(2014)

Sam walked into the club by himself, after him and Arisa split he hasn’t been out to many places like this. But he figured it was time he got out of the mansion. Sam noticed that it was kind of warm in the club, regardless he wore his leather jacket and his lucky blue jeans which was fine with him he was told several times that was one of the looks he could pull off.

The first thing Sam did as he walked down to the dance floor was checking the girls; there were decent amount of girls here tonight. But that wasn’t what the entire night was about; it was about cutting loose and having fun, something he felt that he has been lacking in life for a while.

Sam started off by just dancing to the music’s beat and sure enough one or two girls found their way towards him. After a short conversation full of dancing with one of them Sam decided it was time for a drink. Sam walked to the bartender and asked, “Hey Bartender, can you give me a bottle of beer, any things fine.” Within seconds Sam had his drink and noticed it was warm Sam was about to complain until he decided it wasn’t worth it. Sam blew on the tip of the bottle and the contents became cold instantly.

Sam had a sip or to when he noticed that a cute red head was getting hit on by some guy. Sam grinned as she was clearly giving him the not interested sign. Sam got another drink and walked over figuring hey, she looks like she’s bored with that guy might as well help her out.

Sam walked over to the red head and the guy and put his drink on the table in front of the girl and said “S’cuse me guy.” Nudging the guy out of his way, Sam sat across to the girl and said sorry “I’m late, who’s your friend?” Sam ended up looking at the guy who was clearly uncomfortable. The guy got up and left. Sam grinned and looked over back to the red head, “Sorry looked like he couldn’t take a hit so I figured I would help you out.” Sam took a sip of his beer and waited for the girl to respond.

(OOC: Thanks to Werecat for inspiration. )

Sometimes it just didn't pay to be petite. Like when you wanted a drink. How many times did the same bartender need to see your ID, and be half-deafened, before they got the point that you were older than twenty-one?

For that matter, how many lame pick up lines did you have to shoot down before the word went out that you weren't available?

Amp had begun to think the answers to those questions didn't exist. She sat at a cabaret table on the edge of the dance floor, drinking in the chaotic beat pulsing from the speakers. One hand fiddled with the thin gold chain and the seemingly shapeless chunk of metal that hung as a pendant at her throat. She could feel the vibranium metal vibrating between her fingers, pulsing with her sister's vibrations. Vibe had been busy, again, so the dainty redhead came to the club alone. Again. And apparently the guys took that as an invitation.

<"Morons,"> she thought to herself as she sent yet another pair on their way. At least this duo had creative come-ons, and thus walked away with only headaches and ringing ears. The last one to break out 'Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?' didn't even make it past 'it', before the copper-haired sonic burst his eardrums. What truly struck her as amusing, was the fact that it took a full two minutes before anyone realized that his writhing and screaming had nothing to do with the rave-style dancing.

Humans were so obtuse. All of them.

"Hey there, darling."

Scratch that. Obtuse didn't quite describe this one's stupidity.

"I must be hunting for gold, 'cause I'm digging your chest."

.....

Yeah. Stupid didn't quite cut it either. He wasn't even worth wasting brainpower on.

"Step off, loser." Amp didn't bother to turn around. At least it couldn't get too much worse.

"Ouch! A hot redhead with a cold attitude? Sounds like the makings for a steamy evening."

Lesson learned? Never think things couldn't possibly get worse.

"Last warning," Amp growled. "Beat it."

"Aww, come on Red. Why ya gotta be so harsh? I'm-"

“S’cuse me guy. Sorry I’m late, who’s your friend?”

Amp narrowed her neon green eyes as yet another blockhead made an unwelcome appearance. What was this? Was there a sign hanging somewhere that said 'Free Redhead With Every Drink'? 'All You Can Hit On Buffet'??

The first man glared at the second for interrupting his 'action'. On the positive side, he decided to go fishing somewhere else. On the negative side, that still left the Sonic Sister with one unwanted visitor to deal with.

