revivalproject

Entry tags:

Lead

WHO: Tony, Richie, open in theory*
WHERE: Coruscant. A bar.
WHAT: A pair of addictive personalities walk into a bar.
WHEN: Mid-field trip?
WARNINGS: I don't know how dark this will actually get, but they're definitely going to talk about addiction a lot, and Tony is more self-destructive than usual.
*: I know I haven't had a normal open post in a wHile, so sorry about this one targeted prompt. I know no one ever takes the wildcard option, but really, now is the time, hit me up, I'm just floundering a bit in this event.

Jon did help. He did. Jon could also sense Tony's anxiety like a soft, marshmallow filling, and if Jon was going to continue to be so helpful, it was probably in Tony's best interest if he didn't know how profoundly pathetic Tony was. He was used to doing this on his own, anyway. The code was in the framework.

Isolating himself on the ship hadn't exactly worked out, but Tony thought he could maybe apply the same theory to a stale, narrow bar buried a few feet under the hotel. A whole planet to explore, and not a lot of time to do it, who would be sticking so close at this point? Tony knew he wouldn't be, if he didn't feel like his wings had been clipped. Steve was gone. It was going to get worse from here.

The bartender left a slimy trail in their wake as they moved up and down their space, like a snail making its way along the counter, ignoring Tony by now and leaving him to watch blindly as they swept by, then the discharge oozed incrementally toward where Tony had propped his elbows, then was mopped up by the tendril they used to carry a stained rag trailing behind themself. It splattered with a reliable regularity into a bucket at either end of the counter. It was revolting, but Tony was starting to find some peace in it, measuring the consistency of the slime in the way it pooled and was gathered in the sweep of the cloth. It was a very different kind of peace than the one Tony had slammed his head against by watching the way the liquid in the bottle of 'strongest you have', whatever that was, caught the low light and flashes of neon that filtered their way into the bar. He wasn't sure how long ago he had ordered it, but there were already two cigarette butts wilting in the melting ice of the glass that it had come with, and the third he had largely forgotten about burnt close to his knuckles.

The bartender also didn't speak any structured language, though it seemed to understand just fine. It was the snarling grunt that they hurled at another man that knocked Tony out of his reverie, blinking slowly at the guy raising his hands in surrender with a nervous laugh and insisting he was definitely going to pay, just slipped his mind, is all. It was dark enough in here that Tony knew it was a blanket invitation to get away with plenty that wouldn't be welcome closer to the surface, but even the snail-guy had their limits. They were still grouching in a low growl as the came sweeping in front of Tony again, not even slowing down as Tony tried to ask, "Got any more of these?" with the last of the cigarette brandished. They would probably be back, Tony thought, as he watched them go. Maybe.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A light sparkled from behind a shadow that revealed itself to be an old, abandoned crate gathering rust and grease that it was probably nearly melded to the floor and wall. The red and gray Ghost floated up and towards him, her points expanding slightly around her core suggesting the widening of an eye. Dismissing his threat, she circled him, considering his chosen attire and deciding that she'd attribute it to his haste to find her. With something like a nod, she turned and flew back down to the crate, nudging something out from behind it: Cayde's beloved hand cannon.

"We were being tailed," Sundance finally spoke. "There were only ten of them. Cayde didn't count on them bringing the equivalent of an EMP grenade. He had enough sense to have me recompile before I felt him black out. From what I overheard, the ones who took him are either working for or trying to do business with a crime syndicate called Black Sun."

The light of the Ghost was a complex relief, enough to make the tension drop out of Tony's shoulders at the sight of her as he jogged closer, only for his chest to tighten with renewed anxiety at how delicate she looked on her own. Was it more surprising that whoever managed to get the drop on Cayde managed to separate him from Sundance, or the gun? Tony collected it swiftly, checking to ensure it was still in one piece and loaded as she explained, and raised an eyebrow as he tucked the gun away inside of his robe to parrot, "Only ten."

Okay, Black Sun, that was plenty of information. "Can you still feel him?" Tony asked, willing to skip the discovery phase if they could get straight to the judgment. He could take ten guys, too, easy, nothing to worry about.

