the Don about properly respecting women."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart shakes her head, but she sneaks a peck on Zack's cheek "My hero, then?" She turns around, looking for where her real clothes might be at -.-

Zack Fair has posed:
Zack grins. "And I didn't break a single box."

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
The gambleress smirks as the ship slowly descends. "Take that, you dirty old man. Still, this is just the beginning."

Giggling.

Emi Dennou has posed:
"You're a louse." Emi says to continue the act for today, extra words to ensure the posecatcher gets it.