Step City

Swedreza, still clad in her slightly scuffed Bayonetta costume, made her way into the previously contested territories as soon as the barricade was lifted. Ignoring the broken heel, she trudged through the remains of the chaos in search of citizens still in hiding. This was less the search of a kind hearted Square trying to help her own and more a fixated effort to do something worthwhile with her evening. She worked single-mindedly, ignoring notifications on her phone she assumed to be her mother as she rounded up group after group and led them safely to the trams- trams that were gaining a mounting UG presence to guard them.

After several groups, Swedreza noticed her ankle beginning to complain after the tumble she'd taken earlier that evening. She cursed that Wonka several times as the pain slowly increased but stubbornly carried on. After all, she could still move so it couldn't be that bad, and she still hadn't finished the task she'd set herself. She could sleep it off at home after she'd finished here.

So, hiding her pain behind a very practiced calm facade, Swedreza led a trio of shaken Squares she'd found up to one of the trams.
A tram where the UG presence happened to be particularly… conspicuous.

Welp, Halloween was over this year.

Steven had been stuck halfway up Lightning Street, half fighting, half working with Grooveline’s Frankenstein to keep order and stop the sudden influx of Roller Banditos, Funk Mafia, opportunistic UG and even some Squares from joining the chaotic free-for-all South Side.

Even though UG had claimed OPP back into their rightful hands, he couldn’t feel a little annoyed. All those months of planning, collecting data, sending people to infiltrate the HUB, being delicate, doing everything by the books and trying not to just set everything alight and…

What a fucking mess.

Unspent Vibe crackled noisily in his body as he directed UG left and right from his perch on top of the Tram Stop’s shelter to organize Vendy trips and tram rides now he and Frankie had cleared up the congestion. He wanted to get these fuckers back to their right districts, to get his people safe and outta danger so he could go on clean-up duty and deal with any undesirables about launching a counterattack on the newly gained UG Venue and ground.

But his MC wasn't really available right now so until the crowds of injured and scared people were small enough for a skeleton crew to deal with, Steven stayed in his damaged and sparking costume - Valentine had shocked him a few times on ‘accident’ during the defence, causing a bit of damage to his Batman Beyond suit… He was gonna send him a bill for repairs.

-
[00:35]
“Alright, newcomers!” Steven’s voice cut through the air over all the noise as a few new groups of people had neared the tram stop. “I don’t give a fuck what faction you are in right now! Injured people to the Left, next to Brittney Spears. Let my people assess your damage and we’ll get you Vendied in order of severity of injuries.”

“People are going home, get to the right next to Sonic! No pushing, next tram is in 2 minutes.” He motioned over to the right to the small person, dressed as Sonic by the tram stop.

“If you are uninjured and waiting for someone to get Vendied, make your way over to the Sexy Pikachu! Once they are healed and you are reunited, make both your ways over to Sonic to get in line for the tram! ” The sexy Pikachu shot a few harmless sparkles into the air to show where they were.

“Anyone who needs assistance over to the Vendy, raise your hand now!” He paused, waiting for a moment before he counted 5 raised hands. “Please, stay calm, stay still and don't move.”

As Steven’s body began to move, circles of orange light appeared below each of the people who needed assistance before they were all suddenly lifted off their feet as they were engulfed in columns of orange, gloopy light. The columns moved slowly to the organized free zones between the different groups and plopped the injured gently in line for the Vendies.

“If you cannot pay your bill, they will be paid courtesy of UG, yeah?” He flashed a thumbs up to Brittney before he jumped off the roof to talk to Sonic.

The vibe made it pretty obvious who the man in the Batman Beyond costume was, which would be more eye-catching to Swedreza under normal circumstances. Normally, she might feel more pressed to maybe make a good impression. However, considering the arrangements she potentially had with the opposing faction as well as all of her bad luck this evening, Swedreza felt disinclined to further complicate the night by catching the leader of UG’s attention.

“Well, you heard the man. Join the line next to the Sonic he pointed towards and they’ll get you back to RD.” Swedreza gave the trio she’d brought to the station a kind smile and gestured in the correct direction. She waved them off and turned to walk away, humming to seem nonchalant and also to create a shadowy heel where her boot had none to support her aching ankle.

