"I don't know what that Italian crap you just said was, but thanks, I guess." Roxie replied.



"Jeez, pal. Are you thick or something?" Roxie asks. "I'll put it in simpler terms. Stop fucking staring at me, ya perv! Go get your rocks off somewhere else!"



"You're close. I'm not a biker, but I am part of a gang." Roxie says, cracking her knuckles and grinning.



Her grin quickly faded when Tsubasa spoke up.

"Gah!" She exclaimed. "Is that a fuckin' ghost you're carrying?! That thing just talked!"

"Er, s-sure, yeah, w-what you said..." the Gamer responded quietly, swinging her legs a little. "I-I mean, we pretty much j-just met but... i-is that okay...?"


Okay, that she heard. "N-no... I just d-don't go out much..." Tsubasa answered lamely.

---

"Oh, uh, you remind me of a, um, friend I have too," Devin says to Roxie, chewing on the thought. "Seems like we walk in some similar circles. Granted, you're from like the greatest cultural center on this side of the globe and I'm from Ohio, which is Hell on Earth."

"Also I don't think this sweater kid is a pervert, he's just, uh, simple?" Devin tries her best to read Adel's expression but in the end can't get much out of it. "Actually nevermind, I don't know. Sorry I said anything maybe that was problematic."

"So cool..."

"Why would it not be okay?" At this point it's pretty clear that Ryleigh is not a person too concerned with things like boundaries.

Great Dragon was taken aback by what Roxie just said. He narrows his eyes at her, clearly annoyed by this.

"It's Spanish." He corrected Roxie.

"I-I don't think I'm a pervert, either," Adel meekly stated. "I just like accessories and stuff like that, I guess...er, is that what a pervert is..?"

Ruby turned to Adel, beaming at him.

"A pervert is a guy who's, like, kinda creepy and weirdly sexual around other people," she explained, placing her hands on her hips and puffing her chest out as if she was proud of her explanation. "So... I'm sure you aren't like that, but yeah! Perfectly fine to like accessories, buddy! Like, I have this red sash around my waist! My sister knitted it for me, heh."

"...Ohhh. Okay. Yeah, then I don't think I'm a pervert. I-In my opinion, anyways..."

"I-I don't know really..." Tsubasa shrugged a little. "Um, s-so... what happens next...?"

---

Ryleigh also shrugs, "Beats me."

She seems pretty content, honestly, standing around, carrying the gamer girl like it's just a thing to do.

"Ah, o-okay..."

She seemed to be growing content with being carried around. Probably spends most of her time sitting and laying around anyway.

---

"Oh. Well, that's pretty lame." Roxie shrugs. It seems she doesn't have much else to say.



"Oh, really?" Roxie asks, raising an eyebrow. "You're not just saying that to sound cool, are you?

She then turns to face Adel. "Hmm... Not a perv, but a dumbass? I guess it's possible. There are some pretty stupid people out there..."



"Tacos, lasagna... What's the difference?" She asks. "It all turns to shit in the end anyways."

"Heeeeeey, lasagna is the best!" Ruby exclaimed, crossing her arms and pouting. "And I make the best darn lasagna anyone will ever have!"

"I'm not stupid..!" Adel insisted. "I mean...W-Well, anyways, that's really mean of you to say..!"

"Ah...you make me wish I could eat!...but then again..the process of eating is kind of gross..."
He started walking around again.

Great Dragon stares at Roxie for a few more minutes until he finally said, "To each their own."

"You'll find that, if I ever do say things just to sound cool, I don't do it often enough for it to make much of a difference," Devin shrugs, "Oh well."

"I think the thing going on between the girls is like, cute and all, but maybe it's like actually really crafty? Like if they get married then it doubles their chances to win in a game scenario, since if one wins the other does as well."

"I'm just joking obviously. I don't think you guys are thinking about it that way, and certainly aren't anything serious yet, but I just think it's funny to flirt around with someone you're about to go up against as an opponent."

[Ahh! Double clicked!!]

