Chapter Text
It was as hot in the Badlands as it was normally. As in air sweltering, ass-scorchingly, paint-peeling hot. Yet another reason a lot of humans never came out to Skull Fortress aside from it being hidden relatively off the grid but not exactly hidden as the lair of a mad scientist. Of course, nature stops for no one, and what wildlife that did live in the Badlands would eventually try to get into the fortress for its cooler temperatures during the day. This was certainly, not helped by Snake Man in the slightest. It was understandable of course, as robots themselves would become unsafely hot when left out in the in the heat after a long time, unless they were designed to live in fire itself. The machines understood that the animals only wanted someplace to cool off, but many bots did not feel that their presence was welcome, and no-one wanted to deal with wild animals getting into the e-tanks, or deal with the messes that anything organic would leave behind…
While Proto Man was supposed to manage to Robot Masters for the Doctor, he often just told them to “do whatever” while going off to the hangers to do whatever it was he wanted, or bother Elec Man in his ‘office.’ This would normally be a problem, but the Robot Masters of Skull Fortress were more than capable of taking care of themselves, if not always capable of making good decisions. While Proto Man was shirking his supposed duties was certainly… annoying, it wasn’t the end of the world (no matter how often that happened when you were in the company of the Doctor). If the good Doctor never commented or complained about Proto Man not managing the Robot Masters (like he complained about everything else), then it should not ever become an issue. It was no paint off of Crystal Man’s back. He had no need or desire to have another robot micromanage his own actions, though he would not deny that there were certainly some robots at Skull Fortress that could certainly use the help.
Bright Man still tried to prevent the Robot Masters from gambling… despite the fact that they were not children, nor did any of them look or act like one, Proto Man excluded. Life at Skull Fortress was simple, Recharge, refuel, refuse entrance to wild animals, and gamble all of Ring Man’s possessions, no matter how boring, repetitive or empty it got sometimes, it was their only reasonable options outside of doing Missions that Wily would have for them.
It was a normal day in Skull Fortress, normal, simple day in the armory. Almost like any other, except that this time, Ring Man had bet his game station that nobody really wanted but the betting pool was dry, and they were desperate for a new prize to win. Crystal Man was not particularly enthused about his hand, but it was good enough for him. Magnet man folded next and now it was just Ring Man and Crystal Man sitting across from each other. A few other Robot Masters spectated the match, throwing in timely comments or just watching in silence from the sidelines. Well, until Proto Man walked in of course. “Hey!” Ring Man started up, calling him over to the designated poker table (several crates and a sheet of plastic on top). “Hey there,” Smooth, Suave, and Charming as normal, just like Proto Man usually was. Crystal Man could not deny that he admired the effects of the other machines attitude, but only to a certain extent. In his opinion, Proto Man shared too much of Elec Man’s haughtiness, no matter how deserved it might be.
Now why was the kid here? “Wily wants to take a small team of Robot Masters down to California again because its Halloween night. Something about turning people dressed as monsters in ACTUAL monsters for some reason so that they will defeat Mega Man and Doctor Light. Then conquer the world or something.” That was slang for “Wily is turning people into monsters again, who wants to see how Mega Man stops him and beats us up this time?” Oh well, wasn’t like he had anything else to do. Playing fourty-eight rounds of poker in a row really is much better thing to do with your ‘life.’ “I’ll go.” “Really?” Proto Man almost looked surprised, but it was Proto Man, so… “Ey, Christie,” Hard man butted in, “You’re not dropping the game are you?” Crystal Man had good enough vocal recognition to tell that he was making a jab at him in good humor, he was not involved in the betting table directing after all. “Mm. Fine. I fold.” He stepped from the table, and walked over to Proto Man. His hand wasn’t that good anyway. He heard Ring Man whoop and high five Magnet Man, winning his 25th game of the day. And getting to keep his already owned game station in the end. Which had already been his in the first place.
Following Proto Man, he passed a few other Robot Masters and Battontons on the way. There was Top Man sitting next to Bomb Man, a little unusual, not his normal company, but not his problem. Crash Main and Drill Man were sharing E-tanks with Stone Man next to the precarious tower of E-tanks. Astro Man was huddled under said tower, cowering when the two walked past. They walked over to Cut Man, playing a single person game of solitaire. Cut Man looked up sharply as they approached, “Hey Cut Man, Doc wants to see you in the Lab, we’re going to California again. Where’s Guts Man?” “He was with Snake Man the last time I saw him,” Cut Man said as he packed up his cards and stood up. “Alright, tell him to meet us and Doc in the Lab.”