Unfortunately for Swedreza, she was so focused on seeming composed that she missed a small step down on her way out. While she was typically a master at the art- even wore heeled tennis shoes to increase her agility on stage- it would seem something about this evening (or perhaps this costume) seemed determined to make her look like a clumsy oaf. Missing the step caused enough break in focus that her humming ceased and her heel stuttered out of existence just enough to cause her to trip and fall to her knees not unlike earlier in the evening.

“I’m fine, I’m fine, really,” She was quick to brush off any concern from people nearby and forced herself back up quickly. Her ankle protested at the movement even more than before and her facade was getting harder to keep up, but the last thing she wanted was to make a big scene. Her pride had been hurt enough tonight.

“Let me know if you need a break, yeah?” Steven patted Sonic on the back once more. The hedgehog had lost their fight in all the ruckus but they had been adamant about staying behind and helping out which Steven appreciated, but was keeping an eye on them just in case.

- W h a m-

Steven could hear the hard smack of bone on concrete from where he was standing, lips pulling back in a slight sneer at the sound. Sensitive hearing was a blessing and a curse, especially as his shoulders rolled, concentrating his skill over to where the stepper had fallen. He exhaled noisily as he hear her brushing off her pain and the protest of her knee as she rose and rolled his eyes as he made his way over to all the excitement.

“You need a handover to Brittany?” Steven called out to Swedreza, blank white eyes looking at her impassively, stopping just a few feet from her. He’d had a few people pretending they had been ok tonight, to brush off their injuries and it had been cute earlier on, but he had places to be.

Next Halloween I am going to wear a costume that covers my face, I swear. Swedreza cursed internally as Steven made his way over. She wasn’t in the mood for charity or pity and certainly not from someone like him. The songstress made her best effort to stand normally and brushed herself off.

“Just some minor scuffs, really. Nothing worth taking up a Dr. Vendy immediately.” Swedreza tried to convince the leader (who’s face was irritatingly obscured- she hated not being able to get a clearer read on him while trying to sell a pretty thorough lie).

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve a search to continue. If you’re worried about me, you can check back in once I bring the next group.” Swedreza quickly turned as if to walk away, her first step causing anew twinge of pain that she felt pretty confident she was able to hide behind being mindful of the dip she’d previously tripped on. Maybe if I hurry away he won't ask more questions.

Steven watched the younger woman as got herself up, shoulders still swaying as he hearing honed all in on her, blocking everything else. The eyes of his mask slid close for a moment as he listened to her breath, the way her muscles and joints sounded as she walked-

“Hmmm.” He let out a sigh as took a few steps forward, came up behind the injured woman bent his knees till they booped into in the back of her own to make her fold in half, hands ready to catch her if she fell.

If she was ok, she'd just stumble or fall into him and probably be a bit embarrassed. If she wasn't fine though...

Swedreza barely registered Steven’s movement behind her while she focused on trying to walk normally. So when his knees poked into the back of her own it startled her and knocked her completely off balance. Unfortunately, the unbalance also caused her injured ankle to move in an unpleasant way, and force a cry of pain from her while she was still surprised. Her knees buckled and she found herself caught by Steven, who’d apparently readied himself for this eventuality.

“Satisfied?” The Songstress grumbled then let out a slight hiss at the new pain from her ankle and attempted to stand back up out of Steven’s grasp.

The impassive face of Steven’s costume stared down at Swedreza as she fell into him, his hands already on her shoulders to steady her and put her back on her feet as soon as she started to push away.

“I prefer honesty, so not really.” He grinned, making the white eyes of his suit curve up as his body began to move on the spot. “Don’t move, yeah?”

A disc of orange vibe appeared under the Square’s feet before extending up and around her, encasing the goth in a pillar gloopy of orange light. Inside the orange shielding, she would begin to float off the ground a few inches, surrounded in what felt like a warm, pulsating, citrus jelly-like substance, though it left no sticky residue on her skin or clothes.

“You’ll be fixed and on your way home in no time, yeah? So just chill.” Steven hummed as he moved over towards the Vendy, adding a few cross-steps and turns into his walk to make a pillar of light followed him over.