Fourteen players had introduced themselves now. That left only one. Who was this mystery person that had kept the others waiting for so long? Well, they were about to find out.

In the back, there was a man who hadn't spoken up yet. He remained silent, watching the others interact expressionlessly. His outfit certainly managed to stand out, however- he was dressed quite gaudily. He had a top hat and a very nice looking red coat, with gold on the sides which went quite well with his blonde hair. He certainly had a sense of style to him, though it made him look almost like a circus ringmaster of sorts. And also maybe a girl if you looked at him from the distance. Still, something about the man was... incredibly suspicious, to say the least. Why had he stayed silent till now? What was he waiting for? And... what were all those huge bags that he had brought with him?

After Roxanne introduced herself though, the man muttered to himself, "Well, if it's gonna happen then let it happen now..." The others weren't quite in earshot to hear him, but if they did they probably would have found it very ominous. He tipped his top hat ever so slightly, obscuring his eyes as he made his way to where the others were. He cleared his throat, ready to speak. What was this man about to say? There was something very unnerving about his demeanor till this point, for whatever reason.

And then, in a flash, all of that disappeared completely.

"Howdy!" With a flourish, the man lifted up his top hat and looked at everyone directly. Now that everyone could see his face clearly, they could see the big, dumb grin on his face, his pearly whites being almost obnoxious in how bright and polished they were. His eyes had an eager glint to them as well, clearly excited to meet everyone else. "I've gotta say, fellas, I haven't seen such a varied group of people in a single place since my high school reunion last year!" He guffawed, though it was hard to tell how serious he was. His voice had a particular oomph to it too. It was deeper than you'd expect and perhaps a bit booming but felt silky smooth in its own way, while also having a tone of friendliness to it.

"Nah, I'm just kidding, I dropped out when I was 15", he continued, shaking his head. "Never was much a fan of school... Ah, Heavens to Betsy! I almost forgot!" He put his hand to his hat again, flinching slightly. "Introductions, introductions! Can't keep the people waiting more than I already have, can I? So sorry, people! Here you are!" He reached for something and pulled out a business card so quickly that you could hardly tell where he pulled it out from. He held it up in the air for everyone to see. It read:



Below that was an address and a few numbers.

"Now, that might be a mouthful for you pals to take in, so feel free to call me just 'Max'! It's simpler, snappier, rolls off the tongue easier... what more could you need, right?" He waved his arms excitedly as he talked, with his motions being surprisingly exaggerated. "Anyway, now ya know! I'm an honest to goodness travellin' salesman! Been roamin' round the world for ages now, selling my wares to anyone who desires 'em! Gotta say, winnin' this lottery might be the miracle I've been waitin' for! Always a pleasure to get to know your potential customers better!" He paused for a bit to stretch out his arms. "Ahhh, that's the stuff. If y'all couldn't tell, I just drove in from New York, and boy are my arms tired! Hahaha!" His laughter didn't seem quite as genuine now that they knew his occupation, and it was quite hard to believe his arms were tired as he continued waving them around. Yes, he definitely gave off a "used car salesman" vibe now that they knew. "Not that I had to do any of the driving, of course! They're just tired from all the stuff I had to bring over!"

He gestured to his bags he had taken with him here, a bit of a smirk on his face. "Now, I know what you might be thinkin', fellas. 'What's in the rucksacks, Max?' Well first off, kudos for that excellent rhyme! Was that deliberate?" He smirked. "And secondly, these are full of my goods! All the wares you could ask for are in here! What sort of stuff? Even I don't fully know! One time I found someone's toenail collection in there! I don't know whose that was even now, but you can bet your bottom dollar I still got the customer to buy it! Kinda strange that he was into that stuff, but I won't judge!" He gave a sort of comedic wink. "You fellas can always feel free to approach me if you're interested in my precious products! I'm always a sucker for a good deal after all. Even if you don't, I'll approach you instead! It's a good two-way relationship, right?" His smile seemed a bit less sincere now.

