It had been two long years since Demencia left with her sister, Malaria, and remarkably, Black Hat corporation has been getting by. Just barely though. Without Demencia being there things DID go smoothly for Flug and his experiments. But when it came to the need of relentless manpower and destruction needed on their enemies….

Well….

They needed help.

Fortunately, Black Hat was able to pull some strings and managed to land a deal with one of the heirs to the Neptunian throne. This heir was famous as a singer, model, and business entrepreneur on Earth and was to become the next general to the royal Neptunian army. But apparently they also did a secret side business in mercenary and assassination work as well. But they had certain and strict codes for the "workers" to follow. What those were, were beyond what Black Hat could comprehend. He honestly could care less. As long as they got the job done and that the money rolled in, he couldn't care two squats as to what those codes were. But he had to be careful as to not upset the up and coming general and respect their wishes as well so that their alliance will remain peacefully in-tact. And it wasn't even him that contacted them in the first place! THEY came to HIM offering THEIR assistance. And they have yet to reveal the real reason as to why they did so. 

Fortunately, he would get his answer tonight. After their two year alliance, his associate wanted to change some "kinks" in their deal. They assured him that it was nothing that he had to worry about. But he begged to differ. Whatever this meeting that he and Flug had to attend tonight, was definitely going to affect his work. For better or for worse, he hadn't the slightest idea. "This better be good and worth my time!" Black Hat grumbled as both he and Flug drove to one of the restaurants that the young entrepreneur/general owned on Earth.

"Sir, it would be best to not be like this in front of our business associate." Flug reminded.

Black Hat growled threateningly in the backseat while Flug drove.

Flug quickly coughed, "I'm just reminding you sir! I mean no offense! That is not my intention. I'm just saying that we don't want to offend the associate that so kindly lent us their services after… SHE left." Flug said solemnly.

Black Hat grew quiet. He quietly pulled out a tiny bottle that was made into a necklace. Inside said bottle was the dragon scale that Demencia gave to him before she left with her sister. Whenever the topic was brought up his mood would take a 180 degree flip in less than a second. 'I mean, he could be in the worst mood imaginable. But as soon as Demencia's name would be brought up, he would either become excited or would grow instantly calm. I don't mean to knock it, but I wish he would at least eat and sleep at appropriate schedules. Sometimes he would go for a week without either. One time it was two months! And that was after Demencia left. Black Hat can be in denial all he wants, but he seriously loves her. I wonder if she knew that…' Flug thought as he carefully maneuvered through the heavy traffic.

To say that Los Angeles traffic was true to it's city's name was a LAUGH! It. Was. A. NIGHTMARE! And parking was going to be worse. 'I mean, it was easy parking the Hat Ship onto one of the large buildings that belonged to our associate. It's a pretty decent sized Hotel that had its own football field sized parking garage for Pete's sake! Our associate even lent us one of their rental cars for when we had to drive to the restaurant tonight. It really makes me think. What is their end goal here? And why did they help us?' Flug thought.

"FLUG!!!! PAY ATTENTION TO THE ROAD!!!!!!!" Black Hat yelled at his distracted driver.

Flug was about to hit a semi head on until he swerved out of the way and went back to his own lane. Several loud and angry honking ensued after the harrowing experience. Which was understandable. Fortunately for the both of them, no police cars were nearby to pull them over and ask them questions for the suicidal driving.

"Are you sure you have a driver's license and are up to date with it?!" Black Hat asked angrily.

"Eheheheheh…." Flug rubbed the back of his head sheepishly in an awkward fashion. 

Soon enough they made it to their destination. It was a fancy looking three story restaurant that had a red carpet at the front entrance and a line of people at the side of the building. 'No doubt trying or waiting to get in.' Flug thought. The restaurant's name was "The Neptune's Treasure." It was one of the up and coming restaurant chains that their associate owned. It was one of those restaurants that mainly focused on certain types of food. And you can guess what type of food they mainly focused here. Yep. Seafood. But they also did other types of foods to cater to the needs of those that didn't absolutely LOVE seafood. Like chicken or pork. Basically this restaurant was an overly fancy and jumbo sized Red Lobster.

Flug parked the car in the reserved parking spot that had a sign that said, "Reserved for 🎩 and co," and both Black Hat and Flug proceeded their way out of the car and to the front of the line of annoyed people that clearly voiced their distaste in them ditching the line in front of them. The bouncer that was guarding the front doors looked at them skeptically and said, "ID please," in a monotone voice. Flug came fully prepared and got out his invite that their associate had sent to them ahead of time and showed it to the bouncer. "I believe we have an appointment with your employer tonight."

