FSE

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"This is a very unusual offer you have..." the black wolf said as he walked down the hallway with Pandez, looking over the forms that he had just been given. "You know something like this takes weeks to process... I don't think we can get something for you in a few hours. It's not like down there with you food and beverage boys, we have to allocate casino space, maintenance technicians... we take our entertainment very seriously here."

"I know that this is extremely short notice, Poker," Pandez replied as he tried to keep up with the quick-paced lupine. "But this is going to be a surprise for the big cheese and we couldn't let people know too far ahead of time, you know how some members of our departments have loose lips when it comes to Miko. The team has been put into place, too, since Uncle Kage brought them so we just need the proper permits-"

The wolf suddenly stopped dead in his tracks so fast that it nearly caused the panda to run into him, Poker turning his head slowly to lock his gaze on him. "You didn't mention that this was something for Uncle Kage..." he said, Pandez nodding slowly. "Does this have to do with the party that he's throwing down in the main hall?"

"Oh, of course," Pandez replied, giving the wolf a sheepish grin. "You know how the cockroach can be, always thinking of these grandiose gestures to give to Fox and Pepper as thanks for their efforts, and now Miko as well. It's definitely going to be quite the party, though I'm sure if they can't do the fireworks show that they wanted we can tell him that the entertainment department isn't going to be able to help them out, they would understand."

There was a moment of silence as Poker quickly went over the forms once again, looking to see that Uncle Kage's name was indeed on them. "A surprise party for Pepper, Fox, and Miko himself..." he mumbled as he got to the last page of the clipboard before holding out a hand. "Give me a pen, I'll tell maintenance to give you the access you need to set this up."

Pandez tried his best to hide the overjoyed look on his face as he watched the head of the entertainment department sign his forms with a flourish before handing them back. After telling the panda that he owed him one for this Poker asked if he needed any other personnel to get this surprise fireworks show off the ground. Pandez quickly denied the help and mentioned once again that Uncle Kage would have everything they need, then watched the black-furred lupine quickly move towards his next destination. Once he saw that Poker was gone Pandez immediately turned on his heel and rushed back to the loading bay, going as fast as his legs could carry him without looking suspicious as he went to a loading truck and knocked on the back door.

"Did you get it?" a voice on the other side asked.

"Yep," Pandez replied, taking a step back as the metal door rolled up to show Zen and Ronnie standing there with several large crates between them. "Where in the world did you get all of those fireworks on short notice?"

"This is a casino town," Zen replied simply as he hopped out of the trunk and took the paperwork. "You'd be surprised what you can find in a few hours on a less-than-legal basis. I also have the special requests, these window-rattlers can be heard on the other side of the planet, so I think our sabre-toothed friend is going to be able to hear them even when inside. Speaking of which we don't have a lot of time, so I'm going to set up down below while Ronnie secures the ones on the roof."

"Still not sure why I'm going to need to be on the roof," Ronnie replied as he adjusted the harness on his body. "Can't we just launch everything from the ground?"

"I need a secondary shell to help disguise the window-rattlers," Zen said as he went back into the truck and busted open one of the crates to pull out supplies. "These things are made for long distance firings, we're going to be doing it up close and personal for this and we need something other than the bright flash that it makes."

Even though Ronnie continued to grumble the chinese dragon helped Zen start to put the fireworks onto the dolly in order to wheel them out into the main promenade. With the work order that Pandez had signed for them it was going to keep their cover at least for now, but the panda still felt a slight pang of nervousness as they began to make their journey to set up the fireworks. Even though it was Poker's name on the work order all the wolf would have to do is point a finger at him and then all his work helping the others rob Miko would be exposed... but it was a risk that had to be taken as he called up Draggor and informed the demon that the two were in.

Once the demonspawn confirmed that the two had gotten to their location where they needed to be, Zen working on the edges of the promenade while Ronnie began to climb to the top of the roof. Even though it wasn't the primary focus of the security guards that he spied on he made sure to have their footage on the screen as little as possible. But even though he wanted to make sure that everything was going well with them he had to switch over the feed to where Xander was continuing to help with the party. Part of it was to make sure the blue dragon continued to blend in, but there was also the fact that he saw the ferret walking his way through the main hall as well.

