Mardi Gras (open anything)

[Maxim Vasilijev]

Maxim was twenty one and he’d been in his last year of college until he’d decided to blow off the last semester and join the Sith Order. It was a place that suited him. He was angry and brash and competitive. He liked it there so far. He hadn’t been there all that long – but had received just enough training to be dangerous. Dangerous to himself and dangerous to innocents.

He’d always wanted to go to Mardi Gras. He’d heard tales of it, and college buddies had always come back from it telling stories that he only half believed. His friends were prone to…over-embellishing from time to time. Particularly when it came to stories about girls or drinking.

He’d told his master, Lady Vader, that he had to take some time away to see his family – to let them know he had made a decision about what he was doing after school. Well…before he finished school, really. And this was….well...it was partially true. His brother was going to be meeting him there at some point And he planned to tell him, at least, at some point.

The streets were busy, though it was only the afternoon. Throngs of other college kids, like him, were on the streets, drinking lime green Hand Grenades or foot tall plastic containers of beer. Music poured out of bars, advertising competitions for wet t-shirt contests. Girls climbed onto stages, dancing to the beat of the music, uninhibited thanks to the drinks they held in their hands.

Guys ogled these women, many of them just as drunk and planning for hookups later that night. Surprisingly, it was just as his friends had described. A beautiful city with a few blocks of streets that managed to drop to the bottom of the barrel. It was seediness at its best. Or worst. Depending on how you decided to look at it.

He pushed through the crowds, trying to find the bar that his brother had told him he would be at.

[Oishii Sakana]

Oishii was walking down a street in the middle of a very rowdy festival known as Mardi Gras. Oishii had no idea what was going on. People were drunk, and loud, and most all the women had tight skirts and loose morals, by the looks of them. A string of beads flew through the air and fell over Oishii's head and around his neck.

"What is going on here?" He asked, looking at the beads that had fallen around his neck.

[Yasashii Mikan]

"It's called Mardi Gras...the celebration of inebriation," Yasashii replied.

The younger brother scoffed at the festivities.

"What a waste of time. Bet we could make some money though."

[Maxim Vasilijev]

Yashashii wasnt the only one to answer.

“She likes you.” A voice replied from behind Oishii. From up on a balcony above where the three men stood in the streets, a girl was waving in their general direction, her neck heavily laden with beads. She leaned on the balcony, and Maxim, for a brief moment thought she might, in her drunken state, tumble over it to the ground below.

As Oishii turned to put a face to the voice, Maxim nodded upwards in the direction of the woman who had tossed the beads down around Oishii’s neck.

“You show me yours and I’ll show you mine! Throw me some beads!” She called out, adding a squealing scream to the end of this.

Maxim couldn’t help but snort in amusement.

[Oishii Sakana]

Oishii followed Maxim's gaze up to the woman with the many beads around her neck.

Oishii had no beads, but he could tell the woman was drunk: maybe she wouldn't notice if he threw her back the beads she had given him.

Oishii took the beads off and shrugged, then tossed them up and managed to get the beads to hang around her head.

"What did she mean by 'show me yours and I'll show you mine?' Drunk people are just crazy."

[Yasashii Mikan]

Yasashii raised a brow at the woman on the high balcony, then turned his back.

"Ignore her brother. What she meant is not important."

[Maxim Vasilijev]

Maxim shook his head and grinned.

"It doesnt takea lot of imagination to figure it out..." He replied.

Above, he could hear the woman celebrating the new beads she'd just acquired, and moments later, the appreciative celebration of the men around her. Apparently she'd do just about anything for beads.

And her antics got old in a matter of moments. Particularly when there were a million others out there like her on the streets at the moment.

Nearby, a guy stumbled into the support beam of a building, and moments later hurled on the sidewalk. People scattered to avoid the mess.

"Im Maxim..." He offered, extending his hand.

[Oishii Sakana]

Oishii took Maxim's hand in a firm handshake.

"And I'm Oishii. What an odd thing these women do for a bunch of worthless beads, eh?" He said with a chuckle.

"It seems to be a pretty popular thing to do around here."

Oishii went over to the man who had thrown up and gave him a pat on the back. "Poor baby can't hold his liquor?" He asked in a degrading tone. The drunk man immediately grew angry, and lashed out at Oishii.

The travelling swordsman easily snatched the fist from the air and with a quick slap to the back of the head, knocked the drunk out. A short search later, and Oishii had a couple of hundred credits to add to his pocket.

"Drunks..." Oishii said with contempt and left the man to lay in his own vomit.

[Yasashii Mikan]

"Yasashii." His introduction was given with a curt nod. "Well done, brother. Though you could have simply knocked him out, or stolen it without even wasting the effort."

