Galaxy's Edge Space Bar

[Terenia]

Dalik looks disappointed the stranger's decision not to share and sits back. "Meeting someone," she says evasively. "At least, I hope I'm meeting someone. It's not every day you're given coordinates to a place that doesn't exist." She hesitates, then says, "I'm Dalik. He's Jeffrey." She nods to the other man. "At least, so he says. I've known him for less than five minutes, and I know better than to believe people I just met."

Her smile is girlish. "And who are you, fire fingers?"

[guitarhero01234]

"Dalik? Never heard that name before." He takes a drag of his cigarette, keeping his other hand around his drink. "You can call me Merc. Well, full name's Mercer, but everyone calls me Merc." Merc continues nursing his drink until a look of confusion slowly creeps across his face. "Wait a second, what exactly do you mean by 'place that doesn't exist'?"

[Shenmue654]

"Same question I wanna ask, mainly because right now I should definitely be dead, or at least not be talking," says Jeffrey, pointing to the hole in the back of his head. He feels it again, and it's actually getting smaller as they talk. Still bloody, though. "I..." Jeffrey is somewhat hesitant to explain what actually happened. It still hurt, and these people didn't even seem to be from the same world he was. "...look, long story short, I got stabbed in the back by my own daughter" Jeffrey's expression seemed saddened. "I still don't even know what I did wrong, except that it probably had to do with the person she was dating...but I probably shouldn't go too far into it."

"Say...if you're not a metahuman or a Yurk or whatever, how'd you do that trick with your finger? Is it something else? I'll at least hear you out," said Jeffrey.

[guitarhero01234]

Merc looks at Jeffrey, bewildered. "Good god, man! You're right, 's a miracle you're still alive." It was obvious at this point that Merc was avoiding the question. "I'd call an ambulance or something, but I get the feeling I wouldn't get reception wherever the hell we are."

He takes another sip of his drink, his glass nearly empty now. "Y'know, you keep saying that one word, 'Yeerk,' or whatever. Mind explaining exactly what it means?"

[Terenia]

Dalik hesitates, not sure which question to respond to first. She glances at Jeffrey, then turns to Merc, grateful to have someone who isn't oozing blood as a distraction.

"I was just explaining to Jeffrey here," she says, drawing her lemonade closer. "As far as you humans are concerned -- or, metahumans, I suppose? -- we're aliens." Her teeth flash in a smile. "Though as far as we're concerned, you're the aliens. We're a race of parasites. I live in this body and use it as my own."

Sucking down a gulp of lemonade, she licks her lips. "As for this place, it's my first time here." Her shoulders lift. "My brother sent me the coordinates. At first I thought he was nuts, sending me to an empty hole in space, but then I showed up and this place was here." She shakes her head. "I have no idea what sort of phenomenon could cause an entire planetoid to be shielded from sensors."

[guitarhero01234]

"Aliens, huh?" Merc downs the rest of his drink and stubs his cigarette in the ashtray. "Well, to be honest, Miss Dalik, before now I would have laughed at that idea." He sighs, taking another look around the bar. "But as it is, not very much around here is making any sense."

Merc raps his fingers on the bar, collecting his thoughts before continuing. "Shoot, I might as well explain myself a bit. This fire thing -- I guess people would call it 'pyrokinesis' or something? Anyway, like I said before, I don't like to use it much. Usually, I just use it for cheap parlor tricks, like you saw. That is, unless I get a little . . . well, adventurous, let's say." Merc briefly focuses his attention on the bartender. "Shot of vodka, if you will?"

He turns back to Dalik and Jeffrey. "Anyway, I was out for dinner with my wife last night. Some guy at the table next to us was trashed out of his mind and made some hilarious remark about my voice." Merc makes sure to place heavy sarcasm on the last half of that sentence. "So, I, uh . . . well . . . you know, maybe it's best if I show you." He slides the shot that the bartender produced toward him. With two fingers outstretched, he shoots a spark toward the shot. The alcohol ignites into a bright, brilliant blue flame, casting a glow on Merc.

"I didn't really mean anything by it, y'know? Just wanted to mess with him." Merc downs the flaming shot and slides the glass back to the bartender. When he continues, his voice is much more somber. "Well, I guess he wasn't having any of that. I guess someone saw me light his drink up or something, I don't know. When we got home . . ." He takes a long, deep breath. "This black car was driving down our street. Very suspicious. We're almost inside, when the car's windows roll down and that guy that I lit up is holding a gun. Opens fire. Misses me, but, well . . ." Merc rests his head in his hand and fights to hold back tears. "They got my wife. I called the cops, but they couldn't do ****. So I didn't know what to do. Last thing I remember, I broke into my prescriptions and passed out on the couch. And now, well, I guess something spirited me away to here."

[Shenmue654]

In response to Dalik's comment, Jeffrey says, "So. Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, but it's the same body. Creepy! Is Jonie or whoever still in there, Dalik?"