Alkali had taken a calculated measure to get rid of his tail, which with the help of Draggor acting as an eye in the sky after he had finished talking to the hyena, he had managed to do so by passing through the food court. Even though he had intended to use himself as bait the entire time to keep the scent off the others, something had caught the attention of the demon that he needed to take care of immediately. It was Miko; he had wandered away from his perch in the security room and had gone to talk to Uncle Kage on the nature of the party he was throwing after the concert. Normally it wouldn't be a big deal, but at that point in time Xander was also in the main hall trying to plant supplies in an air vent to be used at a later date, and with the mouse in the room it was proving to be next to impossible.

The ferret was ready though and he grabbed the nearest drink he could before heading up to where Uncle Kage, Miko, and several others had gathered to talk. "Well if it isn't Uncle Kage..." Alkali said as he walked up to the group. "I heard rumors that you were here doing something here at the hotel and decided to drop by before but missed you, glad I caught you this time."

"Well well, Alkali Bismuth," the cockroach replied, a momentary expression of surprise on his face before he quickly regained his composure. "I remember you from when I was doing a guest talk in... Monaco, was it? Great town."

"Yeah, I remember you from the tequila sunrise brunch they had," Alkali replied, relieved that Kage was not thrown off too much by his presence to play along. "At least what I can remember of it." He immediately turned his attention to Miko, the ferret getting close to him and giving him a nod of acknowledgement. "And we have the mouse of the house as well, gotta say that your bar can certainly give Monaco a run for their money."

"I'm sure it can," Miko replied before he turned to Uncle Kage. "Please excuse me, I need to have a private word with my new friend here if I could." Kage was quick to raise his wine glass to them in understanding and the mouse led the ferret to a corner of the main hall where there wasn't anything being set up. "Fancy meeting you here."

"You as well," Alkali replied as he took a drink from the glass. "Surprised you aren't getting ready for the concert happening in a few hours. I hear it's going to raise the roof."

"Oh I thought that I would just go out and stretch my legs," Miko replied as he flexed his body to emphasize the point. "Plus I was wondering if I would see that friend of yours, the one with the saber teeth, but he doesn't appear to be working tonight. Don't suppose you've seen him around?"

"You'd have to ask Uncle Kage that," Alkali replied with a shrug. "I was just making small talk with him before since he was the one that told me that the insect wasn't in at that time. Of course I'm sure that you didn't just pull me over here to ask me where a random worker is."

The mouse seemed to look him up and down as though scanning for something in particular, then just shrugged with a small smirk on his muzzle. "I make sure that all my guests are comfortable," he said casually. "Plus you seem to know Uncle Kage, and after our last conversation I can't help but think of what an amazing coincidence this all is. Of course I'm probably just being a little over-protective, I bet you would say the same thing if you thought that something you loved was in jeopardy."

Even though the words were said with a cool demeanor there was something about them that caused the ferret's fur to stand on end, though he made sure not to show it as he simply nodded and took another drink. As he continued to try and make small talk with the rodent his mind buzzed with questions. Did he know about Xander disguised as a waiter in the casino already? Or was Miko just making a vague threat to shake the tree and see what fell out of it? Either way Alkali knew not to flinch as he continued to talk like what had just been said was no big deal or flew over his head.

After a few minutes of chatter Miko looked once more at Uncle Kage before excusing himself, this time leaving the main hall for good and leaving the ferret standing there by himself. He gave himself about a minute before he went to the bathroom and, after making sure that there was no one else there except for himself, grabbed his phone and contacted Draggor. "Well whatever you did seems to have worked," the demon informed the ferret. "It appears it was all eyes on you until you went to the bathroom and you got your tail back, you alright?"

"No," Alkali replied as he took the half-full glass he had been holding and dumped it into the toilet while making a disgusted face. "Turns out that drink was water. Seriously, who drinks straight water in a casino?"

"Most people, Alkali," Draggor replied with a chuckle. "I'm pleased to report that Xander managed to get the gear into the vent while you were busy distracting Miko and he's back in the kitchen. He's actually a pretty good waiter, if this doesn't work out maybe that's the job he could get when we all go to prison."

"Maybe..." the ferret said with a sigh, rubbing his hand against his head. "I don't like the fact that Miko is dropping all of these hints that he might know who else is on our crew. It's alright if it's me since I can just keep wandering around the casino and keeping their attention on me, and with Serathin the time that Miko saw him was likely the last anyway, but if he knows about you or Xander or Zen..."

"Look, if he already knew about us we would have heard it somewhere or he would have made a move," Draggor attempted to reassure. "Right now he's fishing because you're a suspicious person hanging around the conference and you likely pricked up his ears on something possibly happening. All we have to do is get to the grand finale and we're good to go."

