Step City

Overtime was just the norm for Steven at this point. Late nights, early morning, sign this, go there, talk and dance and talk and dance and talk and dance. Not that he was complaining. He only needed 4 hours of sleep on a bad day and he’d be bored otherwise doing nothing, but it meant he was in the office once again, after hours, dictating emails out loud to his tablet as he stretched out his body with a few dynamic stretches in his office.

The other office floors should have been empty around now, but for the odd overachiever, Steven left his door open so if anyone needed to come in and hand in any last bits of paperwork, they could without a worry.

The soft pump of bass from the UGHQ club several floors below could be felt through the concrete beneath the UG’s feet, his vibe already reacting to him warming his body up and he was ready to get this last bit of work done so he could wind down for the day with a good workout.

Focus.
Focus.
Focus!

Carla could make this work, she could see it in her mind, she had been there a hundred times or more. The lights and buttons were clear as day. It was going to work! It had to work this time!

An abrupt crashing and a scream from the elevator shaft disrupted the other wise peaceful evening for the UG leader. Carla had used her vibe to teleport inside, startling whatever poor passenger was humming along to the muzak. She fell to her knees, bracing her hands on the doors heaving ragged breaths at the immense effort it took to get herself out of danger and into the HQ.

"Holy shit, holy shit-" A gangly boy huddled in the corner away from her, hesitant to approach this woman dressed in Funk Mafia colors with a disco ball medallion.

"Huh- how, do you need a vendy?" His voice cracked as he noticed the blood that was seeping from her, and the strange, sharp protrusions jutting out of her arm, piercing through the back of her purple houndstooth dress.

"T-t-top floor, take me to the top floor-" Carla tried to steady her breathing as she reached out a shaking hand to the button panel.

Steven could hear the hum of the machinery as the elevator moved down the hallway, but it one of a hundreds of thousands of droning noises that fooded the UG’s senses when his vibe started flowing, all culminating in almost a constant blanket of deathaning white noise. It was only as the elevator came within a few floors of the top that he started to become aware of it’s existence and its occupants inside.

He grabbed a small towel to wipe down his brow before he took the long walk from his desk to his front door, then shook his head and made his way to the elevators, hoping to make whoever was stuck working after hour’s job a little easier to not walk the extra 100+ ft to his desk. Also… it was a little funny to see people jump when the elevator doors opened.

It probably would have been funny had Carla been in a state to be startled, but it was Steven who was slightly startled by someone dressed in purple in his elevators, but still ready to take on whatever piss poor attack attempt this was and- Wait…

“Carla?”

The gangly boys voice frantically spouted off once the doors opened. "B-Boss! I'm so sorry! I was going to the lobby! I-I-I She just showed up in here? Out of no where!?!"

Carla got up from the floor of the elevator car, and stumbled out into the hall. Her unaffected hand clutched the opposite sleeve, gripping it tight enough to tear the fabric, she was clearly in pain but managed to keep her resolve.

"Steven-" Carla grimaced, "I know this wasn't part of the plan but-"

"But I-" Carla inhaled sharply as she braced her back against the wall to stand upright. She sucked in her bottom lip, the shame of having to retreat more potent than the pain.

"I think I messed up."

Steven’s eyes flitted from the gangly lad to Carla as he took a step closer, swallowing dryly.

“It’s alright.” He said firmly, first to Carla and then the lad as he closed the gap, his hand gently cupping her good shoulder as he tried to figure out the best way to move her.

“She’s one of us, Cassius. Calm down.…. I’m gonna pick you up, ok?” He said the last part softly as he turned to Carla, ducked down low, and placed his hand on her lower back. He tucked his prosthetic hand behind her knees, scooped her up, and pressed her uninjured side against his front as he made his way back to the lift.

“Press B1 for me, yeah? My card’s around my neck.” He spoke to the younger lad, jutting out his chin so the boy could take his lanyard and press it against the security panel by the elevator buttons

“You’re gonna be alright, ok?” He flashed a small smile down at the woman in his arms. "You've got nothing to worry about... I got you."

Skinny boy Cassius nodded repeatedly and hopped up to get Stevens card and send them all to B1.

Carla inhaled sharply as she was lifted but didn't resist. Her tensions apparent in the grip of her hand on her affected shoulder. She breathed deeply, only able to meet Stevens gaze for a short while before dropping her eyes to the ground. She didn't want to look at the spikes coming out of her. "I knew what I was getting into, I was there for fucking weeks," She pushed a frustrated groan through her teeth. "I don't know what I did to throw it all away."