“Sorry looked like he couldn’t take a hint so I figured I would help you out.”

"You're right. He couldn't. So how 'bout you take it for him?" She picked up her glass, turned in her chair and settled her gaze on the dance floor in an obvious dismissal of the newcomer.

"You're right. He couldn't. So how 'bout you take it for him?"

Sam grinned a little bit about how much negative feed back he was getting from this girl. Sam stood up taking another sip of his drink and shrugged, “Your welcome.” Sam was about to introduce himself to her but she was clearly not interested so Sam turned his back and started to walk away only to turn his head and yell, “It was nice meeting you.” The music muffled his sarcastic tone a little.

Despite her not wanting anything to do with him she was a little rude. But that didn’t get Sam down, tonight was all about fun and that’s what he was going to have. Sam downed the rest of his drink and continued to dance.

Sam woke up the next morning with a massive hang over, he let out a small painful grin fighting through clenched teeth, he looked at his arm and saw a few numbers with names written in pen. He looked at them and tried to remember the faces associated with them with little luck. He could only think of two faces the only problem was he couldn’t remember whose face belongs to which number. Sam rubbed his head as he iced his fingertips making the headache less intense and muttering to himself, “Think I might have an encore tonight, wonder who I am going to call.” Sam finished looking at his arm trying to decide.

(OOC: So so so soooo sorry for the huge post. I promise to be shorter in the future, lol.)

Amp's foot began tapping irritably as the brown-haired guy wandered off to join the dancers. A scowl settled onto her petite features, and her fingers drummed on her glass. Her mood had already started spiraling from bad to worse, and the last few men that approached her had simply quickened the process. Even the pulsing music and chaotic show couldn't calm her now. In fact, it wouldn't take too much more to push her over the edge-

"Hey babe. Wanna make an easy fifty bucks?"

The redhead's knuckles around her glass turned white, and for two heartbeats, she froze. Finally she turned to look at this new fly in the seat next to her. The green-eyed, black-haired bundle of raging hormones with no brain would have stood at least half a foot taller than her, if not more. She smiled sweetly and tilted her head back.

"Isn't it kind of rude to get a girl all excited, before even giving her a kiss?"

With a pick up line like that, Amp wasn't surprised at all that the dolt actually leaned down toward her.

"I'm sorry. My manners must have passed out when they saw you coming."

She let him continue to move in, still smiling. Just before their lips made contact, she slid one hand around the back of his neck, and whispered,

"Well then, maybe this will wake them up."

Her nails dug into the sides of his neck. His eyes widened and he tried to jerk back, but she not only had her lips locked on his, but also had him wedged between the chair back and table. She sent out two sets of sound vibrations, both of which combined simultaneously to mask the sounds of his muffled screams, as his ear drums burst and his throat collapsed.

Amp pulled away an inch, hand still holding him in place as he choked, and lips still smiling.

"Sorry, 'babe'. You're a great kisser, but I'm not an easy girl. Ciao."

She released him and stood in a fluid motion, and strode away toward the door, leaving the man struggling to breathe. She made her way out the door, shoving past several people.

Outside, she paused, closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply. Her hand went to her necklace once more. That had been one of the first times she'd tried using her abilities without Vibe around. The vibranium worked perfectly, allowing her to function as if her sister were right there besides her. It felt good to be independent. Really good.

"Excuse me miss?"

Amp's scowl returned, and she began walking, ignoring what she automatically assumed was yet another hormone-driven jackass. She'd only taken a few step when someone grabbed her upper arm. She whirled, ready to do more than deafen the person.

"Easy! I mean harm! I have a proposition for you."

She glared at the trench-coated stranger, and growled out, "I have had my fill of propositions tonight, pal. If you don't let go in two seconds, I'll-"

"I'll make it very worth your while-"

"You want that kind of date, go trawl a whorehouse," she interrupted right back.

"I'm not looking for a date. I'm offering you a job. Call it 'pest control'," he added before Amp could gather herself for another rebuttal. She sneered.