Alkali sighed and nodded, then went to take a drink from his glass before he realized that he had emptied it. He knew that he needed to get back out there, if he was gone from the security spotlight for too long Miko might get it in his head to try and look elsewhere. After a few deep breaths and a refill of the glass from one of his personal flasks he walked back out and went to the tables in order to find a place to sit and gamble. When he did he gave a quick look at his watch and saw that there were only three hours left until the concert started...

Meanwhile Serathin sighed and waited in his cramped location, his body curled up in the woofer as he looked at his own watch before going back to the game he was playing on his handheld system. Outside of his hiding place he heard the bustle of activity as people set up the stage around him, even hearing the fabled Fox and Pepper talking to someone about acoustics. By this point the rest of the vendors had likely been cleared out of the convention center field and chairs were being set up for those who were lucky enough to get a front row ticket. Of course he technically had the best seat in the house, Serathin thought to himself as he waited for his time to go.

Except that as he was about to beat one of the levels he had been stuck on he heard a voice just outside of the woofer that caused him to pause it. It was the sound of a female voice, one that he hadn't heard before. "What is taking those two so long?" the first voice said. "They were just here an hour ago for sound checks and now they're gone again?"

"Apparently they wanted to go see the party that was being made for them after the show, Dixie," the other voice, this one a male, said.

"A party?" Dixie replied. "That's the thing that Uncle Kage was throwing for them? They aren't even supposed to look over there until this concert is done."

"Just relaying to you what I heard," the male voice said. "I don't think it's so wrong for them to have a peek, is it?"

There was a loud sigh, Serathin pressing his ear to the side of the fake woofer wall to try and hear what was being said next. "You know... it's like herding cats sometimes," she said. "I'm going to go down there and grab them so they don't get too distracted, just make sure all their equipment is connected so that they can do final checks half an hour before the show."

Once Serathin no longer heard either the voices he took out the phone that he had on him in the case of emergencies and put the earpiece into his ear before calling Draggor. "Hey, it's me..." the saberwolf said in a hushed voice. "I think we might have an emergency."

"What, are they hauling you off the stage or something?" Draggor asked.

"No, I'm still in position," Serathin said. "But you know that lioness that Xander was talking about, Dixie? I think she's heading to the main hall right now to get Fox and Pepper and I know that the blue dragon is currently operating in that area."

Draggor shook his head and then went to the cameras to try and find the lioness. "Yeah, he already got dinged once by her in the kitchens," the demon explained while typing on his keyboard. "I don't think his cover can survive another encounter with her since he is currently waist deep in waiter mode. You hold tight and I'm going to find someone that can run interference."

Serathin raised an eyebrow and gestured silently to box that he was in. "Where do you think I'm going to go?" he asked before he was suddenly hung up on. "Rude..."

Draggor sighed and looked at all the cameras that he had highlighted where their people where. Alkali was no good, if he stepped one inch out into an area he wasn't supposed to be Miko would sniff him out before he could help Xander. Zen was still setting up the fireworks display with Ronnie, who dangled several stories up on the underside of the pavilion roof to set up several tubes, and there was no way that he could get down there in time. As he scrolled through the remaining crew that was currently in position there was only one that would be able to get there in time...

Dixie scanned her card in the reader to allow her access to the hallways behind the casino, opening the door and jumping back as she saw someone standing there. "Sorry about that," she said as she held onto her chest. "These doors really need windows or something on them."

"That they do," Pandez replied with a chuckle. "You look like you're searching for something, anything I can do to help?"

"Well I don't suppose you've seen a coyote and a fox wandering around here?" the lioness replied. "Almost two hours before the show and their minds are more focused on the after party than the concert itself. I need to drag them by the ears back so they can be ready by curtain open."

"You're in luck!" Pandez replied with a smile on his face. "I happened to see them just a few minutes ago, if you'll follow me I can lead you right to them, I think." As the panda turned his back and motioned for the feline to follow him he cupped his hand against his face while speaking into the headset he wore. "You know where they are, right?"

"I'm still looking for them," Draggor replied on the other end of the line, scrolling through the various cameras that were in the casino and convention center. "They're not in the main hall and they aren't hanging around the kitchens, so if you just follow my instructions I'll make sure that you don't run into Xander while he's working."

"Alright," Pandez replied.

"Alright what?" Dixie asked, Pandez jumping slightly when he realized she had heard him.