Almost immediately the bouncer's eyes became the size of saucers and said, "M-mr. Black Hat sir! It's an honor to have you with us tonight! Please! Go on in!" With that he bowed politely and let them proceed onwards. But very faintly they could hear the bouncer whisper into his walkie talkie. "Code Black. I repeat. Code Black! The Hat has come into the building! I repeat! Black Hat is here! Look alive people!!!!"

Flug sighed and rolled his eyes at the bouncer's frantic behavior. While Black Hat just chuckled at his fear.

Almost immediately a nervous looking hostess and an equally nervous waiter came up and greeted them. The hostess pulled one of her best smiles to greet the two. "Welcome to "The Neptune's Treasure" sir Black Hat! It's an honor to have you and the good doctor here with us tonight. I'm Aubrey, the manager and hostess of the place." The hostess then gestured to the waiter beside her. "This is Seth. He'll be your sole waiter and server tonight. He'll, of course, have others helping him, but as far as getting your orders and such, he'll be responsible for it all." Then Seth bowed respectfully for the both of them. Aubrey then gestured for them to follow her and the waiter. As they followed they listened to her ramble on and on about the restaurant, they couldn't help but notice the obvious stares from not only the staff and ordinary citizens, but from some famous and infamous patrons as well. Some of which Flug recognized the villains from previous deals that they made with Black Hat. He also noticed the other half of the patrons were heroes as well! 'What is the meaning of this?!' Flug thought. And as if on cue, Black Hat asked the same thing to the hostess. "What is the meaning of this?! Why are heroes here as well? I thought our associate and I had a deal?!" Black Hat growled. 

Aubrey looked a little shocked at his proclamation/accusation. She took a steady breath and explained that her boss mostly dealt with fame, fortune, and mercenary work, they'll do as they please working with both heroes AND villains. But they'll decline or accept any deals that will profit them and this planet in more ways than one. Basically, their associate was a neutral. And they needed to remain neutral in order to keep up appearances to the public and to the Galactic Federation, (*cough* *cough* Star Trek reference *cough* *cough*). (And yes, the associate business partner is an alien from Neptune. If you haven't already guessed.)  And for the good health and prosperity of the planet, Earth, and it's residents. Both the good and the bad. "But for further information, you would have to take it up with them." Aubrey explained.  

Black Hat seemed less than amused but kept his thoughts to himself. Flug on the other hand seemed intrigued at what their associate was doing. He wanted to further "study" their associate's behavior a little further. But that would have to wait until another time. Right now, they're getting settled into their seats and being handed their menus. "If there is any trouble, don't be hesitant to Seth or me for any inquiries that you may think of. Tonight we have a VERY special line-up of entertainment for you both to enjoy. We hope it is to your liking." 

And with that, she walked away and both Black Hat and Flug turned to their waiter and ordered the restaurant's special Blue Lobster with seasoned crab cakes. "Excellent choice sirs. Would you like some salad and water to go with? We have a Special on seafood salad that has shrimp and pieces of crab in it." 

"Yes and make that two. Don't forget the lemon wedges as well." Black Hat replied curtly.

"Very good sir. I'll be just a moment. Please enjoy the entertainment that we have on stage tonight." The waiter bowed and left.

Suddenly the room's lights dimmed to a more romantic feel. Then there was a spotlight shone on an orchestra sized stage. There, a handsome looking man with a fancy red suit  that had a 1920's comb-over   with gel plastered on top, came up to an old fashioned microphone. He tapped it twice and tested it out then began to speak through it in a cheery voice. 

"Hello, hello, hello!!! Welcome all to "The Neptune's Treasure"~!!! I am your host for your entertainment for tonight. My name is Sebastian and I am here to bring you the old classics from both the good ol' 1920's and the new hits of today! We'll be going on till daybreak! Hope some of you are night owls~! Anyways, let's give it up to the first band playing tonight! Everybody! Give it up for, Walk the Moon!!!"

Everyone roared with applause as they started with a steady, slow, but upbeat version of 'Shut Up and Dance With Me!'

As some of the people were listening to the band playing, others got up to dance on the large ballroom dance floor.