"He managed to deal with most of them." That would account for the six missing bullets in the thirteen round cylinder. Her view of the odds clearly showed a streak of Cayde's influence, if not her confidence in her Guardian's abilities. "They might have heard about our involvement in some clear-out jobs with Echo some levels down." She hovered almost anxiously by Tony as he picked up the Ace of Spades, probably uncertain as to whether he knew how to handle the oversized gun.

Her vertices twitched at the question, but she steeled herself as she took a moment to reassess. "Faintly," she admitted. "I wanted to follow them, but I wouldn't be able to do much on my own." Not to mention she'd put her Guardian more at risk if anything happened to her. "...the Light isn't as strong a connection for us. Not just here, but even back on Agra Ten. He won't talk about it, but if he is injured beyond repair, I don't know that I'd be able to bring him back."

Tony had saved them that experiment at cost of his own safety. Sundance remembered it well. It was enough to convince her that her Guardian's trust in the man wasn't misplaced.

"I know where they've gone. I hacked one of their datapads while they were busy 'cleaning up'," she said distastefully. She'd ping over the info she'd gathered, a snippet of exchanged messages about acquiring a rogue assassin droid of unknown make and model, talk about an auction along and coordinates for delivery once the target had been confirmed located. Levels deep. It was the underworld of Coruscant's underworld, Level 1313.

It might not have been quite as elegant as something Tony would have made, but he had spent enough quality time with the Ace of Spades to feel reasonably confident in handling it until it was back to where it belonged. Or maybe it needed to be confiscated until Cayde learned to behave, because Sundance had Tony staring incredulously at her before elaborating, "We've been on this planet, in this dimension, for two minutes, and you're already killing people." Maybe Cayde deserved more of that frustration, but, as far as Tony knew, he had managed not to shoot anyone while they were on Risa or the Graq planet. Either Sundance or Echo were the bad influence here. "Unbelievable."

Tony could put that issue aside enough to nod, mouth tense and looking aside, back up the alley from where he had come, as Sundance explained the gravity of the situation. "What are you waiting around for then?," he accused, then gestured for her to stick close and not get snatched out of the air. Experimentally, he bounced a message back to the cluster of information she sent him, There's one of those holes not far from here, drawing a map between them, their way down, and potentially their Exo in distress, that he was already out of the alley and navigating. If they could talk that way, this would all go much faster.

The spires of Coruscant had offered plenty thus far to hold Tony's attention. The marketplace was already deeper than he had explored yet, and as they made their way further down into the dark warren, Tony quickly realized just how alien this planet really was.

When Tony looked at her like that, Sundance stared right back at him, simply waiting. She only gave the subtlest of dips when it seemed that the man had put aside that line of conversation. When directed, she coolly floated closer, the rear half of her star-shaped body rotating this way and that so that there was never truly a moment that she was absolutely still.

Since he hadn't hesitated to set out, the Ghost saw no reason to question his preparedness. She dutifully hovered close, keeping lower than she usually would, moving just enough to keep out of Tony's way, although if she noticed too many curious eyes, she'd consider ducking into the man's bathrobe for cover.

The residents of the lower sectors were either the poorer folk just trying to get by, heads ducked down as though afraid to draw attention simply by meeting the wrong person's eyes. Others were the obvious entrepreneurs, trying to solicit their wares, most likely stolen if not very illegal in some form or another. Strange alien faces hawking their sales pitch in equally strange languages.

The deeper they moved along, the more sparse things became until the area around them looked nearly abandoned, walls marred in graffiti, some scored by some kind of weapons-fire here and there. Fewer people dwelt in plain sight, tucked beside old storage units or abandoned building entrances in a spice haze. The world below was definitely a different vibe compared to the topside of the city, and most of the lighting was barely maintained but completely artificial, so deep down as they were.

The Black Sun, Sundance eventually pinged, her glowing core turning towards a particular symbol painted haphazardly on one of the walls amidst old advertisements and bleak tags in dripping alien script.

