Bowl'N Bones Customer Homepage

The Bowl'N Bones homepage is, forgive the pun, as bare bones as they come, reflecting the low input nature of the facility's operation. The net space is all flat tile with rows of benches and a few automated bowling lanes with ball shelves. Mismatched clovers and skulls float by overhead in the infinitely tall sky. It feels like there ought to be some music or something, just to liven things up...

Waiting in this unfortunate slice of network were two Mafia navis, a familiar girl with black hair, dressed like a convict, and another less so, dressed in a blue cape and hood. The navi's face was obscured by the surface of a smooth screen of crystal, like a visor but with no transparency. One would ave to wonder whether it was a mask or a full, spherical helmet. The navi might be imposing, if she wasn't so short. She looked like a small child next to the above-average height of Jailbird.

The hooded navi stood waiting for another guest while Jailbird finally gave up standing and decided to lie across a bench instead, resting her face in her arms and kicking her legs restlessly. Neither spoke, perhaps out of unfamiliarity, mutual laziness, or shared animosity
Nitro and Tina both beamed down into the somewhat barren network. Nitro looked around as he walked in, grimacing a bit at the lack of atmosphere. "Jeez, pretty bland in here, huh?" He noted. He decided to go over and hang out with Jail, rather than introduce himself to the other navi, taking a seat on one of the bench nearest the one she laid across. "Hey, what's up?" He said simply.

Tina, meanwhile, walked over to the hooded, masked navi, and bowed formally. "Greetings. I am Tina, and this is my partner and Navi, Nitro. We're here to help with the operation."
Jailbird did little more than tilt her head as the two of them entered, clearly too lazy to sit up or wave. "Hey there, guys! Did Ferris bring you and your operator here to level his bowling alley?" she inquired jokingly. "Maybe he wants to take out the insurance against it. Anyways, there's nothing going on here. Cue-ball over there is just about the opposite side of the spectrum from party animal... can't be a bigger stick in the mud than her anywhere in the Head Family, and that's the muddy stick faction itself. If you haven't had to deal with them yet, I'm jealous!"

The other navi, easily within audible range of all of this, spoke to Tina instead. "Good to meet you, Tina. I've heard much of the exploits of you two. The faction points you've gained already are a clear sign that you've done a lot of good for the Teksqp... which clearly benefits the Mafia at large," she commented in a voice that was at once laughably child-like and naturally growling, in addition to echoing slightly as it projected from her helmet. "My name is Kismet. I'm Rank 2 of our Head Family's leaders, as Jailbird has already mentioned."

The other navi waved her hand idly and tilted her head away from the group, perhaps to hide the jealousy she felt being in the presence of somebody with a rank.

"Ferris has no doubt described the importance of our task to you. Understanding all of the events around us is critical for the Mafia; negligence may mean allowing the existence of undercover cops, spies, infiltrators... it could even mean allowing one of the harmfully mad to walk amongst us, posing as the... usefully mad," she explained, shrugging as if she was past caring if she insulted Jailbird. The other navi took no offense. "If Mime really was framed, as some suggest, then we must determine who the real culprit is and end them."

"End them like kill them or like put them in prison? Or like... fire them?" Jailbird asked, turning her head towards the crowd again.

"We'll decide that when we have all the details. Although if you're guarding the prison, I'd just as well kill them and avoid the later convict chase," the hooded navi sighed. The jailer did take offense at that one, jolting upright and raising one finger before realizing she had no good comeback and settling back down. "Anyways, we can come up with a plan now, if you want. We've got to have an engaging way to keep these navis occupied. Ours is the harder portion of this than our operator's... the navis don't have to drive home and check the briefcases, they can simply ping the location."

"Uuuuh, we don't need a plan," Jailbird droned, finally sitting upright and leaning both arms behind her on the table. She crossed one leg over the other and kicked her foot idly. "We get em to bowl and that's all we need, right? Simple!"

"... If you think that real, professional mafioso navis are going to drop their guard thanks to a simple bowling game, you are highly mistaken," Kismet responded flatly.

"Maybe we'll use your head for a ball, shorty!" Jailbird countered, causing the other navi to clench her hands into fists and shake with anger, probably more at impatience with Jailbird than actually being upset about the insult to her costume.
Nitro quickly got up and stood between Kismet and Jailbird as tempers began to flair between the two. "Hey, come on, calm down a bit," he said. "At the very least, save it for when the others get here, a fight should make a good distraction." The latter part was a joke, but Nitro quickly tucked it away in the Plan B folder, in case they got desperate.