In another part of the fortress, The Doctor’s Lab, a place for fear and panic for those amongst humankind, reprogramming and re-outfitting for many bots. But for Crystal Man and other Robot Master’s created by the Doctor, it held wisps of nostalgia, as well as the Doctor himself. But that wasn’t relevant at the moment. The Doctor had a map open on one of the screens above him and was commanding their attention towards it. “Proto Man will sneak into the Clocktower near the middle of the Halloween Bash and place the Monsterator Ray at the top of the building. Crystal Man, Cut Man and Guts Man! You will go in disguise to the city, blend in with the Halloween crowd-“ In disguise? This was going to be a long night wasn’t it? “Once you three get to high enough location, you will plant the three sets of transmitters so that the Monsterator Ray will know where to aim!” He gestured to the screen, where a zoomed out version of the city of Los Angelos had three circles of red light in different locations, and a tiny spot that said, “Monsterator Ray.” Crystal Man wondered if the Doctor animated them himself or programmed the computer to do it for him… “And with these transmitters, spreading the influence of the Monsterator Ray, all of the humans in California will soon become MONSTERS!!! To terrorize the populace and take over the world!”
“Uh, yeah, just one question Doc, what if they’re not dressed as a monster?” Doctor Wily gave him a flat glare, “Any human or machine that is dressed as a monster from folklore or popular literature will become a monster version of their own costume.” “Oh, Okay.” That was surprisingly thought out rule list for who the ray would affect. At least by the average standards of the Doctor. “NOW GO! Get into costume! But don’t dress as a monster unless you want to spend the rest of your life as one!” …This was going to be a long mission.
Crystal Man later walked out of the closet of stolen human clothing and fabrics. It was a mountain in there. He had a… less than usual look on. He was decked out in an elaborate Fortune Teller costume, (not a very creative outfit, but it was a good Halloween costume by his standards) He had chosen a long cerulean robe, layered with a light blue large sleeved over-coat. There were bits of violet fabric with a delicate star pattern tied around to keep the whole thing together; you never know what you could find in the silks section of the fabric store. He had adorned the whole outfit with pearls, slipped on some white gloves, and covered as much of himself as he could with fabric. To cover up all of the machine bits and hide the fact that he was keeping some more prominent pieces of his armor stored in a bag at his hip. The glass armor in his chest piece was not removable, but he had simply used the layering from the fabrics atop his head and chest to cover it. He had put on a white wig to match his red eyes and thrown on a few talismans for good measure. Just to sell the look. And a scarf as a headband for good measure. If people were busy staring at his jewelry or shimmering silk robe and coat, they would not be too focused on his inhuman eyes or the synthetic face mask that he was wearing. He was still wearing a light fabric face mask just to be sure, though.
His white armored boots still stuck out from underneath the robe, but blended in with the rest of the armor, either way, and weren’t too noticeable otherwise. Crystal Man thought he had done a fine job. Walking out into the hallway, he walked straight into Top Man, who spun out of the way, and immediately took a step back to double-take. “Heyyyy… uh…. Crystal Man? If you don’t mind me asking… what’s the outfit for?” There was no point in withholding information from Top Man. “The Doctor has us headed to California to sabotage the cities Halloween celebration.” “Oh. …..Can I come?” Please don’t. Crystal Man rolled his eyes, “That is something you should ask the person in charge of missions.” “Ah. Yeah.” Top Man scurried off down the hallway to the doorway. Crystal Man heard the other door on the other side of the hallway open and Cut Man and Guts Mans footsteps rang out. “Finally. We should get going to the bay to join the Skulker, we’re slightly behind schedule so….” Turning around, he was met with familiar sight of Guts Man and Cut Man, completely unchanged. No costume.
No synth skin, no contacts, no voice modulator, not a single bit of alteration done to their normal appearances. Well. Scratch that. They were wearing Sleeveless studded leather jackets and sunglasses. That was it. That was the full extent of the changes. “What… are you wearing?” Guts Man grinned, somehow even more oafishly than normal, “Biker costumes, duh!” On cue, both he and Cut Man grabbed the lapels of their jackets and posed together. Biker costumes. A jacket and sunglasses. And at least 190 lbs of metal and wire. For biking costumes. They would be recognized immediately. And completely wreck the mission. “Go change.” Cut Man looked shocked, “What?! Why?!” Guts Man raised his voice, “Yeah it took me thirty minutes to get my arms in this thing! What gives?!” “Eyyy, nice costumes you got there!” Proto Man came strutting down the hallway, like some kind of pompous oversized cat. His red boots tapped the floor, ringing out like a hammer on glass. He was wearing no costume. Cut Man and Guts Man looked down at him as he walked up, “Not at all shabby you two. Though if you ask me, Crystal Man’s got you beat!”