This was a bridge that Tony had been under before, just to the power of ten, making his skin crawl with an anxious familiarity and eager to make a swift escape even as he locked eyes with a bleary humanoid slouched against the edge of a building. It was hard to tell whether this would have been more Natasha's speed, or truly Tony's home turf. He was shaken out of the silent apology that the dazed alien was definitely in no place to be receiving by Sundance's alert, turning toward her light and keen-eyed catch among the noise on the wall.

Hey, hypothetically, you don't have to answer right away, what do you say we leave him here and run away together?, he offered, figuring out quickly how lucky Cayde was to have his partner, as he skipped back a few steps to try to take in the whole marked building in the low light. It was holding up the ceiling above it, wired into the structure in looping, gnarled or rusted together cables that mostly served as a roosting place anymore, for the scaly, milky-eyed birds at this level. There were clearly windows below that, receded into the wall, but dark and boarded up where they weren't smashed through for what looked like furniture or something likewise bulky to be braced in and block the well. At street-level, the wall was featureless, aside from the communal additions over time, and Tony followed it along to the corner that he quickly backed away from again as he spotted a doorway with a very bored but much more alert looking alien lounging in it. Sundance might not have wanted to do any running away with Tony, but he gestured quietly for her to tuck away against his breast inside the robe with the gun before they started drawing any attention. From the pocket, he produced a stack of credits with which to make his compelling argument.

And then what? Her response was given as Tony moved along to inspect that particular building. Not that she had any designs to leave her Guardian, but she'd humor his friend for conversation, especially if he had the same sort of urge to channel nervous energy towards something.

Without hesitation she hid herself away at Tony's gesture as he approached the guard. Said guard narrowed his eyes as he stood more attentive upon seeing Tony. He looked the man up and down, a smirk tugging at his face. Still, credits spoke volumes, and with a snort he took the generous donation and thumbed down the flickering corridor behind him as he stepped aside from the doorway.

"All the way back, take the lift to B6," he grunted, his voice a gutteral baritone.

As though he was anticipating the question, Tony answered immediately, We could get a boat. There was no more obvious Ghost retirement plan, and the ocean felt like the furthest possible place from the ominous hallway that they found themselves in. You and me, setting sail, sipping iced tea and watching the sunset. We can always take a job if that ever gets boring.

The rattle and rumble of the elevator felt revealingly loud after the hum of the struggling lights filling the corridor, making Tony tuck his hand impulsively into the robe to lay against the gun and draw up against the back of the car as it announced their descent. Lower could not possibly be better. Even the light in here flickered, making Tony raise a lip at it as it seemed to disconnect and jostle back into place with every floor that they passed, until the doors abruptly opened to a violent burst of sound.

This room was densely packed, the air thick with what looked to Tony like an oily shimmer in bathwater, intractable and making him squint with discomfort until his eyes adjusted to it. Every conversation seemed to be an angry shout or bark of laughter, and there was a live band on one side of the room competing aggressively with a man chattering endlessly on a stage on the other. Tony was several steps into the crowd, jostling for a place among them, before he actually started picking up any languages or words. He was leaning over a mezzanine, peering down into an erratic arrangement of tables set before the man on stage, searching the room for every possible exit when he realized that the man was an auctioneer and waving a gun. I might not be properly dressed for this, he reported helpfully.

The silence that stretched after Tony's continued fantasy of a vacation getaway was long enough that he'd be forgiven to have thought Sundance would let it go without comment. ...lose the boat, she finally said, not too long after did the doors to the elevator open up to another world.

There were more than a few glances in Tony's direction, sizing him up and deciding a man in a bathrobe was probably not here for very serious matters as they resumed whatever conversation and arguments they'd been engaged in.

I'm glad you noticed, Sundance noted in regards to Tony's observation. At least with the way they were communicating they wouldn't have to compete with the noise levels here. At least if anything happens, it wouldn't be difficult to misdirect attention. She couldn't see much and keep herself hidden, but the sheer number of people she could pick up within the vicinity was...well, slightly troubling. At least they hadn't come for a fight.

Found him. She sent a radar image from her ambient scans, an unsettling sea of red dots with one blue marking their position and another blue point farther off, perhaps unsurprisingly somewhere just beyond the direction of the stage as they were currently facing it.