"Kismet does have a point, though," Tina chimed in. "We'll have to come up with something more than bowling to keep them distracted."

"...Strip Bowling?" Nitro offered. Tina just looked at him flatly. "What?" Nitro asked. "It's an idea, isn't it?"

"Not a particularly good one," Tina responded. "Personally, I think keeping them engaged in conversation would be a good place to start, anyone else have any ideas?"
"Don't stop her! At least she'll be a little less boring if she's throwing a fit," Jailbird replied, but Kismet shut up, not wanting to ruin the mission. "And for the record I am entirely for strip bowling. 'Course, some of these wackjobs are the kind you probably don't want to imagine in their underwear. And you've got your er... condition," she coughed. "And I hear Kissie's no prize winner underneath the helmet."

If Kismet was bothered by not knowing said condition or being insulted via rumor, she didn't show it. "I think that's a little ridiculous. Surely it's better if we come up with something more conventional so as not to draw suspicion," she suggested.

"That's dumb! Teksqp is all about crazy, right? Conversation's going to be suspicious to these guys cause they're used to GALA'S MURDER MANSION and BOSS ONI'S BATHHOUSE BANQUET, that kind of stuff. Strip bowling is edgy!" Jailbird pouted.

"A valid point. Certainly I can't understand the motivations of the Teksqp as well as two of its members. Do you really want to do strip bowling? We don't have much longer to decide... It looks like Shok and TaxidermyMan's operators have both arrived."
"Personally, I don't think strip bowling would go very well," Tina said, as Nitro puzzled over what Jail exactly meant by "condition". "But perhaps a similar sort of wagering would work, perhaps involving chips or money. I'm sure looking after one's more immediate assets would keep them distracted from the briefcases."

"Well, it's as good an idea as any," Nitro said. "We'll start with just bowling, and if it looks like we're losing 'em, I'll offer up some cash. Who knows, maybe we'll even turn a profit from this whole thing." Nitro shrugged. "Anyway, let's get ready for the others to arrive." Nitro took a seat, looking as non-chalant as possible (which wasn't hard considering he was pretty non-chalant to begin with). Tina decided to go stand with Kismet.
"Eh, alright, but only cause I'm desparate for cash just as much as I am boning," Jailbird conceded. Kismet nodded along. "Course, that's not Kissie. Superhuman luck is her thing. They say she's beaten NP officers before without even taking a hit. Like bullets just miss her because of her leprachaun magic!"

"There is no leprachaun magic. I'm simply destined to win my battles," Kismet responded, as if destiny was much easier to believe in than magic. "Moving very quickly doesn't hurt either."

Before the navis could discuss any further, two more navis joined them. The first was a tall guy in a white medical jacket, although this one was strange in that it buttoned all the way to the neck. His head was covered with a close-fitting black hood, extending up from his bodysuit. His face was fairly normal, blue-eyed and handsome... except that it was stuck in one, smiling expression. In fact, he wasn't moving at all. In fact, he had a giant wooden skewer sticking trough his cranium and exiting beneath his coat, pinning him to the ground.

His fingers weren't exactly ordinary either; long picks extended from the tip of each glove. His voice, mellow and good natured, began speaking, although his lips didn't move. "Hey there, fellas! Lots of girls here! Nice party," he chuckled eerily. "Are we bowling? I love bowling!"

Any thoughts of how such a creature bowls were sent away as another guest joined, just as odd looking as the first. The navi was a similarly oversized woman with black eyes that looked as though the pupils were dilating and blond hair frayed in every direction, as if she has been electrocuted. She might very well have; atop her head, a bowl-shaped hat with a blinking light bulb atop was perched, making her look ready for death row. Her body, very shapely and even physically fit, was covered only by brown straps, which connected to various gray armor pieces, each with a voltage meter. A long cable dragged behind her, sporting temple prods at the end of it. Her mouth was spread into a grin, revealing that she was biting down on a shock guard.

The bulb on her head flickered a few times, making a low electric hum.

"Let me introduce the two of us! I'm TaxidermyMan and this lovely lady is Shok. We both work as joint agents, serving both Teksqp and Techari in equal capacity. She's also a member of a special group called the Blessers! She stays busy. Great psychiatrist, you know?" the unsettling, stiff man announced. As he talked, his form instantaneously shifted to a new pose, with one hand extended out theatrically. The big stick holding him in place had shifted to pierce his shoulder and thigh.