Crystal Man couldn’t stand it, “Where’s your costume.” “Huh? What? Oh! Right here!” Proto Man pointed at his chest. Completely unaltered. “What.” “I’m going as myself! What better costume of the year than dressing as Proton Man?” What. There’s no way that the Doctor could have chosen this man to be his second in command. Not when he was like this. But even then, he could admit his creator had some, unusual executions of ideas. Proto Man didn’t care. “Now, come on, let’s go to the Skulker or Wily will start breathing down my neck.”
On the way to California, Crystal Man sat in the back of the Skulker with Cut Man, Guts Man, and for whatever insane reason, Top Man. Don’t get him wrong, there was nothing inherently wrong about Top Man in his eyes, but it wasn’t a secret that the android was NOT a fighter. Of any sorts. The only reason that he was still at Wily Fortress was because he really didn’t have anywhere else to go. Even Guts Man and Cut Man could at least defend themselves, against anybody that was not Mega Man.
Oh well. If they lost him on the mission, it would not be an issue to Crystal Man. The Skulker drew close to California. They had been flying exceptionally fast in order to make it there in time. Activities would soon be starting up or in progress once they got there. They cloaked before getting close to the city, drawing into one of the older, more run-down, mechanical districts. The only sign that the Skulker touched down to any outsiders, a group of fleeing rodents, was the gust of wind current it created under itself when it landed. Crystal Man immediately stepped out of the Skulker, Cut Man and Guts Man in tow. Top Man had thankfully, since it was apparently joining them on the mission, changed into a plain set of civilian clothing. It was a purposefully drab disguise; consisting of gray sweatpants, a black hoodie, and a gray baseball cap. None of it had any patterns or designs.
Top Man awkwardly shuffled out behind them, looking down at the dank puddles on the ground, as well as the toppled stack of metal pipes that had come apart when the Skulker blew them over. Crystal Man had to lift some sections of his robe to avoid touching the puddles of water and other liquids, most likely oil. He could hear cars beeping and lights in the distance, not exactly eager to enter the fray of noisy humans. Cut Man and Guts Man were already heading to their respective destinations. Top Man awkwardly dawdled behind him. Crystal Man didn’t care.
He set off towards the Pyramid Casino.
After sufficiently elbowing his way through crowds of people for at least several minutes, he managed to make his way to the front half of a giant pyramid shaped hotel. It was even uglier up close, tacky lighting on the outside and inside of the building. Security was quite decent, but the sea of humans was growing, and the security robots could only do so much against the sea of drunken partygoers and people in costume. He managed to slip his way past the guards by ducking behind a poor security drone trying to check bags. He stepped up besides a few taller humans, thankful for the wall they provided and the cover the many costumed gamblers gave him.
The inside of the casino was a mess of people. There were people everywhere. He passed by a group of skimpily dressed mummies around a slots machine. A woman in a mermaid skirt and shell bikini top was reading off blackjack bets by an older man who was completely sauced beyond belief. He spotted the woman taking his rings of his fingers while he wasn’t looking. Go get it girl, he guessed. There was a group of men dressed like a certain English band, he vaguely spotted a person dressed in a Yeti costume, another group of women were dressed as various fairies, and there were at least three couples dressed as characters from a sci-fi movie. There was one woman who looked completely addicted to the slots machine, she had a small demon dress on, and a few people were not so subtle about their stares on her. She kicked quite a few of them away from her whenever she noticed and then got back to the machine. What a simpleton.
The casino was even uglier on the inside, even ignoring the uncomfortable number of humans in the room. The building had a fake tomb style architecture, and the furniture were either tacky things you’d see in a normal casino, or something that could almost compliment the architecture, if it wasn’t surrounded by gambling setups or modern technology. He couldn’t wait to get the mission done. The sooner out of there the better. He passed under the arms of a dude in a yellow suit and a smiling green face mask. He was exceptionally glad that he was not capable of dreaming, because he was sure that thing would be in his ‘nightmares’ (at least that what Bomb Man said was in nightmares). He didn’t really want to stick around to find out what other cursed costumes that humans could come up with…
He sidestepped a group of people that were wearing all sorts of colorful power armor with black and white detailing. The women’s bathroom was not an option, lots of people were going in and out of it, some with their drinks still in hand. Was that even allowed? Not that he was up to anything that was allowed by any margin…. He headed towards the men’s bathrooms, which seemed like it was seeing far less traffic. He slipped inside, bathing in the greater calm and relative quiet of the room.
