Going back to the bar was indeed a bad idea. Apparently they remembered Julia. Maybe for some of the same reasons Zade found her memorable. The curse of beauty strikes again. This situation was really a curse though. It all started out the same as before. Zade joined Ryan’s little band of misfits at their table and they enjoyed some drinks and conversation.
“Green is right over there, so I guess he isn’t the plant super that got fried by Nightwatch.” Ryan brought up.
“Well that’s a good thing,” Ryan replied. “Bars always become super depressing for awhile when a regular dies.”
Julia raised an eyebrow in Oscar’s direction. “don’t you think it’s fair to be depressed for a bit when a friend dies?”
“I mean i’m not saying it’s not warranted.” Oscar paused. “At least it makes sense for the people who know them. but then they go and screw up the atmosphere for the whole bar, and you never know how long it will last.”
“Wow,” Julia said flatly.
Ryan was completely lost observing various powers being displayed around them, but Zade was actually enjoying the exchange Oscar and Julia were having and with a bit of a grin he asked Oscar,”How many times have you had that experience?”
Oscar paused and started to do some mental calculations, but before he could answer Green and Jimmy walked up to the side of the table and immediately zeroed in on Julia.
“Oh hi guys!” Ryan was obviously very excited to have the supers come join them at the table and greeted them with more enthusiasm than a toddler meeting Elmo. The supers didn’t show any sign that they heard the greeting.
“I just knew I’d see you again,” said Green.
Julia gave that smile that all women use when they are trying to be polite but would rather not be. She was foolish though for expecting a subtle tightening of her lips to be understood by men like them. “well this bar is a very unique experience.” after she said this Oscar scrunched up his nose, communicating a bit of disgust of his own.
“A beautiful super like you is always welcome at here, There’s some more of us over by the pool table who would love to meet you.” he gestured over to the pool table where a group of people were, some very obviously more than human.
“you know I’m actually not sure I consider myself a -” just then Oscar scrunched his nose again and sneezed, letting lose a phenomenal fireball filled the room. Julia and Ryan were untouched because they sat to either side of Oscar’s human flamethrower, but the flame grazed Zade and hit their two uninvited guest directly before spreading to the whole rest of the bar. In the aftermath Green and Jimmy had been knocked off their feet and a few pieces of cloth and paper throughout the space had ignited. No one appeared to be hurt but everybody was alert and ready for something.
“What the hell is wrong with you you powered piece of shit?” Green yelled as he got up, blackened from the blast and immediately assuming an aggressive posture. Jimmy was also getting up albeit more slowly and behind them the bartender was already sending multiple streams of water out from the tap and directly onto all of the places that had begun to catch fire. “If you can’t control your half assed ability then you stay out. If you can’t grasp that on your own we’re happy to teach you.” the crowd from the pool table were starting to walk towards the booth. Zade wanted to prepare himself for any combat but his mobility was deeply hampered by the booth he was sitting in.
“We’re sorry. He was in a home for years to learn to breath softly to limit the heat he put out, they said he was safe to be around, but there’s only so much you can do about a sneeze. he hasn’t had an incident like this in a long time. Please, nobody is hurt, we will just leave, Lets not make this a big deal.” Their table was now surrounded by all the supers from the pool table and Zade could feel the pressure of growing conflict. Strangely Ryan looked excited about all of this, Oscar and Julia knew how bad things were looking and had terror plainly visible in their eyes.
The group around them began to close around them but a voice stopped them all. “Bring Sneezy and the girl over here.” The bartender had put out all the fires and even returned the spent water back into the sink. Now his attention was fully on Zade and his compatriots. Green Grabbed Julia by the arm and pulled her out of the booth, Jimmy did the same for Oscar and they were led to the bar directly in front of man behind it. “you’ve damaged my business. I would like you to pay for it.”
Oscar stuttered, “Of course. I have a insurance for situations like this. most powereds have to. if you’ll let me make a call I can -”
“No, money isn’t really my concern. the only thing money pays for here is drinks. I prefer to be paid in less greedy ways. what else can the two of you offer me?” Green greedily looked up and down Julia.
“What do you want from us?” Julia asked. The Barkeep smiled.