"But wait, there's more!" His voice echoed. "You see that address at the bottom of my card? That's my permanent store I've got runnin'! You guys can always come on over there for a good deal if you're ever interested! I'm sure there's somethin' for all of you, dragons and robots included! Taxesapplyandrefundswillnotbegiventhankyouforyourunderstanding", he breathed out so quickly that hardly anyone could hear it. He tipped his hat and gave a little bow, clearly quite enthused about this. "Anyway, that's abouuuut it! I've gotta say, I'm lookin' forward to playin' with y'all! Even if I don't end up winnin' this lil' contest, I'm sure I can make a net profit from this! This is sure to be the biggest blast of our lives comin' up here!" He gave a wink as he once again gestured towards the others with his trademark winning smile.

---

"Hello Maxwell 'Max' Montgomery!" Woody replies. "What a coincidence, I also sell things! And by things I mean, flowers, of course." He adds. "Your shop sounds a lot cooler than mine, though."

"Oh, and hello Roxie 'Trax' Trudeau!" The florist says, addressing the graffiti artist. "Um...hm." He pauses. "No, I don't think I have anything in common with you...but your look is totally 'hella'!"

"So...That's everyone then, right?"

"W-well I'm like a salesman too!" Ramon said, trying not to be outdone. He was, as nonchalantly as he could, standing with as many people as possible between him and the scary graffiti girl. "Abry's is the most popular place to eat in my home town! And I like to think I, ahem, play a not-small part in that."

His eyes wandered to Rayleigh and Tsubasa. "Heeeey, that looks pretty fun! Are you strong enough to lift cute boys as well?" he asked, a goofy grin on his face.

"Please, please, Max is fine!" Max insisted in response to Woody, his grin hardly wavering as he did. "I've gotta say though, it sure is refreshin' seeing more people in the sales business over here! We're a dyin' breed nowadays, y'know? Hard makin' an earning, though clearly you two must be the top of the craft to have made it here. Heck, I mighta even heard of this "Abby's" place before. You must be doin' a real good job of it if even ol' Max knows about it, eh?" He gave another one of his laughs, jovially patting Ramon on the back. "Is the food there really worth the price? Sometimes I end up goin' on trips where the only thing I eat is pot noodles, and frankly I feel like a bit of a noodle eatin' that myself! Variety's the spice of life, right, Ramen?" He flashed a smile to the man. "In a way, I suppose that's why we're all here! Tired of the ol' city life, just wantin' a bit of excitement... and money, of course. Nothin' better than it, baby!"

---

"H-hello..." Tsubasa waved timidly at Max from where she remained elevated. "Um... d-do you have a website? ...o-or an e-mail...? I-I don't really do the whole s-shopping in physical stores t-thing..."

---

"Mhmm... Nice to meet you, Max." Great Dragon nodded at the salesman. "If you've been traveling a lot, then you must have seen a lot of sights, sí?"

"Heeeey, Great Dragon can lift people up! It's all part of being a wrestler!" Great Dragon called out after Ramon.

"Ooh, ooh, can you lift one person with each arm?" Ramon asked Great Dragon excitedly.

"Websites...? Emails...?" Max appeared a little confused at Tsubasa's question. After a second though, he burst into laughter again, though this time a bit more... genuine. "I've gotta say, I didn't realise I'd meet somebody so modern over here, ha! Anyway, to answer your question, I don't deal in online transactions. It's all artificial, y'know? It doesn't feel the same as it is bargaining with a customer in the flesh! Now where's the fun in that? If I just dealt in that all day long, then I'd be sitting on my fat butt gaining weight instead of going all over the world accumulating all sorts of things! No sirree, physical shopping is the way for ol' Max! Call me a bit old-fashioned if you will, but there's nothin' like it!"