The men’s bathroom was mostly silent. There was… certainly a human in the stalls, and from the noise, he was sick to his stomach. Sounded like a mean ‘hangover’ the next day, not that he would know what that was like. Crystal Man slipped into one of the stalls, locking the door behind him, before quickly disrobing from his costume, and shoving it into the equipment bag. He made as little noise as possible, wary of the other presence in the room. He was so glad he did not have a functioning olfactory system. Thank the Doctor for not trying to emulate that in him. He clambered up on the top of the water tank, observing the ventilation cover. There were some very slight screws in the sides, tightly sewn in and would take hours for a human to remove by hand. How very good it was that he was not human in the slightest.
He slotted in the flat part of his fingers into the side of the grooves, twisting his fingers a little bit to loosen each screw. From there, he removed three of the four screws on the corners of the cover. That way the vent would still stay loosely attached to the ceiling, while he could just swing it open, jump into the vents, and close it from the inside without alerting anyone.
Someone entered the bathroom. Crystal Man squatted down on the water tank, ducking his head so that whoever came into the bathroom did not see him. The stalls were walled on each side, but not above the doors, so he did not have to worry about the man puking his guts out seeing him unless he left his tall. He probably wouldn’t be anytime so. Whoever had just entered the bathroom had gone to the stall adjacent to his own. There was the sound of a belt unhooking and a zipper-Nope. He was out of there. The less he knew about whatever humans did in the bathroom, the better. Grabbing his stuff as fast as he possibly could, he swung open the vent as quickly as he could manage, wincing at the squeak it made. Hopefully, that wasn’t too noticeable.
He shoved in his bag before going in headfirst. Once only his feet were above the vents, he used the toes of his armored boots to close the vent. It made a more prolonged squeak the second time. Whoops. Oh well. Nothing he could do about it now.
He wormed his way through the vents, slowly methodically. It was an even slower process having to wait for people underneath him to pass before shuffling forward, lest he alert someone. He angled himself through the vents, no clear direction yet in mind, but objective somewhat there... After wriggling his way though several sharp corners and ignoring the question of how the hell he was going to get back out of the vents, the noise around the vents died down. He peeked through the grate of a vent covering, it was a darker, unlit room, supplies and cleaning equipment strewn about. Maintenance. Perfect. From there, he would be able to get into the facade of the building, and to the top of it to set up the equipment.
From there, it was just a matter of getting back down. He'd get to that problem later. One step at a time to conquering the world.
The room was dusty, obviously not frequented by many unless necessary. Hopefully nobody would notice if he made a few... cosmetic adjustments. It was a tacky building on purpose, anyway.
Kicking the grate off the vent entrance, he pushed his bag through the vent to land on the dusty ground. There was a plume of smoke. He didn't leave the vent yet, still wary of anybody else that could be lurking. Human or not. Nothing moved after a few seconds. The coast was clear. fully armored, standing in a dusty storage closet, he picked up his bag and looked towards the two doors in the room. The light underneath one of them suggested it led to the hallway, he didn’t dare go out to check as he was not going to screw this up with security cameras catching him red handed. Not yet at least. That was still an option for later.
He headed towards the dark door, it was a heavy metal that took a little more force than estimated, but he shoved it open in due time. The outer casing of building was a mess of wires lights and catwalks. It was dark, likely to not cost any extra electricity. Of which the hotel/casino likely had a massive bill. The tacky outdoor lighting on the sides of the building did it no favors.
There was only cold metal and steel around him, just like inside him. Nothing flammable. Smart. But that cut out the potential escape plan of setting off a Crystal Eye in the building and ditching when they tried to put out the fire. He gripped the railing, beginning his ascent upwards, bag in tow. There was little to no cameras in the facade, partially because of the lack of any proper lighting on a regular basis and because why would they need that, when you could hear footsteps echo throughout the entire web of interfaced metal and scaffolding. No matter how light he tried to make his footsteps, it could all be heard clearly.
It was like some strange Aztec pyramid inside a Egyptian pyramid, with pieces of a tiny bridge built between. It was a tight fit for him, even after the ventilation ducts. He was wary of pyramids. Just a precaution, when you worked for the great doctor wily. He was, admittedly, a strange man, but it was only due when he had even stranger enemies...
He clambered up top of the 'pyramid' with the satchel in his arms. There was a small penthouse at the top of the hotel, thankfully with no windows, and he used it to clamber up onto the top of the scaffolding. There was only a few feet between himself and the exterior of the building, he had to wiggle past a few pillars and support beams to get in place. He started setting up the equipment from there.
Battery to Effect Module. Effect module to transmitter. Effect module to receiver. Effect module to second transmitter. Effect module to recon module. Effect module to third transmitter. Could never be too overkill.