"What do I look like? The Orkin Man?"

A flash of white teeth showed from underneath an oversized hat. "The Orkin Man doesn't have the skills you just demonstrated back there."

The copper-haired sonic narrowed her eyes warily. She let herself be guided toward the shadows cast by the nearby building, then pulled her arm away.

"What skills?"

"Skills that only a mutant could claim. And skills that could easily take on pest equally endowed."

Amp snorted and placed her hands on her hips. "Look pal, I've had a rough night that only started to look up in the last five minutes. If you don't stop beating around the bush and get to the point, I'm gonna make sure the evening gets even better. For me."

The man chuckled, and Amp's hackles visibly raised. But rather than say anything else, he handed over a set of mug shots. She was only mildly surprised to recognize the least idiotic of the men hitting on her in the nightclub. In fact, he hadn't really come on to her, just spared someone else his hearing. She shrugged.

"It's a picture. So what?"

"That's a picture of the pest I want you to get rid of. We'll make it well worth your while."

Amp fiddled with her necklace. She didn't need money, thanks to her working with the Order, and she didn't need much in the way of fun either. Any other time, she would have dropped this trench-coated insect and moved on without a second glance. But she was in a foul mood, and needed some serious stress relief. somehow, taking out her irritability on somebody else, as painfully as possible, sounded..... appealing.

She glanced at the mug shot again.

"I'm listening."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amp made her way to the same nightclub the next evening. After going through the same ID hassle as the night before, she stood at the edge of the swaying crowd, looking around.

The music in the club was so load even for being in the middle of the club. Sam was in the middle of the crowd dancing with a few of the girls he met the night before. Strobe lights were going off and on and Sam was feeling the beat, nothing could foul up his mood tonight. There was a faint perfume scent around him but he couldn’t pinpoint it, there were an awful lot of girls in his vicinity. Sam leaned in to the girl closest to him (thinks her name is Karen) and whispered as loud as he could in her ear, “I am gonna go get a drink, you want one?” the girl shook her head and she replied with a “No, but come back after your done.” Sam smiled nodded and winked at her and then forced his way in between the crowd, which was fairly easy because when people saw him coming they moved out of the way seeing as Sam was over 6 feet tall, he was slightly noticeable in the club there weren’t to many people taller than him.

Now at the bar Sam asked the barkeep for the same drink from the night before. Getting his drink Sam took a seat at a vacant table a caught his breathe while listening to the music. Sam pulled out his phone and looked at the clock figuring it wasn’t to late he put his phone back in his pocket and took another sip.

Sam just sat back and relaxed in his chair and watched the passer bys and the dancers.

Amp spotted her target in the center of the dance floor. Apparently he hadn't had his fill the night before, and returned for seconds. He was surrounded by a number of women, and appeared to be lost in the beat of the music.

She turned toward the bar, and ordered a Fat Tire. She'd best go easy on the alcohol tonight, just to be on the safe side. Beer in hand, she leaned back to watch for awhile, going over in her head the information she'd received.

Sam Johnson. Age twenty-three. A trained super-soldier, rebelled and gone good. And causing his former employers a major headache as of late. Several attempts on his life had already failed, and they were hoping she might remedy the losing streak. Get close to him, gain his trust, then get rid of him.

She wasn't a hitman. Or hitwoman, if you wanted to be politically correct. There wasn't anything her new employer could give her that she couldn't get on her own, or through the Order. She didn't know Sam, and really didn't have anything against him.

But life had become exceedingly dull as of late, especially when Vibe had stopped clubbing with her. That silly aromatherapy hobby of hers took up more and more of her time, leaving Amp bored out of her mind. This new challenge was simply a game to her. Like a cat playing with a mouse or lizard. Or a spider stalking its prey.

Speaking of which.....

Amp watched the six-foot man make his way through the crowd, to the bar, then to an empty table to catch his breath. Perfect. She left her perch and made her way over to him.

