S.M.I.L.E. Agent Aria Blaze

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

Blood on the Dance Floor

Days later, Aria Blaze made her way toward the main room of CHERRY FLICKERS. Even in the foyer, beside the counter and register, she could hear the music. Feel it. The bass shook her bones. Beat in time to her heart. It spoke to that part of her that was still siren. That understood the power of music. Even non-magic human music.

She stopped at the entrance and let it all sink in. The pulsing music with the heavy bass. The flashing and dancing lights. The heat of the bodies. The smell of sweat, alcohol, and hormones.

It was not as good as feeding, but it felt wonderful. Like a sleeping part of her had awakened, and was hungry.

The siren stalked forward, moving among her prey. The loud music covered the sound of her motorcycle boots against the floor, allowing her to move in silence. Purple skinny and a red halter top showed off her lean, muscular body. Bands of studded leather covered her wrists, hiding the scars and glinting in the light. A sign of danger if someone came too close.

As she swam through the crowd, her eyes scanned, seeking out possible targets.

One caught her eye. A girl standing on the edge of the dance floor, who did not look like she really wanted to be there. She was dressed in baggy jeans and an over-sized shirt, her body drawn inward. The ever changing colored lights made it hard to tell her skin color, but it must have been more toward the blue or green end, and her hair was multicolored, with at least one part of it being light.

Either she had come with friends and they had abandoned her for their own fun, or she had come on her own and quickly regretted it. Whichever was the case, the girl was alone, vulnerable, timid, and scared.

Easy prey.

Aria Blaze circled around her target, allowing herself to be seen. The girl stopped dancing as their eyes met. She bit her lip, but did not back up. Her gaze even drifted up and down Aria's body. A smirk pulled at Aria's face as she held out her hand. The girl took it, revealing she was wearing a wrist band. Her being at the club put her over eighteen, but the band marked her as under twenty-one.

"You here with anyone?" Aria asked, shouting to be heard over the music.

"No," the girl said -- or mouthed as Aria could not hear it -- as she shook her head.

Aria's smile grew wider as she pulled the girl away from the floor and toward one of the sitting areas.

"You need a break," she declared. "Grab us a table, and I'll get us some drinks."

"Alicorn with grenadine, please," the girl said, loud enough to be heard.

"Sure," Aria confirmed. As she turned away, she could not help but roll her eyes. The girl was not even going to try and get one over on her. Try and order something with alcohol in the hopes of getting away with it.

Maybe she would not be such easy prey after all. A bit more of a challenge.

Not that she was going to back out. That actually made it a little more fun.

Reaching the bar, Aria ordered the girl's Alicorn Cola with grenadine, as well as a rum and cola for herself. As she waited for the drinks, a gold skinned man with bright blue hair walked toward her. The smell of alcohol and body spray came off him in a cloud, making Aria's nostrils burn.

"Hey, hot stuff," he said, swaying slightly. "You must be a demon, because damn that ass is fine!"

Internally, Aria groaned at the horrible pickup line. Externally, she was trying to keep from being bothered by the smell.

"Go home and shower," she growled out.

"Don't be like that," the guy said. He took a step closer, his breath blowing directly into her face. "I just want to get to know you, baby."

"Not interested," she snarled out between clenched teeth.

"Come on," he purred, leaning in until his lips nearly touched her cheek. "I bet if you gave me half a chance, you'd be amazed at how well we --" he brought a hand to grab her ass "-- fit together."

Aria's own hand snapped out and grabbed the middle finger. She gave it a yank to pull it away, then twisted and pushed the digit up and toward the the rest of the hand. The man screamed as his finger popped out of joint. He dropped to his knees, clutching his hand against his chest.

Aria paid for the drinks, then gave the bartender and extra twenty.

"You didn't see anything."

The bartender nodded, saying nothing as she took the twenty.

Grabbing the drinks, Aria stepped around the crying guy and made her way toward the tables. She caught sight of the girl easily, who was staring at her with wide eyes.

"You broke that guy's hand!" the girl cried out.

"No, I didn't," Aria said as she set the drink down on the table. She then sat down on the other side. "I just dislocated his middle finger." She took a swallow of her own drink. "It'll be stiff and hurt for a few days. May need a brace, but only for a week or so." Her eyes narrowed. "Besides, I already told him I wasn't interested before he tried to grab my ass." Leaning forward, she pointed a finger. "If we're lucky, he'll remember what happened and not grope someone against their will again."