He lifted one of the slates in the roof to expose the dark night sky. Well, as dark as it could get in L.A. which wasn't very. Oh well. He shoved one transmitter through one side of the slate as well as the receiver alongside it, carefully closing the slate on both pieces of equipment, keeping it in place. On the other side of the building, he slid another transmitter through the slate of the building, the third on staying on the ground so as to be transmitted to anybody inside the building.
He heaved the now much lighter sack onto one shoulder, then started the climb back down, noting fire escapes along the way. On his path he looked down to stare at the almost empty abyss of darkness under his feet. It reminded him of space. He almost felt wistful, for a moment, but he had a mission to complete. A job to do. there would be time to reminisce later. At base. Certainly not in this eyesore of a building. A few crystal eyes would do it good. But that wasn't the mission. The point was for L.A. to look at its "inner beauty' or something. He just cared about the mission. Not the goal.
It was long time before he had to reroute back to Protoman (hrm) and doctor wily (soon to be master of the world), even if he was about an hour before schedule. Also Cut man, Guts man and Top man, if he was in a good mood. Best not stick around. he would be glad to leave. He quickened his pace, careful of where the handrail did not exist to turn and make sharp curves. He shuffled back to the door. There was no noise on the other side, so he tugged it open as slow as possible and headed back to the main building. There were a few boxes in the room, after shoving a few of them in a hap hazard stack by the ventilation shaft, he pushed his bag and costume through. There were footsteps nearby the door in the hallway. His palms felt like they hissed with liquid oxygen, fingers growing cold.
The footsteps went past, but he didn't dare move for a few moments. Still waiting to attack. There was nothing. He almost wished there was, but the mission (and his safety) went first. He shoved himself into the ventilation duct feet first, then tugged the boxes to, mostly, line up with the vent covering. There were still the sharp edges of the vent covering that would pose an issue, but, it was a good enough job for him. He continued to shuffle along into the vents, maneuvering the bag up to his chest with a combination of decent legwork and letting it catch alongside the walls of the shaft. He managed to maneuver his way pretty far back to the first floor, it went much faster with gravity on his side, but he had to cushion himself lest he rattle the vents an unpredictable amount. He was surprised that there was no security system in the vents, honestly. Crystal Man thought that a mobster-run business would be more aware of security issues like this, but then again, most of the vent entrances had been placed well above what any normal human usually could reach, let alone maneuver themselves around in a semi-efficient manner of stealth. Good thing he wasn't a human, then.
He shuffled his way through the vents in what he hoped was the direction of the bathroom. Though for all he could tell it could have also been the main casino... He slowed down a little bit when he started to see larger groups of people in the halls and rooms below. Crystal Man managed to squirm his way back to the bathroom, he checked to see if the coast was clear, and when he heard no... human bodily functions. Below him, he put his foot against the grate and twisted. It squeaked open and he winced, wiggling his body back out of the vents to land safely on the toilet. He heard muffled groaning coming from the other stall, the dude from earlier. He really should have just left the party at this point if he was that sick, if it wasn't alcohol poisoning, it could be some nasty stomach bug or human disease. Oh well, it wasn't Crystal Man's problem at any rate.
He grabbed his clothing from the vents and closed the covering. It whined like some ugly animal. He resolved himself to instead step off the toilet and remove what parts of his armor he could not wear under his disguise, the redress himself. He wanted his armor back on almost immediately, but that would have to wait. He left the bathroom and the man suffering from whatever gastrointestinal ailment behind him. Returning to the noise of the party, it had only gotten noisier since he came in, there were even more drunk people in the casino and some very disgruntled staff having to stop an absolutely smashed man from trying to jump into the crocodile tank. The crocodiles didn't bother looking up, as the grate covering above their tanks meant that even if he fell in, he would be fine, and not food. He watched in idle curiosity at the drunken man's shenanigans along with a small crowd that was looking at the poor bellhop and servers trying to get him down. Only in L.A., he guessed. Actually, not that much different than New York, really...
He moved to stand over by a group of blonde witches, there were a few occupied seats nearby him against the walls, mostly taken up by two unconscious men splayed across them. Crystal Man idly wondered if they were dead. That would make this party a little bit more interesting. An old man at the blackjack table was swooning next to a few scantily dressed bee-women--whatever the hell that kind of costume was-- and was missing quite a few bets in his mental absence. Amateur. Don't get drunk when you're betting, moron. The other people at the table were scooping up his cash while he was unawares, even hungrier than the crocodiles.