"Hey there." She tapped him on the shoulder, something resembling a smile on her face. "I wanted to apologize. For snapping at you last night. Guess I was mad at the world." She shrugged, then added. "I guess I owe you a thank you for getting rid of that creep for me."

She held out her hand. "Name's Amanda." It was the first time in years that she'd given out her actual name. It felt weird coming out, too.

Sam’s attention snapped to the red head that dismissed him so effortlessly the night before. At first he was a little surprised then he was a little confused. Sam isn’t used to being rejected then having the girl come apologize the next day, then again Sam isn’t that used to rejections. Putting his ego aside he listened to what she had to say.

"I wanted to apologize. For snapping at you last night. Guess I was mad at the world." She shrugged, then added. "I guess I owe you a thank you for getting rid of that creep for me." "Name's Amanda."

Sam eyed her hand then stood up and shook it. Sam with a small curious grin on his face said, “Name’s Sam, it was the least I can do. The guy seemed pretty persistent and you seemed pretty annoyed.” Sam motioned for a chair at his table, “Why don’t you have a seat?” Sam plopped down in the seat he was sitting in and asked the girl, “So what made you so mad at the world yesterday, you were pretty dismissive.” Sam added a playful teasing tone in his voice with his last sentence.

“Name’s Sam."

<"Yep,"> she thought to herself, as he shook her hand. <"He's the right guy.">

"It was the least I can do. The guy seemed pretty persistent and you seemed pretty annoyed. Why don’t you have a seat?”

"Thanks." She nodded and slid into the seat next to him.

“So what made you so mad at the world yesterday, you were pretty dismissive.”

Amp caught the teasing tone in his voice, and inwardly bristled. On the outside, she settled for rolling her eyes. Her smile took on a sour quality. "I got tired of being treated like the nightly special. I come here for fun, but apparently my definition differs from everyone else's."

No lie there. She found raiding and destruction of property immensely fun, especially when the residents happened to join in. No need to explain that to Sam though.

She lifted her drink to her lips, staring out at the swaying dancers. Her free hand tapped out the beat of the music on the table. Ever since she'd been able to hear, she listened to music whenever possible, especially the tunes with a heavy beat.

"I got tired of being treated like the nightly special. I come here for fun, but apparently my definition differs from everyone else's."

Sam nodded as he noticed her watching the dancers and saw he fingers taping to the music. Sam downed the rest of his drink and then stood up, ”Not all guys think you’re the nightly special, sides I just ate.” With a grin on his face he held his hand out to Amanda, “Come on it looks like you want to dance.”

Sam waited for her to take his hand he was just hoping he didn’t run into the girl that wanted him to come back and dance with her, it was Kelly right? Sam thought to himself. He was more interested in Amanda she seemed a little more mysterious than whatever her name was.

”Not all guys think you’re the nightly special, sides I just ate.”

Amp snorted. "Funny," she remarked humorlessly.

“Come on it looks like you want to dance.”

She tilted her head to look at his outstretched hand. She deliberately ignored it, drained her beer, and stood up.

"See if you can keep up," she challenged as she brushed by.

It was the first time in a long time that Amp had gone dancing without her sister. But losing herself in the rhythm came easily and quickly as she joined the moving mass of bodies. After awhile, she had to admit she was having fun, though she had to keep reminding herself to stay somewhat close to Sam. She couldn't seem that interested just yet. Not when the game had only just begun.

During one whirl she noticed another girl shooting evil looks in her direction, for a reason beyond her grasp. Amp ignored her for the time being. If she came any closer, or tried to start something, she'd get more than an earful. The copper-headed sonic did not care for cat fights, nor would she be dragged into one.

Her arc took her back in Sam's direction, and she flashed a wink up at him. "Tired yet?" she taunted.