A fight could have been in their best interest if this went sideways. A bunch of guys jumping Cayde in an alley had a clear advantage, but starting a brawl in this place looked like it would have been easy chaos. That was what Sundance meant by misdirect attention, right? Tony was already looking up and around the higher points of the room, doors accounted for and searching for logical routes out of a rumble. With Sundance's image, he easily mapped the space, projecting what the room beyond must have looked like and making his way cautiously closer to their shared wall, alongside the stage. They were still a floor above it, looking down at the auctioneer, but as a man weighed heavily with a crate of bottles burst out of a door marked STAFF in a language Tony didn't know the name of, Tony took his chance and rolled swiftly into the opening before the door slid closed behind him.

It definitely was not a move that had gone without notice, but the guy with the bottles was distracted enough at least. If someone in the crowd that had seen Tony had a mind to report it, he still had time before the news could possibly travel through the noise.

In here, he could still hear a formless rumble of voices and the thump of beat from the band, but Tony's ears felt as though they were ringing from the transition as he considered the situation. There were more crates here, the floor stained and sticky with broken bottles between rickety shelving that was taped all over with what felt like ironic work safety posters. The shelves must have been jumped in an alley, too. Tony moved carefully beyond them, making his way in the direction of the blue dot that was hopefully Cayde and not some component ripped out of his head, all the while chattering to Sundance.
You don't like boats?
Have you ever been on a boat?
Did you have a body, before, like Cayde?
I guess without a body, you wouldn't get the whole effect.
It's very romantic, I promise.

By then, they had moved down some creaking steps, only for Tony to stop short at a strange, pulsing noise he could hear in the dark maze of boxes, trunks, looped ropes and tables arrayed with inscrutable technologies before them. It seemed to stop, until Tony prompted, Did you hear that?, only for he buzzing vibration to sound again. Tony remained rooted to where he stood and looked slowly down at the Ghost under his lapel, eyebrows raised.

Starting a brawl with a group this large and already probably toeing the lines of confrontation was exactly what Sundance was suggesting. She was confident that Tony would probably not opt to be in the middle of it, unlike her Guardian, but then Cayde had more method to his madness than most would credit him for.

She moved along easily with Tony, especially since he was the one actually doing the moving. If she had the need to breathe she would have held it as he got dangerously close to one of those blips on her radar, catching a glimpse of the burdened figure that they slipped around.

Why a boat when you can fly on a jumpship? The only boats we've been on are the old ruined ones around the Cosmodrome, rusted and lying in the middle of fields.

It was a lot of questions but she didn't mind having something to distract them from the very precarious situation they might well be in.

There was never really a before, for me, for Ghosts. I suppose we were just part of the Light.

...I hope this 'romantic' is not like the cheap romance novels Cayde has read.

Given the current atmosphere they currently found themselves in, she imagined her Guardian would offer a few sassy comments to add to that thought, only making her all the more anxious for the fact that he wasn't there with them. Sundance twitched anxiously, swiveling herself at enough of an angle to glance back up at Tony.

That's not from upstairs.

As slowly and quietly as Tony could manage, hand in the robe and on the grip of the gun again, he made his way through the collection toward where he thought the sound was coming from. It helpfully pulsed again as he tried to respond casually, It's not about the destination, then was spooked up against a shelf that rattled dangerously as the stage curtain flapped and the noise of the chaotic room beyond briefly burst through. Tony held his breath, hand up as though he could steady anything on the overloaded shelf, then inched his way along again. As far as he could tell, as he pursued the sound, they were getting close to the mark that was Cayde as well, who could not be left unaccountable for the romance novel thing.

In the interest of furthering our understanding, a cultural exchange. and not at all to embarrass Cayde, I'm going to have no know more about these novels, Tony prompted, and that vibration buzzed over his shoulder, making him freeze again. At the same time, the door they had slipped in through slid open again to allow the noise to spill through the storage room once more, along with at least three burly, crate-carrying types, grumbling and cracking their knuckles. Tony jumped again, pressing his back up against the solid mass wound with rope where the vibrating had come from, trying to shrink into its shadow.