"Alright... can't wait for that concert to start!" Pandez quickly covered, turning left when Draggor told him to. "I wish that I could go see it, myself but with the banquet crew being commandeered for the party I have to make sure the wheels don't fly off this thing!"

"Heh, I can certainly understand where you're coming from," Dixie replied. "I guess I'm lucky that I get to be behind the back stage so I can at least watch from there."

"Sounds exciting," Pandez said, though his mind was more on listening to Draggor as he pushed through one of the doors that led into the kitchens.

"Sorry, that was the wrong left!" Draggor said as he saw Pandez and Dixie enter a screen they weren't supposed to.

"Wrong left?" Pandez said, covering his mouth for a second before he turned his head and saw the lioness looking at him in confusion. "I mean... it's wrong how long these are left out." He said as he gestured to the salads that were being prepared on the station. "Every minute that lettuce is left out it starts to wilt because of... oxidation... of the chlorophyll..."

Pandez just let the sentence trail off and there were a few seconds of awkward silence before Dixie turned to a rather large chocolate cake in one corner. "Well that certainly looks good," she mentioned. "I doubt those two are here or else there would probably be a piece taken out of it."

"Well that wouldn't be good at all!" Pandez replied with a laugh, getting Dixie's attention once more. "That's not for the party actually, but if you'll look over here you'll that they're making these great shrimp cocktails... they're great for stalling since they can be assembled quickly."

"Yeah yeah," Draggor grumbled as he watched the facial recognition software flicker through the various cameras looking for their two targets. "I can't make the computer work any faster here, just keep her there until I pinpoint their location."

"Easier said than done, which is what someone who would be making these shrimp for the first time would say," Pandez said to Dixie. "Hey, would you like to see how they make all the pasta for the buffet? It's crazy..."

"Thanks, but I'll pass," Dixie said with a wry chuckle. "Though I'm sure it's fascinating every minute I don't find those two is a minute that they can wander off and get into trouble. Plus I would hate to get to where you saw them last and find out they moved on."

"Right... of course..." Pandez said with a nervous grin on his face. "I will now show you... where I last saw them... which is where we're going right now..."

"Got them!" Draggor said as he fist pumped the air. "They just came in through the carpark at the back, if you go through that kitchen and in the back you'll go through the service door and should intercept them if you go now."

Pandez quickly shifted gears and followed the path that the demon showed him, making their way through the somewhat quiet kitchen and through the service door. When they went through the hallway and turned the corner Dixie breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the coyote and fox she was looking for standing there. "Hope you weren't looking for us too long," Pepper said with a grin. "Just went out for a breath of fresh air before the concert."

"Sure you were," Dixie replied while rolling her eyes. "I'm sure you just happened to swing by the main hall as well?" Both Pepper and Fox got coy looks on their muzzles and the lioness just shook her head before turning back to Pandez. "Thanks for helping me find them, if you have a second that you can tear yourself away from your work, come on back and take a look at the concert."

Pandez nodded and watched the three walk off before he sat back against the wall and wiped his face with a towel. "That was more fun than I wanted to have today," he said as he took a moment to let his composure become steady once again. "Draggor, they're not heading towards Xander at all, are they?"

"Looks like both you and him are clear," the demon replied. "Good job getting an invite, by the way."

Pandez just looked up at the camera that he assumed Draggor was looking at him through and gave a weary nod before walking back to his post to resume his duties. Even though the hacker knew that he couldn't see him he responded with a nod of his own before going back to his cameras. Once more when he looked back at the security room itself he saw that Miko was still looking into Alkali, most of the cameras fixated on his position while also scanning the surrounding areas. As he watched; however, he noticed that someone had come in that caused the mouse to turn his attention away from the monitors and towards the lion, turning on one of the nearby radioes remotely so that he could hear what was being said.

"So we got some more information on Alkali that you wanted," Nbowa said as he handed Miko a manila envelope. "Turns out that your hunch was right, not only were they being investigated for insider trading, but it appears that there was a level that even the FCC didn't want to be revealed. I guess one of their flagging systems showed that there was a major discrepancy between trading data and what their brokers actually put into the system. Now there's no clear fingers on who did it, and though they have their suspicions, it appears the investigation is about to be closed."

"So we have a trader under suspicion of insider trading and tampering along with a thief," Miko mused, Draggor's eyes widening at the mention of Serathin. "I don't think he's here for the money at all..."

"Damnit!" Draggor said as he smashed his fist against the table, causing all the equipment to rattle as he got up from his chair. Even though he began to get things ready he continued to keep the audio on so that he could hear what was being said in the security room. "I knew he revealed himself too early..."