Although she was doubtful. In her experience, idiots were idiots, and little could change that. More likely, the guy will alter, rationalize, and change events until he was somehow completely innocent, and his finger was dislocated by some big, muscular guy who attacked him for absolutely no reason. That was assuming he was sober enough to remember any of it to begin with. It was also possible he would wake up, find his hand bandaged and finger hurting, and have no idea what happened.

Whatever the case, Aria doubted it would be her problem. At least, provided some bouncer did not show up and ask her to leave in the next five minutes.

For now, there was a girl to focus on.

"So what should I call you?" asked Aria.

The girl's lips pressed thin as she looked down, staring at her drink as she swirled it.

"Fizzy," she finally answered.

"And you can call me Aria." Aria leaned closer. "So, what are you doing here? Don't exactly look like someone who likes the club scene."

Fizzy looked up, brow furrowed.

"And what does someone who's into the club scene look like?"

"At the very least, comfortable to be there," Aria retorted. She was actually starting to like Fizzy a little. The girl had at least something of a spine.

Fizzy let out a sigh, looking away.

"My roommate, Masquerade, is out of town, and everyone is always telling me I need to get out more." She flopped back in her seat. "Thought this would be as good a place as any." A sigh. "But you're right. Definitely not a club girl." She then looked back up. "What about you?"

Aria grinned and moved to lean in closer.

"I've had a rough couple days, and am looking for a girl to sleep with." She held up a hand. "But let's worry about that later. Get to know each other first to see if you're interested."

So the two of them talked, drank, and even danced together several times. As the night progressed, they moved closer and closer together, and not always because Aria decided to. During one of the later dances, when Fizzy had her back to Aria, the girl backed up, pressing her butt against Aria's legs. While she did that, Aria stroked her hands up and down along Fizzy's arms and outer thighs.

After one of the songs ended, Aria's drinks got the better of her. Excusing herself, she made her way to the ladies' room.

As she washed her hands, Aria heard the bathroom door open, and someone else come in.

"Aria Blaze."

Aria tensed at the sound of her name, glancing up at the mirror. Tempest Shadow stood behind her, dressed in black from her jacket to her boots. The only bit of color was the white text of her shirt advertising a band called Iron Pyrite.

"I'm admittedly a bit embarrassed that I didn't recognize you," she said, "but in my defense, I didn't think I would ever see you working with a group like SMILE." She walked closer, boots thumping against the linoleum. "I always imagined it would be in battle, when we finally considered you enough of a threat to actually bother with, and take you down." Her eyes narrowed as her lips pulled tight. "Of course, that was prior to your rather humiliating and public defeat."

Aria gripped the edges of her sink, squeezing until her knuckles were white. She imagined ripping it from the wall and slamming it into the woman's face. Of bringing it down on her head, and hitting her with it over and over until it shattered. Maybe even picking up one of the larger chunks and using it as a shiv.

"What do you want?" Aria growled out from between clenched teeth.

Tempest stopped beside Aria, towering over her, then turned to look at her in the mirror.

"My superiors have decided, in light of recent events, that SMILE has not only grown ineffective, but incompetent. As such, we will be maintaining a presence in the region until we can create a permanent one. Which also means that we shall be responding to any sort of anomalous events, be they supernatural, paranormal, or extraterrestrial."

Great! That was just what Aria needed. Now, not only did she have to deal with whatever dangers that came her way while working for SMILE, but now, she was going to have this bitch and her potato of a partner breathing down her neck.

"Great," Aria huffed. "I'll be sure to tell your fuck buddy in case either of you want to make a booty call."

Tempest's eyes went wide as she took a step back, looking like she had just been slapped.

"He told you?"

"No," Aria replied with a smirk.

In truth, it had been Adagio. Aria had come home to find the other two on the couch, watching the original Camp Blood. When it was paused so Sonata could make some more popcorn, Aria told them all about what happened. Sonata was very fascinated by the timber wolf, but Adagio was more interested in Tempest and Pharynx. When Aria mentioned that Pharynx never said what happened, Adagio let out a snort and rolled her eyes.

"That's no surprise," Adagio had stated, "and I'm surprised you couldn't figure it out." She gave that knowing smirk, eyes narrowing. "For someone to get that passionately upset, it's pretty clear they were sleeping together."

And judging from Tempest's reaction, she had been spot on.

Still, no reason to tell either Adagio or Tempest that. Adagio would be annoyingly smug (well... more so...) about being right, and Tempest would assume that Aria had somehow figured it out, forcing Tempest to re-evaluate how much of a threat Aria might be.