Swedreza let out a cry of indignation as the gelatinous substance overtook her very much not remaining still. While the weight being taken off of her ankle did feel better, she was not particularly fond of the way Steven was choosing to help. The worst part was that she knew she had no chance of trying to fight back directly. His power outclassed her’s entirely. Of course, he was just trying to help so there was always the option to simply go along with it, but Swedreza’s pride had been hurt enough this evening. If he was going to make her accept help, she’d at least walk over on her own two feet.

Unsure of whether the pillar would even allow her to use her vibe, Swedreza thought she might still be able to use her own vibe just on the principle that her ability to breath didn’t seem to be hindered by the substance she now swam in. Perhaps if she could just hold herself in place long enough to get pulled free…

“In the valley of the dying sun
I walk a crooked path alone
I came across the shadow of a man
With an angel's breath”

The words reverberated strangely in the pillar of coalesced sound but her vibe carried nonetheless. Her intent drew nearby shadow up in a trio of reaching hands intent on piercing the light in order to grasp their master. However, upon touching the glowing orange vibe Swedreza felt her control falter. It was all she could do to keep a semblance of solidity in the limbs she’d summoned as they tried to disperse in the light and sound that trapped her. This attempt only left unrecognizable shadow blobs floating in the substance with her, giving the whole scene the look of a human trapped in an orange and black lava lamp.

“Ugh!” Frustrated, Swedreza gave up her grip on the shadows, but it would seem they would take their sweet time unraveling into inky tendrils in this sort of liquid. “I’m not a child who needs babysitting and I have no intention of going home yet!”

Steven had turned on the spot at the goth’s singing, walking backward as his eyes whites widened a fraction. He watched as shadowy limbs manifest and did not come for him, but try to pierce his column of vibe shielding, seemingly trying to free their user.

Hm… They didn’t seem to like his vibe, going by the floating pieces that now drifted along with the Singer. Interesting…

“And yet act like this at being helped.” Steven hummed as he nodded his head to Brittany, who cleared the entrance of the Vendy. “I clearly said if you are injured-” With a sway of his body and a roll, the column lurched suddenly towards the open door, liquid vibe, and Swedreza flooding and filling the Vendy to the brim as Steven brought up the rear to close the door.

“You’re pretending you aren't hurt.” With another roll of his body, the liquid light surrounding Swedreza drained away, gently placing her on the ground as the Vendy began to scan.

“And just admitted to one of the worst people that you are going to interfere with my cleanup.” He tapped a few buttons on the Vendy’s holo-display and paid the price for a full heal.

“I don’t know… sounds like you need to catch some Z’s to me.”

Swedreza slid into the Dr. Vendy suddenly but smoothly, landing with enough force to keep her unbalanced until the liquid began to move away. By then, the door was already closed and there was no hope of escape. By now she wasn’t exactly trying to escape anymore, but she was still indignant over the whole situation.

“Interfere!?” The Songstress expressed her offense. The hand Swedreza pressed to the window of the machine curled into a fist, though she did not lift it from the pane. The Songstress could feel the telltale tingle of the technology beginning to do its work in her ankle- this better be free like he said earlier. “I lied so I could keep helping, you oaf! As Square with a strong vibe, it’s my duty to offer aid to my fellows in this situation!”

The reasoning Swedreza professed showed concern, yes, but inside her frustration, indignation, and shame caused her frustration to be pointed as much inward as outward. So what if he was probably right? She was tired! Even so, so much of her brain was protesting at being forced to accept help in this way. She had been so fuckin useless and she had to make up for that.

“There might still be other Squares waiting to be found!”

“An Oaf?” A boisterous laugh escaped Steven as he rested his hands on his hips, he turned his gaze to Brittany, rolling his eyes and shaking his head as he took a few steps away from the Vendy to Brittany’s side.

“Everyone is so fucking rude today.” He chuckled humorously to the popstar-cladded UG, even though Brittany didn’t seem to find it funny at all as she stared Swedreza down over Steven’s shoulder.

“You aren’t my friend, my co-worker, acting under my orders, or even UG, so what does that make you?” He grinned, arms spread out as he shrugged before he turned back on his heel to face the Square in the Vendy.