If we had just gone with the boat, it would be sunsets and crushed ice by now.
Cayde would understand, he's a romantic.
All that space, warm sun on you, you close your eyes and it's like being in the womb again. Or the Light, whatever.
What is that noise??

"Wazzat noise?" one of the brutes asked just as Tony's last message sent, the buzzing going off incessantly against Tony's back until he was holding his breath again at the aliens up the steps raising their noses to peer down into the backstage collection. One of them came stumbling down the stairs, making Tony try to inch his way to the farther side of the roped mass, shoulders curled.

It was only as he came around to try to peer back up the other side of it that Tony caught the light against the metal an inch from his nose and hissed, "Cayde?"

Beneath his robe, even Sundance tensed as Tony as the sounds from beyond briefly increased. She bumped against him as he continued, but as he spoke on, the Ghost caught on to what he was tracking.

Unrealistic accounts of forbidden Guardian romances, Sundance replied, her glowing core swiveling slightly in a glance much limited by her ability to move in her current position, aside from the curtain of bathrobe she was nestled behind. He's close, but-

They suddenly had company of the most unwelcome sort. Sundance cringed like a stiffening starfish as the noise continued to go off, drawing more than their own attention now. But Tony had found her Guardian.

I've been borrowing Cayde's tablet signal. From what I can tell, he's still out. I can take care of that, but if I don't draw attention once I slip out of hiding, getting him up definitely will, she explained. Sometimes, glowing was not all that great a trait to have.

Stop, Tony demanded, hand up to steady Sundance, to one last accompanying buzz from somewhere in Cayde's clothes, after which everyone seemed to freeze. The alien that was tracking them had been following the path that Tony took toward the noise, and paused as it went quiet by that teetering shelf, nose up again as though he could sniff out the source.

He flung his arms up and went crashing back into the shelf as a sudden light was thrown into his eyes from the vibrating communicator that Tony had very carefully fished out of Cayde's pocket. In the ensuing chaos, the shelf shattering and sending the array of likely not-very-legally acquired goods raining down across the floor, the brute howling in surprise and his compatriots coming thundering down the steps, Tony suggested, "Make it quick!" They weren't the only ones that had heard the noise. Tony darted for where he had heard the stage curtain flap, where he came face to face with the baffled auctioneer trying to laugh off the interruption and staring daggers at Tony as he swept out onto the stage like he belonged there, fuzzy bathrobed and golden gloved.

This was fine. This was completely fine. Except it wasn't. It was different when your Guardian was currently out cold and therefore in no position to cover or help shoot a way out of things. At least Sundance was quick to react, dodging past the confines of Tony's bathrobe, a quick glimpse of blue light as she ducked behind her Guardian.

Don't die, came her strong suggestion, uncertain of what Tony had planned, but she hadn't much choice but to hope that he knew what he was doing. Quick had to wait as Sundance all but buried her glowing face against Cayde to stifle any light that might draw attention, listening as the angry bouncers or whatever they were came closer to their position, sounding confused before they realized there was only one place their intruder could likely have gone. It was only after they'd all turned to charge back up to the main hall that Sundance emerged.

A brief shimmering glow surrounded the prone Exo as she tended to him, hoping that blast he'd been caught in hadn't completely damaged his internal systems. She sagged in relief as she felt the connection between them strengthen, Cayde's eyes flickering open.

"Wha..."

Not a very confidence-inspiring response, but still better than before. "No time to explain, we need to leave before Stark gets himself killed out there, she rattled off urgently. "He came out here in a bathrobe, you know- wait no don't--!"

The Ghost cringed once again as she watched her Guardian lurch in an attempt to get up, unaware of his trussed up situation until he tumbled off the crates he'd been lain across.

