Steel Accord
One Thousand Club
Pilgrim landed in the dark alleyway crouched on one knee and a fist to the ground, his cloak falling around him. He arose and rotated his shoulder. Taking stock of himself, he felt a little banged up. Nothing serious but he did feel exhausted from kicking the crap out of the Circle of Thorns cultists. He needed a recharge. Luckily he knew exactly where to find one.
He found a particular manhole cover and removed it. He dropped straight down through the portal and somehow ended up standing on his feet in front of a door closing behind him in a well lit office entrance. This wasn't disorienting both because teleportation and jumping through portals was nothing new for him and he had been here before. Pilgrim did have to admit that DJ Zero made such a bizarre transference virtually seamless. Most portals made from hi-tech machinery were loud, flashy, and made you feel like you were being pulled a great distance before you got to the other side. DJ made his portals almost elegant. Just walk, jump, or drop through and you're there without so much as a mild case of vertigo.
Pilgrim felt his cloak retreating up his back and his hands slipped up to his hood for him to pull it down. He waved to the receptionist who waved him on through to the elevator. As he approached the main floor he could feel the thudding base and the whine of the music. The music became much clearer as the doors slid open. Of course, the image that dominated his vision was the bouncer, a giant of a man wearing white and red battle gear with the insignia of the Sentinel Corps. emblazoned on his chest. Covering both of his forearms were large gauntlets that could generate energy fields allowing the user to blast from afar or punch with the force of a wrecking ball. His head bore a swept back helmet, his mouth and nose were covered with a mask, and he had a long white cape behind him. Pilgrim had no idea how DJ Zero managed to convince a member of the superhero military organization to serve as a bouncer but he was handy to have around.
"Hey, kid." The older man nodded.
"Hey, Warden Cross." Pilgrim fished in his robe and pulled out his Paragon City hero registration card. Cross took a brief look at the card and waved Pilgrim on in. Pilgrim strolled across the blue lit vestibule with pool tables, a bar on two levels, a few arcade machines, and plenty of seats and tables for relaxing. Pilgrim noticed several other costumed doers of good taking advantage of that last one in particular as he ordered a soda from the bar. Those heroes not completely exhausted were out on the dance floor.
The more relaxed corner of the club opened up to the main chamber, a massive dance floor with a high ceiling and rafters. In the very center was a raised platform with giant speakers and at the top was DJ Zero, wreathed in dimensional energy but still tending to the music. Pilgrim noticed heroes and what he assumed were super villains dancing wildly to the beat. "Assumed" because Pilgrim didn't recognize many of them as big name players that crossed his radar. He did notice a few off duty minions from the Freakshow and Sky Raiders though. He also peered across the dance floor to the other antechamber on the far side.
This one was lit by a low, red light and bore more resemblance to a strip club or dingy bar. Neon signs, dart boards with knives in them, shards of broken bottles. To top it all off, an Arachnos arbiter stood outside the elevator, waving in a cyborg monstrosity stepping out of the elevator. If getting one of the Sentinel Corps. was impressive, getting an Arachnos agent and an Arbiter at that was Herculean, but clearly DJ Zero was such a Hercules. The Arbiter wore grey armor and a cape of his own, a divergence from Arachnos' uniform red and black. Even then though the design was still meant to vaguely suggest a spider, such as the exoskeleton look on the shoulder pads and helmet prongs outlining the chin to suggest fangs. Both the Warden and the Arbiter's jobs were to make sure the people left through the same elevators they arrived in. So Pilgrim couldn't sneak out to the Rogue Isles through the club but neither could someone from the other side do vice versa. It was a pretty well done arrangement that Zero had managed to swing.
The bartender handed Pilgrim his soda and Pilgrim proceeded to the walkways upstairs flanking the dance floor. He wasn't quite ready to join the party and really unsure if he was even going to. Let's see how this turns out.
He found a particular manhole cover and removed it. He dropped straight down through the portal and somehow ended up standing on his feet in front of a door closing behind him in a well lit office entrance. This wasn't disorienting both because teleportation and jumping through portals was nothing new for him and he had been here before. Pilgrim did have to admit that DJ Zero made such a bizarre transference virtually seamless. Most portals made from hi-tech machinery were loud, flashy, and made you feel like you were being pulled a great distance before you got to the other side. DJ made his portals almost elegant. Just walk, jump, or drop through and you're there without so much as a mild case of vertigo.
Pilgrim felt his cloak retreating up his back and his hands slipped up to his hood for him to pull it down. He waved to the receptionist who waved him on through to the elevator. As he approached the main floor he could feel the thudding base and the whine of the music. The music became much clearer as the doors slid open. Of course, the image that dominated his vision was the bouncer, a giant of a man wearing white and red battle gear with the insignia of the Sentinel Corps. emblazoned on his chest. Covering both of his forearms were large gauntlets that could generate energy fields allowing the user to blast from afar or punch with the force of a wrecking ball. His head bore a swept back helmet, his mouth and nose were covered with a mask, and he had a long white cape behind him. Pilgrim had no idea how DJ Zero managed to convince a member of the superhero military organization to serve as a bouncer but he was handy to have around.
"Hey, kid." The older man nodded.
"Hey, Warden Cross." Pilgrim fished in his robe and pulled out his Paragon City hero registration card. Cross took a brief look at the card and waved Pilgrim on in. Pilgrim strolled across the blue lit vestibule with pool tables, a bar on two levels, a few arcade machines, and plenty of seats and tables for relaxing. Pilgrim noticed several other costumed doers of good taking advantage of that last one in particular as he ordered a soda from the bar. Those heroes not completely exhausted were out on the dance floor.
The more relaxed corner of the club opened up to the main chamber, a massive dance floor with a high ceiling and rafters. In the very center was a raised platform with giant speakers and at the top was DJ Zero, wreathed in dimensional energy but still tending to the music. Pilgrim noticed heroes and what he assumed were super villains dancing wildly to the beat. "Assumed" because Pilgrim didn't recognize many of them as big name players that crossed his radar. He did notice a few off duty minions from the Freakshow and Sky Raiders though. He also peered across the dance floor to the other antechamber on the far side.
This one was lit by a low, red light and bore more resemblance to a strip club or dingy bar. Neon signs, dart boards with knives in them, shards of broken bottles. To top it all off, an Arachnos arbiter stood outside the elevator, waving in a cyborg monstrosity stepping out of the elevator. If getting one of the Sentinel Corps. was impressive, getting an Arachnos agent and an Arbiter at that was Herculean, but clearly DJ Zero was such a Hercules. The Arbiter wore grey armor and a cape of his own, a divergence from Arachnos' uniform red and black. Even then though the design was still meant to vaguely suggest a spider, such as the exoskeleton look on the shoulder pads and helmet prongs outlining the chin to suggest fangs. Both the Warden and the Arbiter's jobs were to make sure the people left through the same elevators they arrived in. So Pilgrim couldn't sneak out to the Rogue Isles through the club but neither could someone from the other side do vice versa. It was a pretty well done arrangement that Zero had managed to swing.
The bartender handed Pilgrim his soda and Pilgrim proceeded to the walkways upstairs flanking the dance floor. He wasn't quite ready to join the party and really unsure if he was even going to. Let's see how this turns out.
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