Sam wasn’t too surprised when she ignored his hand to help her up. She was struck Sam as independent and for some reason Sam admired that about some girls. Sam pulled his hand away and put it in his pocket as he tried not to look like he just got rejected.
She brushed by Sam and said "See if you can keep up,"

Sam followed her to the dance floor and then proceeded to dance with her. Sam saw the girl he was dancing with earlier shoot evil looks his way. Sam tried to fix the problem by simply pretending that he didn’t see her but that hardly works so he ended up turning his back to her.

Sam caught a wink from Amanda as she said "Tired yet?" Sam smiled because their seemed to him that there was a playful tone in her voice. Sam leaned in closer to Amanda so he didn’t have to yell, “Not even close, but if you are we can go sit down.” He let out a small laugh and continued to dance. Just then Sam noticed the girl he was dancing with before he met Amanda walk this way and she looked pissed.

Sam thought for a second then he leaned into Amanda, “You know what I think I could use another drink you want one, on me?” Sam shook his head and waved his hand to the direction of the bar, Sam was just trying to diffuse the problem before it actually became a problem.

“Not even close, but if you are we can go sit down.”

"Hardly," Amp retorted with a grin, and turned around. She saw the evil-eyed girl approaching, and returned the looks in full.

“You know what," she heard Same say over her shoulder, "I think I could use another drink. You want one, on me?”

Actually she'd rather take care of this little problem first. But she was technically on the job, so....

"I guess so," she agreed reluctantly, and turned to follow him off of the dance floor. She'd homed in on the other girl's footsteps, and heard her began to follow. However, as they reached the edge, Amp sent a directed pulse through the floor, strong enough to crack it. Right under the girl's high heel. Funny thing about high heels and cracks? They usually ended up in twisted ankles and sprawling falls. Not to mention a sprinkling of humiliation for someone wearing a short skirt and skimpy undergarments.

A satisfied smirk adorned Amp's face as they continued away from the commotion, and toward the bar. She perched on a stool and ordered another beer.

"For such a tall guy, you're not a bad dancer, Sam. A little stiff, maybe," she teased. "But not bad."

Sam smiled at Amanda, “I’ll take that as a complement. First time anyone’s ever called me stiff.” He laughed a little bit thinking about the comment she just made. He took the beer from the bartender and started to drink it. Then he looked over to Amanda, “I usually wait and ask all the personal questions on a date, but tell me a little about your self.” Sam took another sip of his beer and set it down. Feeling a little light-headed Sam sat down on the stool and looked at her shook his head for a second to fix his vision and then he looked back at her.

“I’ll take that as a complement. First time anyone’s ever called me stiff.”

Amp snerked insided. His idea of a compliment needed some work.

“I usually wait and ask all the personal questions on a date, but tell me a little about your self.”

She took a small sip from her bottle, noting that he had trouble focusing on her. Drunk already? And here she was, not even buzzed yet. Now there was a tempting opportunity. How easy would it be to get him alone right then, under the pretense that he needed to walk off the alcohol. He'd probably never even see an attack coming.

But, again, where would the fun be in that?

"Me? Not much to tell." She shrugged, and leaned back against the bar lazily. "Just your average girl who likes to unwind on the dance floor after work. Just like all the others out there, I'm sure. How about you?" She turned the inquiry back on him easily. "What's your story?"

Despite being a little tipsy Sam’s thought process was a little disoriented. He thought to himself counting the beers he had for the night, he counted seven plus the one he was drinking right now so eight, but then he remembered that he didn’t have anything to eat a couple of hours before hand. Sam then looked at amps lips moving and only comprehended the last few words.

"What's your story?"

Sam thought about the question for a second, “Well, I decided I needed a little more fun in my life so I decided to come here, hmmm don’t really have a job, still doing a little fee lance work, money has never been a problem so I am sort of just coasting along.” He smiled at the end and then realized what he said never before did he tell a stranger that he never had to worry about money, he just sounded cocky and that wasn’t him.

Sam thought for a second and changed the subject, “You know I don’t think you’re an average.” Sam said teasingly while grabbing his drink and having another sip.