“One, single rogue element in a still somewhat active and confusing battlefield…Who is possibly our enemy, will or has hurt someone in UG or even an FM simp. So yeah, interfering is right.“

“You're even interfering with Brittany’s orders to get people healed up now . I had to cut you in line because you’re a liar and would've gotten yourself a lot more seriously injured if you went off like that. But I get it-” The eye whites of his mask curved into lines of light as he smiled broadly.

“You're very strong, capable and smart. And me? “ He spread his fingers against his chest, sending a few sparks of red as he looked somewhat forlorn as he began to ham it up.

“I’m just a clumsy-” Steven began to execute a slow and clean cartwheel, very clearly showing off his strong core and strict muscle control.

“ Ignorant.” He held his position on his hands, legs held in a perfect split before finishing the rotation in slick, liquid movement to face the Vendy one more.

“Oaf, right? Gosh. Well since we’re all wrong and you’re right, land a hit on us and I’ll let you go back on your crusade, yeah?.” He winked just as the Vendy finished its cycle and the door swung open.

“I won't even use my vibe to equal the playing field.”

Heat rose in Swedreza’s cheeks at every facetious word out of Steven’s mouth. Sure, some of what he said made some logical sense, but the part of Swedreza’s mind that recognized that was utterly drowned out by the part that perceived this as him dismissing her for her age and station. She had no reason to hurt any UG! And she didn’t ask him to skip her in line!

Even Steven’s proposed deal felt like an affront. Vibe or no, she had no doubt that he could overwhelm her easily. Ultimately, Swedreza found herself cornered. This was all just some bullshit game for Steven and the Songstress couldn’t help but seethe at the idea of being stuck as just another Square for the factions to push around yet again. She may not be able to win this game, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her back down or run.

“Fine. You want to put words in my mouth? You want to play games?” Swedreza gave the UG leader a tired and disdainful look as she stepped out of the freshly opened Vendy, now completely steady on her feet. “I know how to play the role I’ve been assigned.”

Patience lost, Swedreza took a few strides forward and started in on a new song.

“I've been runnin' my mouth around the corner, chasin' it down the street
I cash in my words like I'm a billionaire, but I don't have food to eat
And I keep talkin' like I'm taller than the trees, but my eyes never see much higher than five feet”

While enunciated with purpose, the lyrics were not sung with incredible volume. Instead, Swedreza focused on the rhythm, and let that create a sort of ripple through nearby shadow. The darkness rose into a cloud of smoke to obscure the Songstress as the telltale red light overtook her lilac pupils.

“Society is sucking on your dick,
And since I got a pussy, I’m a bitch.”

Swedreza resumed her stride in hopes of drawing attention away from the figure now coalescing out of the shadows behind Steven- an almost mirror image of the leader, costume and all. She was simply hoping that if the transition from cloud to solid form was quick enough, maybe she could at least get close to hitting him. As the smoke began to thin, the Shadow Steven was poised to strike.

“And since you are a dude, yeah, you can tell the truth
But as soon as I do, I'm a bitch.”

“Mate, no one's putting nothing near your mouth. If you're being misunderstood, maybe rethink what you said and say it better next time.” A flash of disgusted delight crossed Steven’s pseudo-masked face as he snickered, shifting his weight to the balls of his feet, bouncing a little as he watched the Songstress. This could have been just a simple fight. He was close enough to take her down before enough vibe was generated to do any major damage to him.

The Square’s mouth, throat, and solar plexus were all open to be struck with a solid blow from his fist or a swift kick. He could probably knock the air out of her and get her into a sleeper hold before her Shadows could even fully manifest. Maybe a brawl would help ease out some of the tension this night had brought with it.

But instead, he made eye contact with each of his UG as the Square sang. Gave her a chance to manifest her vibe, eyes rolling a little at the song choice. He rolled his neck as the doppelganger grew out of the shadows behind him, seemingly unaware of his imminent danger, his head inclining a little as he flashed Dreza a smile before disappearing in a puff of smoke before the hit could connect.

Teleporting was always a little nauseating and the last time he’d been relocated like this was on his birthday off-stage by the very same Sonic whose arms he was in now, being held like a delicate princess, 10 feet to the left of the Shadow Steven.