Jeffrey sipped his drink and watched with interest and excitement when Merc shows off his trick. He claps. "Aaah, so you're what the ****wits in my neck of the woods would've called a Pyromancer," says Jeffrey, nodding. He grins. "The Mancers get all the coolest powers man. Pyromancers, Electromancers, Hydromancers--- I'd kill to be able to shoot fire outta my hands! My old buddy Derek could do things with electricity, before he turned on me too. As for your story..." Jeffrey looks Merc over. "...god that almost sounds as awful as mine. And more random. You don't even know who it was?"

[guitarhero01234]

Merc finally takes his head out of his palm. "No, but you know what I'm gonna do when I find out?" He leans forward, looking Jeffrey in the eye. "I'm gonna burn that bastard to the ground." He sits back in his stool, seeming to have calmed down slightly. "But I don't think that's gonna happen if I'm stuck here." He turns his focus on Dalik. "So, you said you're meeting your brother or something? When's he supposed to get here?"

[Terenia]

Dalik sits silently for awhile, absorbing their stories, watching the small pyrotechnic show with fascination. "That's rough," she says, though there isn't much empathy in the tone. Instead, she seems cautiously fascinated. "It would certainly be different, being able to shoot energy from my hands instead of relying on a Dracon." She pats the weapon at her side and gives a rueful smile.

Clearing her throat she shakes her head, giving Jeffrey an annoyed look. "Her name is Cameron, and yes, she's here as well. As for my brother, I don't know. I thought he would be here already, but evidently not." She waves at the near-empty bar.

[Shenmue654]

"Dude's sure taking a long freaking time, but then again, you wonder how one goes about getting to this ****hole in the first place if it's not on any map," says Jeffrey. "Oh look, I think the head-hole is gone." Jeffrey reaches up to touch his head. "Yep. Still some dried blood but I think Mean Old Mr. Bullet is done for tonight! Ha...makes me wonder where the damn thing went. Where I went."

Jeffrey reaches into his pocket and pulls out his cell phone, putting it on the table. It appears to have a purple background saved as the home screen. He holds it up and presses a button. A holographic screen appears, showing the universal sign for "Nope" and a small cartoon teddy bear dressed in a purple suit and slightly creepy gold mask doing a shrugging motion. "No service, but that's kind of what I figured."

Jeffrey looks toward Merc and Dalik. "Either of you tried to test it yet?"

[Terenia]

"My comm link works," Dalik says, pulling the flat device out and initiating her own holoscreen. Her lips pull downward into a frown. "I think. Dapsen. Maybe that's why I haven't heard from him."

She looks up at the bartender. "Excuse me, sir?" she asks in her best sweet-little-girl voice. "Is there some reason I can't get a message out?"

The bartender turns to stare at her, but offers no commentary.

[Shenmue654]

"Whelp, looks like we're good and stranded!" says Jeffrey, smiling and taking a very slight sip of his drink. Truth be told, he wasn't exactly displeased by this sudden turn of events. It was way better than what had been happening to him back home. "Or at least it looks like it won't be so easy to find your bro. Say...."

Jeffrey raised an eyebrow. "...a bar that summons mostly dead people seems like, look no offense, but a really weird place to be meeting your brother. What exactly do you do for a living, honeybun?"

[guitarhero01234]

"How the hell did that hole heal so fast?" Merc cuts in, brow furrowed. "I'm no expert, but something tells me that bullet wounds don't heal like that." He fishes around his pockets for a moment, only to come up empty-handed. "Well, looks like my phone never made the journey with me. All I have on-hand is my wallet." Indeed, his wallet is in his back pocket, attached to his jeans with a chain.

"But I think Jeffrey's getting somewhere here. Not to jump to conclusions, but this does seem like some kind of a set-up. Although, I'm not dead. Least, not as far as I know." He focuses on the bartender, who had returned to whatever it was he was doing. "Sir, can you at least tell us where we even are?" He gets much the same response that Dalik got. "Not much of a talker, are you? Right, in that case, another shot of vodka? I have a feeling I'm gonna need it."

[Terenia]

"Dalik," she says flatly to Jeffrey. "My name is Dalik. You can call me Cameron if you prefer, but I am not honeybun. As for what I do, it's none of your damn business." The profanity sounds odd, coming from such a petite, young girl.

Sighing, she pockets her comm link. "And I'm not dead, either. I didn't appear here, I piloted my ship here. My brother sent me the coordinates, along with a rather confusing rant about how this place was a space-time anomoly -- which could account for his tardiness, I suppose."

The bartender reaches into the pocket of his apron, extracting a small, well-worn notepad. He flips wordlessly to a single page and holds it out so Mercer can see the words.

It reads, Cash or tab?

[guitarhero01234]

"'Space-time anomaly,' huh?" Merc comments. "Look, I'm not gonna pretend I understand any of this. Whether we're dead or this is some sort of purgatory or whatever, it's not gonna help anything if you're at each others' throats." He speaks calmly, although the words still carry their weight.

Only then does he notice the bartender. "Oh, cash, I suppose," he says, fishing out his wallet. "No offense, but when I manage to get back home, I doubt I'll end up here again. I hope not, at least."