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As the night went on, the current today's hit music slowly started to become swing music from something from the 1920's. But just as the music died down, Sebastian came out looking ecstatic and a bit nervous? 

"Give it up for the lovely and charming "Devil Doll"~" Loud applause came from the audience. And even Black Hat had to admit that they had some class to their music in regards to a steady and haunting rhythm of Swing/Blues.

After Devil Doll's performance Sebastian came out looking even more of a nervous wreck, but kept his professionalism. Well as much as possible.

"Now, we have a SPECIAL treat tonight for y'all! This next singer only performs a handful of times at least every two months. Seeing as how she's a very busy lady, I won't keep her waiting from singing her heart out for you lovely folks! Give it up, for the one, the only, and the most fabulous, MADELINE MONROE!!!! Take it away boys!!!" The band struck up an upbeat 1920's rhythm. But the song had a bit of a moderation tone mixed in with the Swing of the music. And low and behold a tall blonde haired woman came out and started to sing into the mic.

*St. James Ballroom by Alice Francis*

"Welcome~"

"To St. James Ballroom~"

Flug wasn't paying much attention to her till he smelled something real sweet. Like an ocean spring breeze. It was then that he tuned in to how sweet and velvety soft pitch voice the singer had. And once he had a full view of her, he couldn't stop staring with awe at her features. She had an hourglass shaped figure, a bob styled cut platinum blonde hair, and had the most striking blue eyes that Flug had ever seen. She wore a tight but comfortable fitting heart shaped neckline and floor length black dress. Her figure was something only super models only dreamed of having. From her cat shaped doe eyes right down to her slender black stiletto heeled feet. She was the very picture of GORGEOUS! She was true to her name. She was definitely a Monroe. Even if the late famous actress and the beautiful specimen of a woman weren't related, they definitely have SOMETHING in common. They were full of confidence and rocked the stage and they knew and flaunted it!

All throughout the beginning of the song, Flug couldn't help but notice that she was staring straight at him. He thought it was just his imagination until the middle of the song began to play. 

"Now you're free to do it, you can kiss me if you like~"

She stared straight at Flug while she sang.

"But I hope you can handle me~"

She winked at him seductively. And Flug couldn't help but blush as red as a tomato.

"Give me the boom, give me the bop~

"Give me everything you got~

She gave a cheeky smile to him. And at this point, Flug wanted to hide in a hole because of how embarrassed he was.

"Clap your hands, move your feet~

"Now slowly, bring the beat back~

"Mmmm~"

"That feels better, yeah~

"I like at how you push the buttons~

"But, let me see, something's still missing here~

"What is it~?

"Hah! I know~

And at that moment she turned around and pointed/signalled one of the musicians in the back in a gangster like tone. All the while having a broad smile on her cherry red lips.

"YO MAX NOW HIT THE TRUMPETS BACK~!"

By the end of the song, the crowd erupted with cheers, cat calls, and wolf whistles. She curtsied and waved to the patrons. She looked back up to Flug and seductively blew a kiss his way. Flug was pretty much stupefied at this point. And all Black Hat could do was click his fingers in front of his paper bag covered face. 

"Hello?! Earth to my idiot doctor! Is your soul still in that pathetic body of yours?! Or do I have to search the depths of Hell to find it?" It was only till the singer made her way off the stage and heard Black Hat rant in his ear, is when Flug snapped out of it. 

"Oh! Sorry sir! I didn't mean to get distracted like that! I guess… I'm just not used to attention like that…" Flug sheepily said. 

Black Hat rolled his eye, "Obviously. If that woman does have the slightest bit of affection towards you, either she's lost her marbles and good senses like you have. Or you came up with a pheromone-like weapon against her, which is highly unlikely." Then he thought about it a little. "Unless…." He gave Flug a suspicious look. And Flug quickly reassured/squealed in fright to him that wasn't the case, all the while trying not to bring anymore attention to their table than it already has.

"Sir! I'm telling you, I did NOT do anything to that woman! I don't even know her! Please believe me!" Flug pleaded.

But all Black Hat said back while looking at his menu was, "Mm-hm, sure. Whatever you say doctor."

Flug sighed in defeat. 'I'll just try to order while the atmosphere is still somewhat salvageable….'

While they were looking through their menus, the same woman peaked behind backstage and smiled mischievously and ordered one of the guards and signalled to Black Hat's table. And with a snap of her fingers, the guard went to their table.

*Giggle*

"This should be good~. Let the show begin~."

To be continued…