Tony didn't know what he had planned, either, but he appreciated the advice and tried not to let it make him sweat any more than he already was under the bright lights of the stage and curious stares of the raucous audience. He hadn't really been thinking about dying yet. He cleared his throat and smiled brightly, waving to the assembled auction-goers and nodding to try to encourage the confused smattering of applause for this new player in their show. The grin froze up as he spotted the alien brutes busting out of the Staff door, looking around wildly then pointing down at the stage; at least this was the intended effect, however unnerving it was to see them try to push their way toward the stage. The crowd would have to buy Tony a little time, and hopefully the whole production had Sundance well on her way to working her magic.

As soon as he had wandered ever so casually close enough, Tony snatched the microphone stand away from the auctioneer to greet the crowd with a warm purr, gathering speed and growing louder over the new crash he heard behind him, "Lovely to see all of you again. There's been a slight change in program, for those eager to get to the goods, lots seventy through seventy-five will be coming up next in the interest of expediency for reasons I hope you can all appreciate, we'll be starting low for the inconvenience so get your offers in quick for this special value, can I hear a hundred, you're going to need to speak up, that's my girl, anyone have two?"

Meanwhile, the auctioneer stared at him, then his own inventory list in puzzlement, then the crowd for some help, definitely not prepared for this anywhere in his own negotiations. Lot 70 must have been about as valuable as Tony was hoping, because there was only a brief pause for the confusion in the audience before they were tearing each other apart.

Either these thugs didn't know how to tie proper knots or just had fat fingers, but Sundance wasn't going to complain as it allowed her to wedge her crown-like extension between the rope to pry it loose. This took more effort than she'd anticipated, her earlier task draining her considerably more than previous repairs. "Are you all right? Get up, we have to go!" she insisted nevertheless, decompiling so she wouldn't end up being left behind somewhere.

Cayde groaned, his groggy movements not at all reassuring to his Ghost as he brushed distractedly at the rope and then felt around for the ground so he could push himself up. He staggered to his feet with all the grace of a newborn fawn, leaning heavily against the crates he'd only moments ago been lying on.

"Go? Where the... Some'unny run me over witha tank?"

"No, you got hit by...some sort of EMP grenade. We need to go find Stark- ...oh no, what's going on out there?"

The red dots were converging upon each other. That was...well, Sundance was hesitant to say it was good news, but so far none were concentrating too much towards Tony's position.

"Stairs, can you manage them?"

"Stairs? Baah, I can jump whooole shtories!"

"No need to impress anyone tonight. Just take the stairs. To your left. ...your other left."

A few minutes would find her incredibly grateful that her Guardian did not insist on his usual method, lest he end up smashing his head into the ceiling. It only took several tries for her to coach him to get the door open. And there they stood, staring at the chaos that awaited them on the other side.

"...I din't do it."

"In a kind of roundabout way? You did."

By the time Cayde came stumbling out of the staff door and caught Tony's eye, absolutely no one in the room was listening to him anymore as they had devolved into a dissatisfied and accusatory howling once he had declared whatever mystery lot he had just thrown to them sold. It didn't matter at all that his attempt at personable chatter for the lucky winner stuttered as he watched Cayde's weird swaying and the rope trailing after him, and that his lip and eyebrow slowly raised in a question that wasn't nearly as important as, How do we get out of here now?

Cayde, or however much of him was functioning up there, was half a story above Tony, and across what was effectively a brewing mosh pit, closer to their known elevator evacuation route. Closer, too, to the three brutes that had come crashing out before him, position by then at the top of the stairs leading down into the bowl containing the auction, and Tony and the by then very restless auctioneer on stage. Without bothering to finish his sentence, Tony shoved the microphone back at the frazzled man, creating a spike of feedback as they fumbled with it and the auctioneer yelped, "What, huh?" out over the crowd. He was the only one that could barely hear Tony then as Tony slowly backed away, effusively thanking everyone for being such a wonderful audience as he tried to edge his way toward the wall under Cayde.

"Stark is- still in one piece, thankfully," Sundance dutifully reported.

"Huh? Who-what piece?" Cayde glanced around blearily, not that he made out much but a milling mess on the floor. His looking about also propelled him to move again, much to his Ghost's chagrin, the usual swagger of his honed Hunter's gait replaced by the drunken grace of a baby rhinoceros as he lurched towards the edge of the steps and the alien trio standing there in the way. Sundance's shout of warning startled him to pull backwards, however not quite before bumbling right into one of the brutes.