He made a quick movement, hodling out a handful of creds. The partygoers moving in the opposite direction didn't noticed them missing.

[Oishii Sakana]

Oishii smiled. Very true. You know, we wouldn't be able to pick their pockets if they were sober."

[Maxim Vasilijev]

A handshake and a curt nod in return and he had made the acquaintance of the two brothers.

And he liked their style. He wasn’t exactly into picking pockets, but he didn’t stray far from their methods for picking them. He wasn’t one to ever shy away from a fight, or anything that would resemble any sort of competition.

“I take it you guys aren’t from around here…” He stated, referring to the earlier questions of the eldest brother regarding what in the galaxy was going on in the streets.

[Yasashii Mikan]

"Sure aren't," Yasashii replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. "What was your first clue?"

[Oishii Sakana]

Oishii smacked his brother across the head. "Not everyone knows everyone in large towns like this. Save that sarcasm for when you need it."

Oishii smiled. Yasashii was a hot head to be sure.

"No, we aren't from here. How about you?"

[Maxim Vasilijev]

Maxim's dark eyes had narrowed at the sarcastic response from the younger brother. His teeth had clenched involuntarily together and his hand had reached without realizing it for his blaster.

But the response of the other brother had cooled his hotheadedness to some degree, and his shoulders lost some of the tension they held.

"No, Im not from around here, either. But I've always heard about it and wanted to check it out. My brother is supposed to be meeting me, but the line at the bar he's at is a <smallfont color={hovercolor}>-Censored-</smallfont>ing mile long to get in...." He explained with an annoyed shake of his head.

[Yasashii Mikan]

"Jeez, and you let that stop you? If you like, Oishii and I can clear the line for you...hell, I'll bet we can get the entire place to come a big screeching halt."

[Maxim Vasilijev]

Maxim gave Yasashii a slightly doubtful look for a moment, and then he gave a slight nod in his direction.

"I'd like to see that...." He replied.

"Sounds a hell of a lot more entertaining than just drinking a few beers in a bar." He added, somewhat of a co-conspirator tone coming into his voice.

He loved trouble and he loved attention, and would hardly pass on the opportunity to involve himself in something that had the potential for either one.

"Who are you guys?" He asked as an afterthought.

[Oishii Sakana]

Oishii grinned wildly and put a hand on the hilt of his katana.

"Just two travelling brothers that fight for a living."

Oishii drew his sword and charged passed the crowd, yelling at the top of his lungs. People screamed and fled. Once inside, Oishii sheathed his sword and took a seat at the bar. He didn't need to be loud anymore. The people would work themselves up more.

[Maxim Vasilijev]

Just two traveling brothers that fight for a living.

Maxim nearly laughed at the irony of this. These were two brothers who fought others for a living. Had the words been applied to he and his own brother, they would have meant fighting themselves, for essentially, that was what they did.
Or rather, what he did. They were twins, but complete opposites. And Maxim was so highly competitive that he turned everything between he and his brother into some sort of competition.

Fortunately, he was distracted from these thoughts as Oishii drew his sword and charged into the crowd, yelling at the top of his lungs. As best they could, people shoved their way to safety, causing somewhat of a trampling effect in some of the narrower parts of the street.

But it seemed to do the trick. The line in front of the bar dissipated, and in moments the three were inside. Oishii, by this time had sheathed his sword and taken a seat at the bar. Maxim didn’t take a seat, but rather stood and looked about for a few moments for his brother. Not seeing him, he shrugged and turned back to the brothers.

“Well done…” He stated, offering the two of them some sort of praise for a job well done. They had lived up to their promise of only moments ago.

“So you just travel around fighting random people?” He asked as he nodded toward the bartender to catch his attention.

[Yasashii Mikan]

Yasashii seats himself with an irritated sigh. Oishii's methods are always either too calm or too spastic. This particular instance is of the latter.

"That's about right," he says in reply to Maxim. "One of us fights, the other judges. Sometimes we do tag stuff, but not often."

[Maxim Vasilijev]

Maxim nodded, digesting for a moment this piece of information. As the bartender approached, he ordered a beer and then turned back to the brothers.

“You ever faced a jedi in all your fights?” He asked.

[Mr. Happy]

The Alderaanian district was at the heart of town, and cordoned off from traffic. People filed in from everywhere, packing it to capacity, and participating in the greatest spectacle of debauchery in the galaxy. Kenobi Boulevard made a loop-around at the edge of the district, before moving uptown and elsewhere. Those who weren't quite ready to play pickled sardine grabass were lined up on both sides of the spacious street...awaiting the parade.