"So what do you want us to do, boss?" Nbowa said as the demon paused, his eyes fixating on the screen as he waited to hear what the plan was. "It seems we have enough to bring him in now that we know what his target is and why. Let's just call the Securities and Exchange guys and have him get hauled in."

Much to Draggor's surprise the mouse shook his head and handed the file back. "The SEC will not arrest anyone until they have definitive proof that Alkali Bismuth was the one that set up the false trades," Miko explained. "I already spoke to them on the matter and it appears that they're more interested in covering up their mistake, plus they said if we're wrong and they bring the ferret in then it's probably going to lead to a massive lawsuit."

The lion stood there with a dumbfounded look on his face, jaw slightly open as Miko resumed his seat at the security station. "Why don't they just crack open the black box and look?" Nbowa asked as he went up to the chair the mouse sat in. "If the data is there then they can just dig it up and be sure about it."

"There's no way for them to do it," Miko replied, Draggor slowly walking back to the chair he had turned over in his haste and set it back right before sitting down in it as he listened. "The black box is on a timelock, not even the Commissioner can open it until it's time to reveal the data. I could get them to move the box out of the vault, but it's going to take a few hours before they have all the proper means to do it... you wouldn't believe the paperwork I had to fill out just to get it in there in the first place."

"Thank you, bureaucracy," Draggor whispered under his breath before he got his phone and sent out an SOS text. It was to get them to all come up to the room, save for Serathin who remained in his position, and after fifteen minutes of staggered times leaving their position the four of them were in the room. When the demon briefed them of the updated situation all of their faces turned from nervous to dejected.

"So we're done then, eh?" Zen said as he poured himself a drink for the bar.

"We can't be done yet," Alkali replied as he paced in the middle of the room. "Serathin is still in place and the box is still in his personal safe, we can still pull this off."

"How?" Xander said, unbuttoning the shirt of his waiter uniform. "It's two hours until the concert, another three until the party and one after that for us to all get out of there. Not only that but we're all out of position and, most importantly, Miko knows we're coming!"

"I hate to join the downer bandwagon here but we do appear to be quite boned," Draggor chimed in. "Even if we do pull this thing off now Miko is going to know that the real target is the black box, which means he tells the SEC that the vault break-in is a ruse and then they're going to put two and two together and not even my scrubbers can get rid of all the evidence in the data for them not to do that."

As the others murmured their disapproval of the situation Alkali continued to stand there and think while the others discussed the best way for them to extract themselves from the hotel without attracting attention. The ferret knew they were right... less than two hours until the concert starts, Miko knowing their target and at least his involvement as well as Serathin's. Their plan was completely shot, but as Alkali racked his brain something began to form... and it took more than a few seconds to realize what it was.

"Guys, wait a minute!" Alkali shouted, the others stopping dead in their tracks when the ferret shouted loud enough to rattle the glassware sitting on the bar. "Look... I know this seems really bad right now, but I think I know how to turn this in our favor."

"Really?" Zen said incredulously, eyes raised as he finished the drink he had made. "You know that this is a disaster, right? I've seen bombs that haven't caused his much carnage when they've gone off."

"You have to trust me on this one," Alkali replied, looking at his watch before going back to the group. "I think we still have enough, time and really the plan isn't going to change that much... except for maybe one or two differences in the execution. Now I know that Draggor and I have way more riding on this than you do, but if you stick with us we can not only avoid jail time but still be rich and have the added benefit of completely embarrassing this mouse. I won't fault you guys for leaving, but I'm asking you guys just follow through in the next few hours and if this doesn't work I'll turn myself in so you all can get away."

Draggor's mouth dropped open slightly at that and the rest stared in amazement at the ferret's offer. "You sure you want to do this?" the demon asked. "We can still get out of here before they look at that data, probably get out of the country."

"Well I'm in," Xander said, once more surprising the rest of the group as he regarded them with a shrug. "What? I'm not going to let him go to jail if I can help it, and the idea of being rich is still rather tempting."

"Here I thought that the dragon was the magician," Zen said with a laugh. "But if you can pull this off then I'm more than happy to be a part of it. Plus this wouldn't be the first time I had to quickly run to avoid potential jail time."

The others looked at the demon, who glanced back at all of them before shaking his head. "If the ferret is going to put himself on the line then I'm not going to argue," he said as he went over to his chair and sat down. "We are in a casino after all, guess it's time to gamble. What's the plan?"