Brittany Spears and Sexy Pikachu moved in tandem after Steven was out of the way, Brittany cutting through the dispersing smoke, with all the panache and quicksteps of a theatre kid on Broadway, barely glowing teal daggers manifesting in hand as lunged at the singer front aiming for her throat.

Sexy Pikachu took up the rear, hard stepping her way over as a thick, viscous liquid began to cover her hands as she went to grab the Square’s arms with a wet squelch, pulled them behind her back, and stuck them together.

“No one here thinks you're a bitch…A brat, maybe?” Steven laughed as he was carried over to the trio, his legs kicking slightly before Sonic placed him back on his feet, Brittany's hitched the blade a bit closer to Dreza’s throat.

“And having a dick doesn't make you a dude, but what does make me stronger is I have people to back me up, which-” He looked out at the small groups of people waiting to go home, waiting to see if any of them were about to step forward to help. “... You don’t seem to have right now.”

“I know this is going to hurt your pride for me to say this, but you aren’t stronger than a pack of FM, livid about losing their venue, yeah? Or a bunch of Banditos, or even a group of UG. So go home, get a change of clothes, eat something then with a group, mount a proper search party when things have cooled down a bit. Organise instead of going in half-cocked, with your dick out.”

Swedreza knew this wasn’t going to end in her favor but the speed at which it did was staggering. She let out a cry of indignation as the other UG stepped in to swiftly end her efforts, barely getting a chance to struggle against Pikachu’s adhesive before the dagger was at her throat. Not expecting to be taken seriously, as Steven seemed to have been treating her like a child up to this point, her eyes locked on the blade of energy wondering how far it’d go- and if she made a wrong move, would they bother to put her back in the Vendy before forcing her on the tram. Steven didn’t seem that heartless, but she also couldn’t claim to know him or his people very well beyond rumors. So, reluctantly, she clamped her mouth shut and allowed her shadow clone of the UG Leader to dissipate along with the clearing cloud of smoke.

The Songstress listened bitterly as Steven made his point her face reddening with both anger and embarrassment. Yes, this did hurt her pride, but also the one comment slide in about the words of the song she chose made her realize she had to at least admit she was wrong for something. She was so caught up in angrily trying to prove a point she locked onto Steven’s pronouns alone and fucked up her song choice. She could have at least changed some lyrics around to seem like a considerate bitch, but she supposed that tracked with everything else she fucked up tonight.

“I did come out here with a group but we split up to move quickly because there were so few of us. Having people to turn to is a luxury many of us Squares don’t always have- something you people in factions tend to forget.” A lot of the bite to Swedreza’s words was lost now that she’d been taken down a peg, but it was clear she was still trying to make some effort to maintain her pride. She looked away and quietly grumbled to herself, “And it isn’t as if I haven’t tried to fix that either, but you can see how incredibly pleasant I am.”

The Songstress took a moment to sigh at her rising self loathing before continuing. There was a fleeting thought that she was a fool for having deigned to be cross at Hide earlier in the evening for his role in sparking tonight’s conflict- if this very moment was any indication, she’d have done the exact same fucking thing in his position.

“The only thing I’ll admit fault for is not altering the lyrics to my song. However, we made a deal and I will hold to my end and return home as agreed.” She leaned a touch forward, dangerously close to Brittany’s dagger, and narrowed her eyes at Steven. “All I ask is that you put an end to this farce and let me walk onto the tram on my own two feet since they’re back to perfect working order.”

Steven's expression remained unreadable as he watched and listened to the Songstress go through her emotions, seemingly not as bothered by the interaction as Swedreza was. He knew what it was like to be young and strong and to think you know better than everyone else longer than most people ever would and had to deal with many UG like that now.

“Oh, no. I didn’t forget. It's just the same tired old line I was fed time and time again back when I lived in the Research District. I would have thought something might have changed since I was away, but eh. What are you gonna do?” He shrugged as he leaned into Sonic for a moment to mumble something in their ear, causing them to smile a little as they made their way back over to the line for the Tram now one was just about to pull up.