He turned over to Dragon. "Why, of course, my friend! I've been all over this lil' planet and I've seen sights you can't even imagine! Though I must say, your figure isn't one of them", he added in a complimentary tone. "A man like you must be revered where you're from, right? Why, someone like you... Would be perfect for this!" He reached into his bags and pulled out a strange looking strap with a display on it. "This is one'a them famous contraptions... I forget the name, but it's a pretty recent one! It helps measure your heartbeat, how many miles you walk everyday, number of people you beat up... exercise thingamajigs! It's a pretty fancy tool that you use just by wearing it on your arm! And it can be yours for a whoppin' hundred dollars! Now doesn't that sound like a deal, friend?" He flashed his usual smile at the wrestler. "I'd say it's pretty perfect for a ripped guy like you."

---

Myrion stopped wandering around to listen to the new person introduce themselves. He smiled.
"Well, hi Max, nice to meet you! I'll have to tell my Creator about your store if there are things even robots would want to buy, haha! I was advised not to discuss what my work involves but I kinda sell something too."

Luke, who had been standing in the sidelines taking in everyone's introductions, grumbles at the sudden entrance of one of the world's worst creatures, the salesman. "They really follow you everywhere, don't they..."

He looks over to Myrion to distract himself from the ranting and steps over to him, his hands in his pockets, "Hey, you know, I'm curious about something - were you made from scratch or what? Is that even possible? I can't say I've ever done anything with robots, that's for sure."

"Mhmm... That's quite a feat that Great Dragon could try if it was possible on wrestlers. But, Great Dragon would say no." Great Dragon replied to Ramon. "But, if you're talking about young people, such as kids... Yeah, Great Dragon can lift them up if they hold onto the arms."

He turns to Max once the salesman shown him the strap with a display on it. He looks over the contraption. "Hmmm. Interesting. Great Dragon's a little tight on money right now, but Great Dragon will think about it." The masked man replied to the salesman.

He turned to face Luke. "Yes, I was indeed made from scratch! It took 10 tries to get to this version, but my Creator really pulled through at the end! She's exceptional when it comes to robot design, but it's definitely an expensive process."

He seems to like talking about how great his Creator is.

"Wow, 10th time's the charm I guess!" Woody responds. "I wonder how many tries it took for the universe to create me..." He mutters, his mind slowly drifting into a mild existential crisis.

"O-oh, r-really? Er, a-alright then..." Tsubasa stuttered. She lowered her eyes and mumbled to herself. "...M-modern? It's 203X, i-isn't it? W-who doesn't at least have an e-e-mail..."

---

Dale saw the maxwell arrive and introduce himself, he got up and politely came up to him with a smile on his face and eyes closed.

"Hello sir, would you perchance have some clean-ex on you? tissue or anything capable of cleaning a person?" " His demeanor immediately changed into disgust, sneering at the acclaimed salesman. "Then use some of that on your damn self, Dumbasses like you carry all the damn germs in the world from all over and cause all sorts of people to get sick cause you cant be bothered to clean your damn selves on the regular!" Dale walked away muttering to himself.
""And seriously who in the hell doesnt have a damn e-mail in this fuckin day in age."

Devin laughs, amused watching Max haggle with the others. Even so, she has a clear disdain for what he's trying to do, and she facepalms when she sees him take off the fitness tracking bracelet.

"You gotta wake up pretty early in the morning to trick me in to buying frivolous bullshit. If you wanna make a sale, you're probably better off going around the suburbs than bothering us, right? Whatever, do what you want I guess. I'm a salesman too and I'm not going to try and sell anybody anything because that's like the respectful thing to do to people minding their own business."

“Alright, that about does it for the introductions. You’ll have more time to get to know each other very soon, I assure you,” Hugh said, opening the main door to the hotel. “Everyone, follow me, please.”

“Finally, we can get out of this damn heat,” muttered Deirdre.

“About time,” Sam said as he rushed to the front of the pack. “Sunset or not, I’m frying out here.”

The self-proclaimed “ultimates” followed the large man and Lucy into the very sleek, black doors.







After the tour of the lobby and the two other floors, Hugh brought the group back down to the lobby and to the doors to the casino.

“Now, everyone, are you ready to be the first people to lay eyes on my most magnificent casino?” Hugh asked the group.

“Great Dragon is always ready,” the wrestler said, flexing his pecs.

“I was born ready!” shouted Ramon. “Fate wills me to be ready for anything!”