"I'm just-" She gave a shallow shake of her head meeting Stevens eyes again for a short while. "I'm sorry Steven. I should've waited longer to make a move, now I just.... let you down again."

tw slight body horror and blood

“Look, shut up, yeah?” Steven said with a little bit of humour in his tone. “You can be sad about whatever later on, but let's get you patch first.”


A small exhalation escaped his mouth as he shook his head. You’d think Carla would care more about the literal spikes that were impaling her right now, about the blood that leaked out of her and onto his hand and the elevator floor.

The lift ride was short and Steven walked out of the doors quickly, throwing a quick thanks to Skinny boy Cassius over his shoulder as he made his way down the brightly lit concrete hallway, and took the first door on the right. The large room was clean and sterile, medical devices and a few medical beds all circled the Vendy that was sat in the middle of the room.

He placed Carla gently on one of the beds, sitting her on the edge before a steady stream of beats left his mouth, vibe barely pooling off his skin as a thin, translucent layer of orange vibe covered his hands. Vendy’s could fix whatever wounds Carla had, but it was usually best to clear the area of any material from his personal experience.

“I’m just gonna check you over, yeah?” He hummed between ‘bth’s’ and ‘cht’s’ as he brought his hand to the bloody and white spikey proportion, his fingers barely tapping the surface. He only wanted to know how deep they went, but the vibration feedback he got didn’t make sense.

Everything had its own sound when Steven’s vibe passed through it, and he should have been able to hear the little nuance if he listened hard enough. He should have heard the change in the density of sound down the spike, into the flesh and if it was touching the bone or not and if it had broken the bone, he’d hear that too….

But it wasn’t really changing … it was just as if the white bloody spike that pieced her skin and the bone were one and the same-

“Fuck.” He muttered under his breath as he gently pulled Carla up to her feet and walled her over to the Vendy-
A Vendy could probably fix this, if it was her own fucking bone, right? It could just like, saw it off, or something… Or at least stabilize her till he called in a Doctor?

“Just gonna let you cook in here a bit and you’ll be as right as rain.” Steven smiled softly, anxiety not showing on his face or in his voice as he helped Carla in before closing the door, leaving a bloody handprint as he did.

Carla tisked and huffed, disappointed Steven wouldn't indulge in her self shaming. It was very unlike her to do so in the first place, but it was also unlike her to retreat on a mission. She sat silently as Steven examined her, his warm glow, beats and hums helped to calm her down.

Though as her adrenaline began to subside, the pain ramped up and Carla began to feel light headed. Or maybe that was from the blood loss?

Everything hurt, and did not seem as if the pain would ever reach it's peak. The fabric on her arm, the way the arm was positioned, where it connected to her shoulder, even her spine. She was even aware of the vibration from Steven rattling her bones.

Carla grit through her teeth from the pain and tore her sleeve as she twisted her fist in it. She tossed it off, where it either got caught on her new spikes or hung at her wrist.

"Ugggh!" In her frustration she yanked the disco ball medallion off her neck and tossed it across the room.

Stevens cursing made Carla a little worried, she fling her head up to get a look at his diagnosis, just waiting to hear 'Mate your fucked.' But she was suddenly ushered into a vendy.

"Wu-Wait wa wait wait-!" Carla pounded on the glass back to him.

"Is- Is this what I think it is? Because it's feels like- like-" Carla was hardly able to describe it but surely Steven could see what she meant.

tw: more body horror stuff ;o;

“I’m not sure if I was hearing it right…” Steven spoke as the Vendy started to charge up. Holographic displays popped on both sides of the glass door as the scanning began, Carla’s vitals filled the screens only moments later, albeit Steven’s side was less informative.

“ It sounded like… bone to me? But that's… “ He trailed off. Was that weird? Some people on the island could do monstrous stuff, himself included, so was it really that strange for it to be Carla’s own bone?

As the Vendy continued to scan, a melancholy few notes of a piano drifted from the speakers and usually, Steven liked to guess the song, but he was a little too distracted. There was a melodic ding when the scan was completed and the readouts filled Carla’s screen, highlighting the areas where the bone spikes had grown unnaturally and suddenly, to the exit wounds. The Vendy had already started stemming the blood flow but needed confirmation for what its occupant wanted next.


“I’ll pay for it, just pick the best one.” Steven said abruptly, his phone already in hand. Despite having people be invasive with his body, he’d never had someone do something that left physical alterations before… But Vendy’s could fix anything, even reconstruct limbs to a point… Whatever it cost, he had it covered.