Nobody dismissed Aria Blaze.

Speaking of dismissing.

Aria stood up and made her way toward the door.

"If there's nothing else," she said as she shoulder her way past Tempest Shadow.

The other woman moved to stand directly in front of her.

"Actually, there is one more thing," Agent Tempest Shadow stated. "I don't know what you did to get on their good side, but you don't fool me." She stepped in closer, eyes narrowing. "Something that has been the same for centuries doesn't change so much in a few months." Bringing up a hand, she poked Aria in the chest. "Sooner or later, you're going to mess up, and when you do, I'm going to be there. You and your sisters will be locked up and never see the light of day again."

There had not even been a moment of thought. The moment Tempest had threatened Adagio and Sonata, Aria had reacted, punching her in the face.

Judging from the shocked expression, Tempest Shadow had not been expecting it either.

Grabbing Tempest's shirt, Aria Blaze pulled her in until their faces were almost touching.

"Go ahead and try to take down SMILE," Aria nearly yelled. "Watch and threaten me all you like." Her voice dropped low, just above a whisper. "But if you touch one hair on their heads, I swear by the trench, I will rip that that mechanical arm off, and beat you with it."

Tempest smirked as she brought up her prosthetic hand, its joints glowing a pale blue.

"You mean this arm?"

Reaching out, she placed her hand on Aria's bare shoulder. As artificial fingers gripped living flesh, a crackle filled the air. Electricity shot through the arm and into Aria's chest, muscles tensing painfully as they were shocked.

There was also a tingle of pleasure through her.

Bringing her leg up, Aria drove her knee into Tempest's thigh. The impact made Tempest take a step back, her electrified hand releasing its grip. Aria let go of the shirt with one hand, bringing it down to punch her opponent in the diaphragm, knocking the air from Tempest's lungs.

"Gonna have to do bette--"

Tempest lunged forward, slamming her forehead into Aria's nose. Pain exploded across her face as something broke. She could feel liquid warmth running down her face and dripping off her chin. The smell and taste of metal overpowered her sense of smell and taste.

A loud rip filled the air as the shirt gave way in her grip. Even through the tears and pain, Aria was able to take notice of Tempest Shadow's exposed chest and stomach. Massive scars ran across her skin, lines of discolored skin disappearing under her clothes.

Once able to breath again, Tempest Shadow stood up, tucked the remains of her shirt into her jacket, and zipped it up to hide her exposed underside. Taking a deep breath, she ran a hand down the front to smooth it out.

"Believe it or not, I'm not here to fight," Tempest stated. She ran a hand through her hair, pushing it in place. "Merely letting you -- and by extension, the others -- know what is going on." Her eyes narrowed. "However, I will not forget this. Next time, I'll kick your crusty ancient ass."

With that, she headed for the door, and left.

After she was gone, Aria let out a huff. Closing her eyes, she reached up and placed her hands to her nose. With a wet crunching sound and a fresh burst of pain, she put it back into place.

Once the blood stopped flowing and she had washed it off her face, Aria decided to head on home, the mood pretty much ruined for the night anyways. So she said good-bye to a shocked looking Fizzy, refused to explain what happened, and left.

As she walked back toward her Jeep, the night air felt cold against her skin. Her face burned around her eyes, bruises forming around them. Aria reached up to rub at her lip, feeling like there was still blood there.

She was going to make Tempest Shadow pay for everything. That bitch was not going to lay a single finger on her sisters.

...and... maybe Aria now had a way to start...

Reaching into her pocket, Aria pulled out her phone, and hit the number for SMILE.

"Hey," she called out as soon as someone picked up. "I have something I need you to look into."

Comments

[Wild Stallion]

As she walked back toward her Jeep,

The night air felt cold against her skin. Her face burned around her eyes, bruises forming around them. Aria reached up to rub at her lip, feeling like there was still blood there.

Are you sure this wasn't meant to be part of the same sentence?

[Hopeful_Ink_Hoof]

10024716
I don't remember anymore. Likely it was, but I hit backspace without realizing, and thought I was starting a new paragraph or such. Regardless, it's fixed now.

[Ri2]

So, when do Aria and Tempest hook up?

[Hopeful_Ink_Hoof]

10024813
Sorry, they don't. Even if I had completed the story, they would never have hooked up.

[Booster Spice]

Adagio is going to be so annoying if she ever finds out the details.