It was a lovely chain reaction that followed, with the one who got bumped immediately reacting by setting foot down on the next step to save himself a nasty spill. One of the others beside him glanced back to see who'd come up behind them and then jerked back with a start, clearly not expecting to see a potential assassin droid functional and loose. He grabbed at the first's arm, his own balance unfortunately too far gone to be corrected, and the one grabbed the other as they all ended up going for a tumble after all, bowling down into the rabble.

"...well that works," Sundance noted. "Let's get moving, he's coming up just below us."

Cayde nodded deeply before taking extra caution as he moved towards the steps again, as though he half expected it to move out from beneath his feet, his ungainly descent riddled with too many close-calls for the handful of stairs he had to travel.

Tony had been trying to keep an eye on Cayde as he moved, still trying to telepathically communicate his bafflement at how Cayde was stumbling around, so he not only had made very unexpected and very intense eye contact with one of the aliens as all four of them came to line up with the stairs, but had watched that aliens eyes snap wide open with the realization that his compatriots had both just crashed into his back and he was about to be face first in the sticky carpet. Tony froze long enough to watch the disaster, equally wide-eyed, the angry rumbling around him peppered now with shrill shrieks of surprise as more people were dragged into this pile-up, and others threw wild elbows and knees in an attempt to get clear of it. The head of the alien Tony had come to know so deeply in those brief moments hit the edge of the stage with a thunk resonant enough that Tony could feel it shoot up his legs, before he came to a woozy rest. The shudder was Tony's cue.

Using this fleshy path of stepping stones that Cayde had lined up for him, Tony jumped from the stage to go scrabbling across the groaning backs of the three collapsed brutes. The first was effectively out cold, and the second snarled his dissent, but the third had been well cushioned by his brethren on their descent and shifted perilously with a roar as Tony's heel dug into his shoulder. Tony yelped, flinging his arms out toward the stairs as the body beneath him rose.

Gloved hands caught onto Tony's wrists and hauled him closer towards his destination well clear of the wildly grasping hands of the angry bouncer. Cayde had only reached out and grabbed him out of reflex, the clear necessity of some course of action hot-wiring itself directly from brain to his hands without the foresight to consider what should happen next. The execution could have probably gone smoother, but with both of them on questionable footing the resulting was probably like some parody of a pre-Golden Age romance cover in which for the few seconds they maintained each other's balance, Tony was practically plastered against the Exo's chest, bathrobe askew for added effect.

Cayde peered myopically down at him. "Aaandal? We gettin' into fights without me?"

Hopefully not, Sundance interjected, including Tony now that they'd regrouped. Nice job, by the way. Now we just need to not get caught up in the distraction. Also your date seems upset at being stood up, Stark.

That third alien had finally managed to get to his feet, if uneven it was for the people he was standing on, growling as he glared daggers at Tony and the Exo.

The romance was a short lived one. After crashing into Cayde and his unforgivingly pointy bits, Tony complained, "Ow," and went teetering back on his heel to rub at his tenderized jaw, one hand still curled in the front of Cayde's clothes to hold himself up. The slurring was not any more reassuring than Cayde's stumbling, making Tony's first response to Sundance's helpful warning come out loud, "Did he just call me 'doll'?" before he made any effort to turn around and check in on that upset. The turn came just in time to spot the fist flying for him, which only meant Tony had the luxury of catching it with his face instead of the back of his head. His whole head snapped back with the force, only to bounce off of Cayde's shoulder again, Tony's entire weight dragging down the front of Cayde's shirt then as he clung for any semblance of balance and sputtered, "Seriously?"

Anything Sundance might have meant to say was quickly aborted for a futile, Look out! before Tony ended up crashing against Cayde again. At least the Exo was able to react well enough, grabbing onto Tony before he could sink any further.

