"Get this straight, O'Connor!" Nathaniel grabs Simon by his shirt and pulls him up to his face, startling most of the bar patrons. "I'm not working for an Akuma! I'd never work for an Akuma! Got that?" Off the other redhead's fearful nod, Nathaniel slams his face down on the table and storms out of the door without a word.
Simon, with a groan, lifts his head back up. "What's his problem?" He spat.
"Akuma killed his brother," Zoe solemnly explained.
Nathaniel knocks on the door of a nondescript building in a run-down area of the city. Asking around, he learned that this is where Princess Justice's cousin performs. If he's anything like his cousin, he'll be all about truth and shit, so it'll be easy to get some information out of him. A speakeasy-style peephole slides open to reveal two eyes. The person behind the door lets out a low grunt.
"Astruc sent me."
After a beat, the peephole slides closed and the door opens. Once he steps inside, Nathaniel is greeted by the sight of a gorilla with blue skin. He gives Nathaniel the once over, making the redhead roll his eyes. "Nice monkey suit," he spat.
"Wiseass," the gorilla murmured.
Nathaniel makes his way down the hall toward the main room and can already hear the music a bunch of drunks are probably stumbling to right now. When he steps through the doorway, he sees the place is no dive bar. It's a white tablecloth nightclub on a par with the Au Grand Colbert. Behind the bar, Anansi, a spider-looking Akuma with boxing gear is using her many arms to shake and pour several drinks at once. Meanwhile, drinks encased in bubbles are floating towards the crowd members.
On stage, two akumas Nathaniel recognizes as Guitar Villain and Frightningale are seated opposite each other at purple and blue grand pianos, respectively. What begins as a respectable duet quickly accelerates to a game of one-upmanship between these two musicians.
"You'll never beat me, that is a fact! The ability to play a good tune is what you lack!"
Guitar Villain quirks an eyebrow. "Anyone understand what pigtails is saying?"
Out of nowhere, Guitar Villain whips out a guitar and plays a guitar solo complete with headbanging as the audience cheers him on. To get some cheers of her own, Frightningale pulls out her microphone and sings in an operatic fashion.
"In the music business, you work with many wisecrackers, but you are beyond un-rock 'n roll!"
"How absurd! As a musician, I assumed you had a way with words!"
"This is the last time I perform with someone with a rhyming problem!"
As the crowd members laugh, Nathaniel looks on impassively, not at all humored by their antics. He spots an empty table off to the side and makes his way towards it. A blonde around his age is seated at the table next to him. He turns to him as Nathaniel pulls out a chair and sits down. "Put 'er there." He grabs Nathaniel's hand before he can say no.
Nathaniel retracts his hand as if shocked. The blonde howls with laughter and turns his palm to Nathaniel. "Hand buzzer," he giggled.
The redhead rolls his eyes and yells, "Scotch!"
"There's a two drink minimum!" Anansi yells back.
"Just as long as there's no maximum!"
The blonde waves one of the waiters over. "I'll sign my check now." A monstrous-looking Akuma with pink skin puts a bill down on his table and runs off on all fours. The blonde takes a fountain pen out of his jacket and writes on the bill, but no ink comes out. He shakes the pen to get it flowing again, only ink splatters all over Nathaniel's shirt.