The noise was becoming too much, and even with his feet and servos planted firmly against the ground, he felt himself uncomfortable. Ready to run. He pulled his bag a little bit closer to himself and went back to leave through the other side of the hotel, where the lobby and reception was. There was a small crowd gathering, but all he was concerned about was the security robots near the entrance of the building. A bougee car rolled up in front of the glass windows, more security robots filed out of the car. Shit. A decently large man, with stupid looking facial hair, stepped out of the car. He was wearing an unsightly camel-coloured suit and Crystal Man had to manually turn down his ocular movement rate so as to keep his eye from notably twitching. Senator King. Fucking fantastic. The security detail would recognize him the second they took a closer look. His disguise was good, but since he had only taken off some of his armor, most machines would easily be able to recognize him as a robot the second they looked at him twice. He stepped into one of the halls, looping back around to the casino area. Wow, they really did design this place to make money huh? The three-story room was packed with people, perfect to get lost in, but almost impossible to navigate. The upper floors were a little bit quieter, with more obvious mob members sitting almost near the rafters, drinking or looking at the sea of bad choices underneath them. Instead of going back to the crowd, since there were more security drones over there, he headed up a floor, the darker parts of the casino welcoming him coldly.
There were a few more quiet tables of people getting boozed up, and Crystal Man headed over to some of the unoccupied chairs around pillars, of which were mostly clean. It was nice and dark over there, and he could relax his ocular 'muscles' a little bit in the small reprieve from the harsh lighting in the rest of the room. He leaned back a little bit in his seat. It was a fancy looking chair with brown wood and red seating, but honestly? The boxes back at the Fortress were more comfortable than this. He just wanted to wrap up the mission and head back to the fortress. For more gambling. He just didn't care much for this environment, honestly. Or the drunk people. He considered blackjack a sport and these idiot humans were all playing it with a bottle in hand. Useless meat sacks. He would admit to the gambling maybe being a flaw in his programming, but hey. Who else was there to judge but his fellow machine?
Actually, other robots were pretty judgemental sometimes. Roll especially.
He wondered what Top Man was doing right about now... not out of any actually interest in his safety, of course, it did not matter to Crystal Man whether he lived or died but, hey, maybe he was managing to enjoy himself somewhere in the mess of partygoers out on the street. He was not a fan of the chaotic, drunk, sea of humans below him, but perhaps when Wily activated the signal, he would prefer the scene of humans running about in terror, but Cut Man and Guts Man had both made it as a rewarding and satisfying sight, so perhaps he would enjoy it?
Unfortunately, sitting against a column on the second floor of a Las Vegas casino, you could not have peace for long. King walked into the room to sit down at one of the tables. (Crystal Man wouldn't call him senator often, he didn't believe in human politics.) The wealthy man sat down at a table near the bar, and Crystal Man was idly shocked that he wasn't being flanked by interviewers and the like, but the wall of security and the mass of drunk people probably didn't make for a good environment to talk. Someone had started up a music player downstairs, and the party downstairs was now cheering (or in some cases, dancing) along to the ringing tones. He resisted raising a hand to turn off his audial input, there were other machines here who would recognize the motion instantly. It would be unwise to move so soon after King came in, and he resolved himself from holding out just a little bit longer. Just until the cameras would no longer be pointing towards him, and there wasn't a robot cop standing a few feet away from him. He idly shuffled his legs together, with his bag on his lap. Someone poked him on the shoulder, he looked up at them. A familiar face and orange-ish hair stuck out to him below a baseball cap and totally-not-conspicuous outfit. Top Man. Damn it all. He looked down at Crystal Man, opening his mouth as to speak before he noticed a certain Senator out of his eye. Crystal Man watched them go wide before Top Man slid down into the seat beside him. Arm over his shoulder. Crystal Man shoved it off. Top Man sheepishly winced. Good. Don't touch him unless it was an emergency.
Although, this could rather quickly dissolve into an emergency. One of the cop robots next to the Senator was looking at them. Potentially trying to see if Top Man was a familiar face. He couldn't have that. Crystal Man hissed to Top Man-quick-"Hold up your hat, use it as a fan and act like you're kissing me." Top Man blinked, shell shocked, Crystal Man poked him in the side. Top man took off his hat, placed it in front of their faces and used it as a shield while leaning in. Crystal Man pulled down his cloth mask and bent at the waist to meet centimeters away from his face, twisting a little bit so as not to look stiff. They stayed there for less than a second, before each leaning back into their seats. The cop was no longer looking at them. Good. Crystal Man grabbed Top Man's hand and started tapping out Morse under his sleeve, so as to tell Top Man what he was planning. Meet in bath. Head to hotel exit. Go to skulker.