"Now that," he started, pointing a wobbly finger in the alien's direction, or more accurately nearly in his face, "-was uncalled for." The brute wasn't quite sure what to make of the reprimand, something clicking in his head that reminded him of why they'd all gone crashing down the stairs to begin with. In the next moment he was seeing stars as Cayde's hand caught him upside the head in a badly aim slap, sending the alien bouncer practically pirouetting as he went sprawling off to the side of the pile of bodies gathered at the foot of the steps. Cayde stared at his hand as though it had just gotten a mind of its own, or maybe he was wondering why it hadn't had a gun in it. Oh well, it worked, more or less. He looked down at Tony. "Y'allright?"

If Sundance could bodily haul her Guardian to the lift, she would have. Instead she would just have to try navigating for them. Cayde, she said firmly to get his attention. Exit advised, now. Borrowing off of the map Tony had compiled earlier, she marked out one of the closest routes back to the lift. Cayde nodded a little too much for anyone's comfort, starting forward again before stopping short as his boot stepped on someone's backside. "Oh, um. 'scuse us," he said, squinting past the pile-up before he looked at Tony and after a shrug, threw him over a shoulder. "Hang'on, I got this..!"

The world lurched as he gathered himself and made the jump.

Tony was also staring at Cayde's hand, his own lifted to cover his busted lip, as Cayde checked in on him, not sure what to make of that move just yet and even more not sure if any part of the distraction he had concocted had been all that effective. He made a noise that could have been, "M'fine," into his hand as his gaze jumped then to the bouncer, where that exchange of blows was apparently the beginning to many, a fuse lit and the riled up crowd ready to explode. The alien caught another wild fist on the chin from one of the auction-goers just as Tony was hauled off of the ground. Distraction effective, current predicament not ideal, Tony flailed and groaned, "Caaaa-ayd-uh!" as his stomach seemed to be dragged up into the air and the rest of him was left behind. That was mostly his own fault, his kicking sending him sliding further over Cayde's shoulder, where Tony didn't have the luxury of grabbing onto the Exo's cape to keep him on board; the excitement had dislodged the gun from its safe tuck inside Tony's robe, and he had to fling both hands out to grab it before it went flying into the brawl.

By the time Cayde landed, Tony was brandishing the Ace of Spades from about the level of his ass, and didn't have much of an explanation for threatening the crotch of the alien he was left facing. It did put him at the perfect level to see the second the alien twitched to grab at the weapon off his own belt, and Tony squeezed off a shot before the twitch could go any further, lodging a bullet into the floor and clearing a wide area around them in the shock of the blast.

"Sticks the landing!" Cayde spouted, looking proud of himself until he noticed it was mostly legs that he had any sort of hold of. He failed to notice the attention he'd drawn by his landing, at least in his immediate vicinity. A fancy metal face flying over heads certainly did the job.

"Heeey, what're ya doin' back th-" he started to laugh, but the gunshot cut him off short. Thankfully he didn't hunch up his shoulders until after the shot had gone off, the sound nearly startling him right onto his tiptoes. Reminded of Something Important, the Exo's free hand quickly flew to his empty holster.

Later, Sundance insisted. Stark, don't lose that. Cayde- the lift! Now seemed the most ideal time while they had the space, but she anticipated it wouldn't last very long. The Ace of Spades was by no means a subtle gun, and the report had drawn more than a few more eyes in their direction.

Hopefully Stark didn't accidentally bite his tongue off as the Exo swung around one way, then the other before getting himself situated, Sundance shouting Your other left! by way of directions until they were suddenly moving in the right direction. Ahead of them, (or in Tony's case, behind), the doors to the lift yawned open, expelling an elegantly dressed, green-skinned alien who somehow managed to pull off a confused yet disdainful look as he saw the chaos awaiting him and his two associates. None of them expected a droid to come barreling straight for them. "I didn't know they came in green!" Cayde marveled, sweeping past them as they barely managed to duck aside.

/*me watching log* https://i.pinimg.com/originals/77/88/7a/77887a4d8125bdf6d1131ddbb17bbb0e.jpg

jail for mother for one thousand years

nyoooo now we perish from starvation for sure

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/me watching log https://i.pinimg.com/originals/77/88/7a/77887a4d8125bdf6d1131ddbb17bbb0e.jpg