Steven peered back at Swedreza, to the knife to her neck before sighing a little and waved his hand away at Brittney Spears whose blade dispersed in a small tinkle of breaking glass a moment later. Even Sexy Pikachu has dug a finger between the gloop holding Dreza’s arms together, separating them instantly, seeming to comply with her wishes before going to help with the tram.

The façade lasted all but a few moments more, however, before Steven made his move, physically and literally.

“Hm? Nah.”

A thick, gloopy tendril of orange light appeared under Dreza and latched onto her waist, sweeping her off her feet as Steven’s feet hopped and popped his feet out in a little Happy Feet Shuffle. His feet didn’t stop as the tentacle extended quickly, taking the Songstress with it all the way to the open tram doors where Sonic and Sexy Pikachu were waiting, with a seat specially made for the goth.

Steven was by the doors when he whipped Dreza down in the spot; the slight squelch, sudden coldness, and then hardening against her legs and butt were unmissable as Sexy Pikachu winked and Steven’s vibe sloshed off of her and onto the floor.

“It’s gonna be like, last 15 to 20 minutes to get unstuck so just chill and enjoy the ride home unless you want your ass out, k?” Sexy Pikachu chirped bubbly as she made her way back to the doors, Sonic already holding them open as they began to close.

“Bye! Kisses!” She giggled as she ducked under Sonic’s arm, blowing a few kisses as she did. Sonic just looked at Dreza with a look of ‘eh, what can you do?’ as they shrugged and rolled out, letting the doors close behind them.

“Kisses.” Steven mouthed as he brought a hand to his mouth and blew a kiss through the window, now joined by all 3 of his UG, Brittney being the only one not to blow a kiss.

Swedreza only had a moment or two to stand and brush herself off before Steven changed his mind. With a shriek of outrage, she was swept forward against her will and plopped squarely on a glue-covered seat. She tugged slightly against the adhesive, finding only that the fabric of her costume and parts of her draping sleeves were well caught in the gunk. There was no getting out of that unless she wanted to further embarrass herself, only further confirmed by Pikachu herself. Swedreza glared daggers at all of them as they left the tram.

“You capricious bastard!” The words were out of her mouth before she could consider the possible repercussions of calling UG’s Leader something with a bit more punch than ‘oaf’. The cry had enough of her metal bite to cause the nearby shadow to stutter violently for the scream’s duration, causing a bit of a stir among the passengers that had been allowed to board before she’d been forced on.

As the tram began to move away, Swedreza gripped the edge of her seat and fumed. She breathed heavily in her rage, but upon seeing the discomfort her irate presence was causing the other passengers she made more of an effort to try and at least seem more outwardly calm. She leaned back into the chair she was glued to with a huff and avoided eye contact with everyone, bitter with both herself and the circumstances.

Sighing, Swedreza managed to dig her phone out from a pocket to message Bonnie and Cole that she’d been sent home. However, waiting for her was a good pile of notifications, and only a couple of them from her mother. Threads for topics she’d flagged on her social media profiles for notifications of activity were the majority of them- most notably the threads regarding Hide Miyagawa and Don Nina.

Of course this night found a way to get even worse.

Steven almost cackled at the little ‘insult’ as he blew one last kiss at the departing Square before turning his attention back to his crew.

“Nice work, everyone. Smooth like fucking butter.”

He waited a few moments longer as the UG fell back into their previous rolls, helping and organizing everyone left behind before checking his feed on a little holo-display built into his mask. Noone had turned up dead so far, so he was counting that as a bonus but there was still a lot of stabilizing to do, especially now FM had just lost one of its Bosses if the StepBook feed was right.

“Hey.” He dropped off the tram roof once more to talk to Sonic. “I think you got things covered here, yeah? Stay here for like an hour or two more and I’ll send someone to switch with you, k?”

Steven gave his goodbyes to his crew and even went as far as saying goodbye to not his faction before taking down the street at a brisk but leisurely pace. If there were more Squares about, he could maybe help them out, If he came across them on his way over to OPP.

But first he’d had to get through territory he was sure wasn’t UG’s yet, going by the feeds. And he was just one, lone, former Square, stepping into a possibly active battlefield without any backup.

But that's how he preferred it anyway.