Top Man pulled a face before tapping back on Crystal Man's thigh. AHGUEJJEOK. Great. Top Man didn't know Morse. What robot didn't know Morse???? Why the hell did he not know Morse??!!! Crystal Man leaned in next to his ear, "Wait in this floor's bathroom. I'll meet you there." Crystal man released the death grip he had on the other bot's hand, and Top Man scurried out down the hallway. Crystal Man waited for a moment before standing up to follow. Unfortunately, there was the one problem of drunk people that he had managed to either circumvent. Until now that was.
"Yo, Lady! Nice fortune teller costume! You read fortunes or something? What's going to be the outcome of my next bet? Good or bad?" Crystal Man glared at the drunk man, but he didn't take the hint to fuck right off. His friends were coming over. The night just kept getting worse. "I can do palm readings. I don't read the future." Technically not a lie. He had stolen a book on it after Ring Man made a joke during a game of poker. It was actually rather handy, at times. He would randomly pull out the knowledge for a joke or two, but it looks like memorization would be his saving grace tonight. Crystal man offered his palm, and the man placed his hand in his own, friends wobbling besides him. Crystal Man traced the man's palm, he had a rather wobbly health line, no visible fate line, and a shaky life line. "You live a peaceful life, but be wary of medical misfortune, watch what you eat." There were small callouses along the tips of the man's fingers. "You have chosen good hobbies. Stay with them to keep your mind active, but don't over do it." He had a strong heart line, "You've got a strong devotion to the people you love. Keep them close but always be wary of people who do not care for the life you live." He released the man's palm, the drunk man taking a few steps back, staring at his palm in shock and wonder. A blonde witch shoved her way through next to him. "Me next!" She shoved her hand in his face, he set it in his palm gently, she kept twitching her fingers, around. Her heart line was crooked, but her head line was smooth, and she had an extra life line. "Are you a twin?" He raised an eyebrow, she drunkenly giggled, "Yeah! How'd you guess?!" He shook his head, and tapped her life line, "I didn't." Her manicure was expensive, freshly done with little bats and cats. "You have a decisive personality, and are not evenly swayed. Be wary of what you say to others though, as your feelings may sometimes blind you."
The woman drunkenly giggled, clearly not listening to a word he said. Some people from the bar were starting to look over. One guy hopped off his seat and sauntered over to get a palm reading, while his friends at the bar giggled. Several people were looking towards him now, and he tried to ignore the cops idle looks in his direction, and more importantly, the eyes of King. The dude dressed as Elvis was unfaithful, but Crystal Man did not say it so bluntly, one girl had a simian line on her palm, and he gave her an only slightly ominous congratulations, as well as a warning for her foresight and potential job offers. Some dude shoved his hand in his face upside down, a few girls couldn't stay up standing well enough for him to even get a reading, but most people were placated with some general advice on life and job making skills. A shadow fell over him, he looked up. Hesitant. It was King. Fuck.
"Offering your skills in the middle of a Halloween Party? I have to say, this is one of the more interesting forms of advertisement for a business that I have seen..." Crystal Man shrugged, not bothering to sit back down in his seat. The sauced up skeleton had already taken it anyway. "If it works, I won't complain." King laughed, all full of false sincerity and gloating. Crystal Man wanted to kick him in the head. That could come later. "Well, if you're doing them for free would you mind taking a look?" King offered his hand, palm up. The security detail edged closer, wary of his movements. Damn it. Crystal Man held it lightly. A broken heart line, a strong head line, strong life line, a double fate line, long sun line, ink under his fingernails, surprisingly solid callouses, and just as solid hand muscles. Crystal Man looked at him from under his eyelids. Trying not to glare. "You live a shockingly healthy lifestyle for a government official. You exercise regularly and aware of health issues. You are good at cleaning up things and often do well with noticing details, but you may sometimes need a little help with the small things. I don't need to tell you that you are good at public speaking, but this is reinforced with your lines. You've taken a myriad of jobs over the years, not just in the government. You don't shy away from physical movement, but enjoy your position as it is. You like the options in front of you, but don't stray from challenge." He pulled away from King's hand, the man pulling back his hand to not-so-subtley start cleaning them on a hankercheif.
"You gave me a much more in depth judgement than the any one else up here." Crystal Man had to resist a glare, "You're not drunk out of your mind. You brain is still listening. Most of them have already forgotten what I have said." King raised a brow, "How well does that work as your business practice?" Crystal Man gave him an almost malicious smile, "They remember they had a palm reading, but don't remember what I said, usually they come to me, but sometimes they go to other readers. Good business to bait them a little bit, then give them the details when they pull full price, or are actually willing to listen." King threw back his head and laughed, "Well, well! Good practice indeed! A shame that you can only do palm reading on human's though. I have plenty of my security detail who are fantastic listeners but-" He shuffled his shoulder's back towards his employment, all robotic police units -" you likely don't have experience with a metal hand." Crystal Man grinned under his mask, thinly veiled malice. Idiot. He had only had robotic hands to read for all the time he was in skull fortress. He was honestly worse at reading human hands than robot hands. "I'd be willing to try." King stiffled a laugh, visibly surprised, but he recovered quickly, "Oh? Well maybe one of them is interested in having their palm read, then." He glanced around the room of people and machines. None of the Robotic Officers looked interested in the proposition, but King had his eye set on a blue Police Droid, eyes twinkling in some sort of inside joke. If Crystal Man didn't know better, he would have thought the Police Droid was uncomfortable. But he knew that wasn't technically possible. They didn't have the programming parameters.