“Let’s just get on with it,” said Devin, totally disinterested in the theatrics.

“Very well,” said Hugh. He swiped his card key into the reader next to the door, and a satisfying click was heard. “Follow me, everyone.”

Hugh and Lucy led the group out of the bar and back into the main room. Standing before the statue of himself, Hugh stretched out his arms and chuckled. “Well, what do you think? Pretty impressive, right?”

“It’s a waste of mo-” Devin tried saying before getting interrupted by Lucy.

“It’s finally time to actually explain how this contest is going to work!” she cheered.









“Did you get all that?” Lucy asked

“I… don’t get it,” Adel said bluntly.

“I didn’t understand any of that, but I’m ready to play!” Ryleigh shouted. “Woo-hoo!”

“Hmm… I wonder where she is with those drinks,” Hugh muttered to himself. “I knew I should’ve went for an all-robot staff to prevent pointless waiting like this, but… nobody makes a Bloody Mary quite like Jenny.”

“I’m sure she’s coming,” Lucy whispered to him.



Last edited by WinterCoat on Mon Feb 17, 2020 3:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Right as the two finished speaking, a dark-haired woman in a beautiful white dress threw the bar door open with enough force to slam it into the wall. She turned to glare at Hugh, apparently having heard his comment.

"Ya' damn right about that," she said, "And no robot can chug a bottle of snake wine and crash in a lump on the floor quite like you either. So best keep me around unless you want everyone trippin' over your sorry ass."

Her voice had a raspy quality that seemed like it would get irritating. Though she was undoubtedly attractive, she stared at the other contestants like they were a ring that spontaneously appeared on her finger after a night at the casino.

"Hmm...Ignore all that. Just a bit of workplace banter."

She slammed the door shut with the heel of her shoe and then strutted toward the contestants, all while holding a tray of drinks over her head that was painted red, black, and gold like a roulette wheel. It featured a top layer on an axle that slowly rotated in her hand as she held it. Upon reaching the others she stopped with a hand poised below her chest and the other raising the drinks.

"Good evening ladies, gentlemen, and, uh...others?" She glanced pointedly at Myrion. "The name's Jennifer Wolfe. I'm in charge of serving the drinks during the game, as well as takin' care of any problems that can't be solved by an algorithm. I'm also good at mixin' drinks, so just let me know what disgusting abomination you wanna guzzle down and I'll hook ya' up."

After a brief silence, Jenny added, "'Kay, that's all. Quit gawkin' at me."

---

"Well spank my bottom and call me silly, this place is really swanky!" Woody exclaims, marvelling at his surroundings. "I'd never in my life thought I would be stepping into a place like this before..."

He then turns to Jenny. "Hm? Oh, I am not gawking at you! I'll have you know, my heart is already taken by someone else. In my mind she's much more beautiful than you, so please do not worry that I will make you uncomfortable in any way!"

Dale scoffed and wrote down his final checkmark on a clipboard he carried.
"Almost not a single problem, Ive got to hand it to Hugh, not a single infraction could I spot at this time...besides cleaning bot 487, ill see its ass scrapped if its the last thing i do..."

"Now then, Jennifer was it? if i might say one thing to you...move the gold cup slightly to your left, the cup is slightly off and will cause the plate to spill on someone, if it spilt you could cause a cup to break on the ground, the shards of glass will litter the floor, and when someone inevitably steps on the shards left behind by your incompetence it will surely leave someone no recourse but to help the unfortunate soul to the infirmery where they will inevitably bleed out...ALL BECAUSE YOU COULDNT BE BOTHERED TO PROPERLY BALANCE CUPS ON A DAMN SAUCER! thank you for taking the time to listen." he smiled and walked off to a slot machine.

Last edited by Cold52 on Sat Feb 15, 2020 5:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

"Yes! Oh yes, this is everything I could have dreamed of, and more!" Ramon cheered, spinning around to take everything in. Not wasting any time at all, he then immediately headed over to try out one of the slot machines, which was sure to end well.