For miles and miles down the road, people gathered, as floats both great and small trundled by, spaced in between by various marching bands. Of course, it was all passe' when compared to Yours Truly...moi! Through a bit of skullduggery and arm-twisting, I'd convinced the parade committee that it would be in their best interest to make a special change to the parade schedule. Now...as the New, Extra-Special Grand Marshall of the Thon Festival Parade, it was time for everybody to get a little antsy in their pantsy. In front of My Royal Majesty's float, there was some other, less-fabulous float, throwing beads and plastic tokens to the crowds around them. Now...that just would not do. Twirling my cane, I turned to my very large and scary assistant, pointing at the scurvy float off the port bow.

"Clarence! The girl scouts are cramping my style. Do something terrible!"

The big slab of talking muscle nodded, and used a large remote control. Behind, a giant bust of Yours Truly came to life, and smiled real big. Opening its mouth, it let loose a massive arc of high-pressure water, which slammed into the float in front, sending the girl scouts on it flying due to the immense pressure. Once the ill-spirited merry-makers had been cleansed, Clarence aimed the fire-hose turret at the float itself, shearing away paper machet and pomps, and pushing the entire apparatus off the road, and into somebody's front lawn. The crowd dispersed momentarily, came back, and cheered wildly. I was a hit!

Plowing through the residual chaos, my float stood unopposed and unhindered, a single, bright-shining spectacle in the midst of a sea of crap. Millions of neon lights flashed in epileptic fashion, creating blinking, swirling patterns of bright color, which matched my own snappy attire to the letter. I hefted a bag over my shoulder, and removed my top hat, flailing it about as I stepped to the microphone on my float.

<marquee><font size=7>"<font color=FFFF00>HAPPY </font><font color=FF00FF>MARDI </font><font color=00FF00>GRAS</font>!"</font></marquee>

[Oishii Sakana]

"Any Jedi? I think we fought one once, but she would not admit to her status as a Jedi. Force users don't usually bother with our small fights. The Jedi are too peaceful to participate, and the Sith seem to have better things to do than to kick the crap out of us for pocket change. They seem to enjoy mass murder and the like much better."

Oishii heard a parade float by. "A parade?" A loud noise followed shortly after. "I can't even begin to understand what it is that possesses people to do the things they do."

Oishii knew that too much alcohol was more than likely the source, but decided not to talk about the disadvantages of alcohol and get kicked out of the bar.

"I wonder what's going on?" Oishii looked out the window and saw a float with a strangely happy looking man on it, and a very large, very dumb looking person standing next to him.

"It'd rake in a lot of credits if we were to take him on."

[Maxim Vasilijev]

Any Jedi? I think we fought one once, but she would not admit to her status as a Jedi. Force users don't usually bother with our small fights. The Jedi are too peaceful to participate, and the Sith seem to have better things to do than to kick the crap out of us for pocket change. They seem to enjoy mass murder and the like much better.

As a new apprentice of the Sith Order, Maxim found this comment interesting. He was considering it when the parade suddenly began to float by the bar in which they sat. He too had looked out the window for a moment, curiosity getting the best of him.

It'd rake in a lot of credits if we were to take him on.

A small, sly grin made its way to Maxim’s face.

“You want some company?” He asked, offering what skills he had to the two brothers. He didn’t care about the credits, only the trouble that such an act might cause.

[Yasashii Mikan]

"Oh...hell yes."

Yasashii is grinning wildly. The clown and his puppet are cannon fodder.

"Time to earn our keep, brother!"

Yasashii walks out, keeping an eye on the clown-like being. Hell yeah. Easy money.

[Oishii Sakana]

Oishii looked at Maxim and smiled. "It depends on what the clown man agrees to. If he agrees to a handicap match, then it'll be twice the stakes, I imagine."

[Mr. Happy]

"Beads!"

I upended my bag, dumping out mass quantities of beads to the crowd around me.

"Show the love! Get naked! Make babies! Its the reason for giving!"

The crowd snatched up the beads, and like a flowing tide, a wave of hedonism resurged through the revelry...moreso than any could have predicted. Far from simply negotiationg for favors, men and women were getting fully naked outright, and some of them doing the filthy deed right there on the spot, in the midst of all the filth. What the stimulated mob didn't realize was that my wonderful wagon of love was pumping colorless, odorless, and otherwise harmless natural pheromones into the air. Subliminal chemicals to lubricate the brain, and allow them the freedom to get exactly what they want. As the crowd became more and more uninhibited...its quite possible that my Jolly Ol' Smile got a little bit bigger. I turned around to my henchman.

"Clarence, lets have a little mood music, if you will!"

"C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon, be happy! If you're not happy, then I'm not happy, and if my name's not Mr. Happy, I'll eat this kitten!"