"Well, my captain? Aren't you curious?" The robot avoided his eyes, "Not particularly, sir." King continued smiling, like some sort of demented shark, "Come on, give it a chance." It was practically a threat. The officer stiffly offered up his hand, Crystal Man touched it lightly, keenly aware of all the eyes on him. There was bullet damage along one side of the hand, a stiff joint in the thumb, and a wrist that was, while damaged, well maintained. The palms were extremely worn, covered up by a thick layer of paint. My, how interesting. "You often brace your cannon arm with your hand. You do more paperwork than you like to admit but most of the time, you're alright with it." He twisted the Police Droid's hand a little, testing the joint. "You keep up with your maintanence, but like to keep things in order." Nothing had been switched out for a potentially better movement mechanism. "You oftentimes hold yourself back. You seek function over form above all else. You don't like to overdo things." The man obviously liked some of his coworkers less than he would ever admit, but Crystal Man didn't need to read his palms to see that. "You are very particular about things sometimes, and don't care for mess. No matter how slight. A respectable attention to detail." He released the other bots hands. There was so, so much more that he wanted to ask after seeing the other robots hands. But he would need a microscope to see every little detail. Things weren't quite matching up. This required further investigation, but that wasn't his mission.
The officer watched him warily, hands retreating back to his sides. Much more relaxed now that Crystal Man had let go of his hand. He idly watched the robot retreat to his master's side. The smile was more false than ever. Perhaps he had said too much... no undoing it now. "If you mind, gentlemen, my friend has been waiting on me for a while. I've already been terrible to him by making him wait so long. Enjoy your night gentlemen-" he gestured to the sea of incredibly wasted people below, "as much as one can with all of, this... going on." Some officers stared down at the sea of drunkards. The bartender nodded along solemnly. King smiled at him, just indifferent at this point of the night, "Enjoy your night, my lady." Crystal Man was not a Lady. Nor was he Kings. He idly nodded back at the man, before briskly walking off in the direction of the bathrooms.
FUCK.
He had probably just tipped off the entire police force in the next room by spitefully palm reading a fucking robot. Or had just made his act really convincing, like some sort of whack-a-do. He side stepped into the bathrooms, hoping that none of the police bots were watching him, but that probably was wishful thinking. Damn it. Top Man was standing there uncomfortably, next to a stall. "Hey-" "What time is it." "About 8:57, wha-" "Do fortune tellers have some kind of root in mythological story telling?" "I don't know-maybe? What-" Crystal Man hissed, then imeadiately started tearing off his disguise, there was no way that he was going to reunite at the objective point at this rate, and he wasn't going to risk it. "What are you-?!" "If there's any related mythology on fortune tellers in horror or mythological media, I am NOT going to be stuck as one for the rest of the night." "Ah." Top Man turned around to give Crystal Man some privacy, as well as watch the door for any incoming intruders. The music was still blasting.
Re-armoring himself in the men's bathroom of a trashy American hotel, he did not wait on Top Man to start surveying the enemy area. He rushed to the door, peeking out slightly. Footsteps were coming closer. Shit. He hissed. "Top Man, break open the vents, now." Top Man, for once, did not stutter. Broke open the vents above one of the stalls and hopped in. Crystal Man threw in his bag, and jumped in after him, luckily, both of them were pretty flexible, and it wouldn't be too difficult to get out of the building if everyone would be distracted with what would be happening next. He could still hear the party in the vents, booming loud now that he was not heading away from the party. The noise already made his brain feel like glass, but he could pretty clearly hear a clang of the bathroom door busting open in the room behind him. Fuck.
"Top Man, go." Top Man managed to worm along the vents even faster. It was almost impressive. They had wormed into a spot above a different room at that point, the vents creaking ominously. "Top Man, stop." The other robot did and the vents whined. "Time," Top Man looked at his watch, eyes widening, "It's 9 o'clock,"
The party in the other room was starting to scream. People weren't partying anymore, by the sounds of it. They would have to use the ensuing chaos to get out of the building. But that would be easier said than done.