Carla squinted at the read out screen, there were far more alerts than she could account for. The gymnast twisted to the side to see if it were true-
"It feels like bone to m-" She hissed as she brought up the hand, grimacing as she turned it over, finally looking at the extent of the spikes protruding out of her skin. Her arm looked monstrous, she could barely see past her spiked shoulder.

"Was she going to-?" Carla grimaced in both pain and anger. "Just pop me inside out? The fuck?!" The thought was gruesome and disgusting, what kind of person?

With her good hand, Carla tapped the areas on the screen she wanted the vendy to maintain. The things popping out of her skeleton, yes those, she'd like those removed, please. The cred counter in the corner climbed ever upward as she picked the afflicted places.

Carla stood as still as she could, trying to concentrate on the jingle. But all she could really hear was Agatha's voice and picture the glare over her giant glasses.

Steven’s lips pulled into a tight grimace as Carla finished her gnarly thought, very glad that she’d gotten away in time to not become some kind of gory art piece. His fingers had found themselves around his phone, already mid-typing a warning out to his fellow UG’s that there might me FM prowling around the south and to kick their asses back to their side of the boarder.

“You met with her already?” Steven eyebrows raised before he shook his head. Carla could tell him about it when she was healed. He sent out his text before he brought his phone up to the Vendy and paid, nonplussed by the cost.

Agatha was meant to be a recluse, even those in OPP - He refused to call it ‘The Hub’- barely saw her in her own stolen club… Maybe that is why Carla was talking bout fucking up. She was meant to keep her head low…

Carla was brought back to the present by the sound of Stevens's question. He seemed, surprised. "Yeah..." Carla was hesitant to answer, as this encounter with Agatha was what she was most upset about. "Yeah I did." Carla clinched her fists at her sides.

"I don't know what happened, if I said or did something that gave me away? But someone figured me out, or at least got suspicious." Carla pinched the bridge of her nose as she held her eyes shut, the disappointment in herself coming back. "And yeah I met, Agatha, finally."

She heaved a noisy groan, dreading that she would have to eventually explain herself. "Like it doesn't make sense! How would she even know I wasn't fuckin 'Lindy'?? She never fucking goes out!"

"But yeah, cover? Completely blown. And after weeks- fuckin months- I peace out with nothing to show for it! Why didn't I stick it out?" Carla's fingers splayed and clasped, she broke her stillness to bury her face in her hands, breathing deep to let out an angry, muffled scream.

Once she had enough of listening to her screaming echoing in the vendy she stopped and flung her head back. "I'm fine, I'm good, I'm fine."

Steven's gaze flicked between his phone and Carla, not really sure which to settle on as the other UG got more emotional. To say he wasn’t disappointed about months of surveillance going down the shitter, would be a lie. That it wasn’t disappointing that someone who talked a big game about wanting to be his MC failed at the very first hurdle. It was disappointing. But its why he never put all his eggs into one basket, it made it easier for that disappointment to not grow into something uglier.

“Nothing at all? Well, that’s a bit shit.” He said honestly before he send off a quick reply on his phone before pocketing it.

“She wiped your mind as well as fuck you up? Damn, I didn’t know she could do that.” Humour crept back into his tone as he watched the bony protrusions begin to be shaved down, layer by layer with a number of lasers and scans of light as the Vendy started chipping away.

“How about you get it all out, and when you’re done feeling sorry for yourself, you can go get washed up and write a report on what you can remember, yeah?” he ended with a little raspberry and a little smirk as he placed his fist on the Vendy, for a little fist bump.

Carla took a deep breath and let her shoulders drop, "Tch no, I remember enough. I'm just.......having a moment I guess." She looked elsewhere again. The vendy could shave down mutated bone, but not that nagging shame and embarrassment. That was going to take some time.

"Yeah. Yeah lemme-" She lifted a hand to let it slap down at her side, looking over her ruined purple outfit. Good riddance. "-change outta these dumbass, clown clothes." Carla huffed with a half smile for the first time, she brought a fist up to tap the glass with her knuckles.

Steven's smile turned gentle when Carla’s fist met his, his foot surreptitiously tapping away at the song. He watched the healing process for a moment longer as he rolled a question around in his head, weighing out the pros and cons.

“It’s cool.” He started off, finally deciding that asking wouldn’t hurt. The worst that could happen is she said no and everything was the same.

“So… I want me to talk you home or you want to come up to mine? I -” He continued before he was rudely interrupted and the Vendy belted out the part of the chorus as it finished up healing its patient.