I pulled a tabby-coated kitten from my jacket pocket, and held it up for a few seconds, looked at it, then tossed it over my shoulder.

[Maxim Vasilijev]

Maxim walked out onto the street with the two brothers only to find that the once somewhat razy streets had become....well...something young minds like his had only watched on holovids in a 'Girls gone Wild' sort of fashion, or perhaps....worse.

He wasnt, afterall, an innocent kid by any means.

But he certainly hadnt expected to be caught up in the middle of...well...everyone acting so....lustfully. Not that he was necessarily opposed to it....but....somehow the fantasy of it seemed better than the real thing. Some people werent meant to be out there in broad daylight doing the things they were doing.

"oh.....kay." He muttered under his breath, wondering what the hell was going on. The clown was still hollering things out, though he couldnt quite hear him above the screaming of the crowd. They wanted beads. Beads. And more beads.

As some flew threw the air toward him, he reached to snatch them out of the air, prompty placing them around the neck of the woman who was standing next to him, or..rather, leaning on him. She was a bit too inebriated to be standing on her own.

[Yasashii Mikan]

Yasashii shoulders aside stripping women. Yasashii isn't the kind to be love others. The feeling Mr. Happy's gas gives him is pissing him off. The youngest of the wandering brothers leaps onto the float and approaches the clown from behind, ignoring the giant of a man standing there.

"Hey clown!"

He spins Mr. Happy around and deals a crushing blow with his left fist. He'll wait to see what this clown has up his sleeve before loosing his right cross.

"What's your frikkin problem? Jeez, as if this "holiday" wasn't already sick enough..."

[Oishii Sakana]

Oishii also didn't like the effects of the gas. He was a man who enjoyed decency, and did not tolerate gluttony of any sort. Which is why he stole the drunk's wallet. When that man woke up from his drunkeness and found a good couple hundred credits gone, he'd wish he had never had all those drinks.

Oishii jumped on the stage and kept his eye on the big man. Let his brother deal with the clown. Yasashii's short temper and violent attitude were just the things to make this clown reconsider his lifestyle.

[Maxim Vasilijev]

For the moment, the Sith apprentice just watched. When he found the right moment, he too, would more than gladly join in on the fun.

He didnt find the mardi gras holiday sick at all, in fact, he thought it was all rather fun and amusing. But if anger at the holiday was going to create a fight that he could get in on, he was all for it.

[Mr. Happy]

"Aaah!!"

The big brute bowled me over, sending me sprawling to the back of the float. Slow to my feat, I staggered, put my hands to my mouth, and with the right amount of drama...

"Pth!"

...'spit' out a set of bloody, chatter teeth, which rattled across the ground.

"Say there, Uni-brow, thats a mean whallop you got!"

I ducked to the side of the float, and retrieved a massively-oversized boxing glove.

"But...I pity da fool who didn't learn anything...in the School of Hard Knocks!"

The glove was loaded with a high-tension spring, that when released by the trigger inside, sent the business end screaming out, smashing into Uni-brow's face with the force of a freight train. At the same time, Clarence had non-chalantly aimed the water cannon at Uni-brow's prissy friend. The moment Big Red's face got caved in, Prissy got to drink from the firehose!

Both rabble-rousers found themselves very quickly off the float, on their backsides, and up to their armpits in the cesspool of crap that was the city street, surrounded by an increasingly out-of-control crowd. Wiping the blood from my lip, I jumped up and down triumphantly, waving my giant boxing glove.

"I'm the greatest! Woo! I'm the greatest!"

[Yasashii Mikan]

Yasashii lands on his back in a puddle of mixed alcoholic drinks and scraps of food, quickly springing to his feet, running a thumb under his nose. It comes away with blood on it.

"Uni-brow, huh?" he growls dangerously. "I'll show you who's the greatest."

Yasashii's head is swimming from the blow, but he's bull-headed enough to ignore it. He leaps onto the back of the float as the end of it rolls by and makes his way forward, carrying himself in a guarded stance.

"C'mon joker, let's see what you've got."

[Oishii Sakana]

OOC: By prissy I am assuming that you are referring to me.

IC:

Oishii jumped back to his feet. The spray from the pressure hose mostly got his clothes, leaving his skin unscathed. But the force from the hose still made his abdomen ache.

"I think you bruised me, big man," the blue brother said to Clarence. "You must be pretty smart to work that big thing all by yourself." Oishii's voice was sarcastic. Clarence wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. If Oishii could make him mad enough, he's own the big man.

"Tell me Clarence, can you count to two?"

Oishii jumped back on the float, and kept his eyes trained on Clarence all the while keeping tabs on Yasashii and Mr. Happy out of the corner of his eye.

"I'll give you a hint. You start with the number 1."