And I heal you now tonight~
And I heal you more than ever~
And if you only heal me right~
We'll be healing on forever~

“I probably have a change of clothes that’ll fit you… plus if you're hungry…?” He trailed off as he shrugged his shoulders, eyes only closing for a second in annoyance at the dumb lyrics and timing. He always was hungry, his appetite enhanced by his every consuming vibe, but also he knew what it was like to be unnerved by some creep’s vibe and that it was probably best to not be alone.

“If you want.” he finally finished casually, leaving the offer open. He’d hadn’t invited anyone up to his place since he came back, not even for a welcome back party and now he was actually thinking about it, it was weird to not invite people over...

There was a note of surprise as Carla's eyes lit up at the unexpected invitation. It took her a beat to consider her answer, yes was the initial thought, but was Steven just being polite? As far as she could recall, his place seemed rather off limits.

"Th-" She pinched her lips in as the well timed- albeit a little too well timed- part of the song rang through her ears as well. She let it pass and she gave a nasal snicker pretending to ignore it.

"That sounds good. I'd like that." Carla smiled and gave a few shallow nods, she was a bit flattered by the invitation. "I don't really wanna go home right now anyway." She didn't go into why, but surely there would be many unwanted questions if she showed up at home in her current state.

Once Steven mentioned food did she realize how hungry she was. "God I would kill for a hangover burger. Or a cali burrito."

Carla looked over to her affected shoulder, the bone spikes were coming down and with it her pain was gradually starting to subside- lifted from her as if shards of glass were slowly being plucked from of her body and the wounds sewn up to be healed. It was much more clean than that of course but Carla's imagination opted for the more dramatic.

"So freaky-" She said out loud as she watched. She had only ever needed vendies for minor injuries, dislocations, and maybe some sobering up. "This is the longest I've been in a vendy."

A minute bit of tension left Steven’s body when his proposal was accepted and not made a big deal out of, easing his worries about the offer being weird out of his mind as he idly tapped away at his phone, ordering a burger and burrito for the healing patient and something for himself.

“Cool.” he grinned as he sent the order off before he pocketed his phone, his shoulders finally moving to the music the more at ease he was. He paused for a moment when he tried to remember if his place was messy or not, but shrugged as he continued to groove. Carla could survive an old cup of water here or there.

“Hey, at least you got all your bits. I’ve seen some pretty gnarly Vending back together so I’d give you like a solid 4 on the ‘Eugh’-o-meter.” He snickered as he rapped his knuckles against the glass of the Vendy in beat with the tune.

He’d had expected Carla to maybe go into shock at some point, maybe vomit and cry and do all the usual things that followed the serious injuries he’s witnessed or … caused, but maybe that would follow later. He’d be there at least if it did come tonight.

"I haven't had a real close look yet so, can't confirm if everything's where it's supposed to be still." Carla actually didn't have any doubts she was still in one piece, the problem was having more of those prices. Thanks to the vendy procedure her immediate pain was taken care of, but Stevens assumptions about shock and tears weren't far off. Carla searched the read-out on the display, her heart rate was steadily coming down, but it was still high from the adrenaline.

"A solid 4 huh?" She looked down at her white go-go boots, scuffed with black and stained with blood. "Well hopefully I come out with 0 the next time I see her."

"Did you know that about her? That old woman?" She switched her attention back to Steven, making out his glowing eyes through the glare of the vendy lights.

"Y'know, I made it to their grow operation. That's where it happened."

“Well, I’m hoping you come out looking even better then when you see her again. Come out of it just glowing and covered in her bits.~” Steven hummed as he flipped his hair out of his face with a casual flick of his wrist and a cock of his hips. The smirk on his lips disappeared as he just shrugged his shoulders at the latter questions, his attention turning to the tacky, drying blood on his hands- He should wash them…

“I didn’t know much, that's why I sent you and a few others to go do a house call to find out. “ He spoke loudly as he made his way over to one of the sinks and washed his hands clean.

“She wasn’t on anyone's radar even before I was an MC. She was just…” His scarred lip pulled back into a larger sneer as he kissed his teeth. “‘Cornell’s’ bandmate and only that. I thought they were all dead to be fucking honest.” He shook his hands free of water before returning to Carla’s side, huffing a little.

"It’s not their grown operation, it was ours. They put in none of the years of work and experimentation. They just slapped on some cheap purple paint and said ‘they made it.’

“They must of liked you enough to let you get there, yeah?”