The woman nodded, although she looked far more like a patient than a doctor. She also looked like she could conceivably bowl.

Kismet moved closer. "Thank you two for taking time out of your busy schedules. I believe it is a good idea to set aside any old grudges and gather in remembrance of our lost friends. Although each of the old navis is gone now, it's inspiring that your operators have thought to celebrate their memory," she greeted them. The other two seemed ti approve, but it was hard to tell.

Jailbird nudged Nitro and spoke into his ear(piece). "Weirdos, huh? These guys make Gala look normal..."
Nitro and Tina nodded along with Jail and Kismet in agreement. It seemed they had a game plan. They'd start with bowling, and throw in some gambling if it got dull. If that didn't work, they'd resort to a more... racey sort of gamble, and if the worst came, Nitro thought, he'd try and drop a hint for Jail to provoke Kismet.

Tina got up to greet the newcomers with Kismet while Nitro sat with Jail. "Yeah, no kidding," Nitro muttered back. "How's that guy even supposed to bowl, anyway?"

Tina, meanwhile, introduced herself and her partner, as per usual. "It's a pleasure to meet the two of you," she said. "My name is Tina, and this is my partner, Nitro." She gestured over to the green-clad navi, who gave a light wave. "The two of us work exclusively for the Teksqp." She thought for a second, and kept the conversation moving. "Tell me, what's it like working with the Techari? Nitro and I really haven't worked with many members outside of the Teksqp."

Nitro gave Jail a slight nudge, and muttered to her again. "So, how many people are gonna be showing up tonight, anyway?"
Jailbird nodded along, watching Tina quietly from her place sitting with Nitro. "Man, nothing gets to you guys, does it? First time I saw that taxidermy guy I almost lost my lunch. Especially the way that sick-ass pick moves around in his body... And if you get close, he smells like formaldehyde," she whispered. "There's four of them showing up tonight, so two more coming."

"Well, the Teksqp are great and I wouldn't trade them for the world, but as it turns out, our crazy ideas also make pretty good crazy technology for the Mafia! I'm working primarily on processes to preserve and rebuild fragmented navi data. Shok is a therapist researching ways to use electric current and gratuitous stun application for healing navis. Only barbarians still worry about the ethics of this kind of research, but Techari gives us good means to continue our study, away from the prying eyes of those simpletons," the taxidermist explained at length. "Techari isn't for everyone though. You gotta be okay with lab work, you know-"

Interrupting him, two more navis shot down onto the net. The first was a silver, metallic navi with sharp-edged armor all over his body. The exception was his chest, which consisted of a broad silver plate, containing a large, triangular black monitor in the center. His helmet had a visor with a similar shape and material, although smaller. Hr didn't really have a muscular structure; rather, his body was like mechanical parts joined together, almost like a mind puzzle toy.

"Oh boy, TriangleMan. Now it's a party," Jailbird groaned,not bothering to lower her voice for tact. "Here's a fun tip about the guy: he's perfectly capable of talking and carrying on like a decent human being, but he's obsessed with translation. Unless you speak EXACTLY two sentences to him an not the third, he'll act like he doesn't hear you. What a quirky and interesting guy!" she cheered sarcastically. True to form, ms didn't say a word. "TRIANGLEMAN IS QUIRKY. AND HE'S INTERESTING."

The big triangle on his chest lit up red. "Triangulating... Jailbird, are you hitting on me?" a voice like a man speaking through an airplane intercom spoke out.

"Screw. You."

"Triangulating... no you!"

Their antics were cut short by the arrival of the final navi, a girl in a sort of black, armor trenchcoat; it looked like it was closed vertically across the center with something like a giant silver pocket book clamp. Her hair was black, combed into a neat bowl that didn't match Jailbird or Mime's. She also wore a white, metallic visor. "Hello, everyone," she stated simply, keeping both hands hidden beneath yet coat. The other navis didn't greet her so familiarly.

"Trace is a navi created for forensic science, with no faction affiliations, as I understand. Still, we welcome her and her operator to this gathering, Kismet announced.

"Triangulating... Why did we even invite the mime guy and his flipping forensic science navi? Is he here to rub in getting away with the murder of three of our predecessors?" TriangleMan murmured.

"No. As a matter of fact, I am here to continue investigation into the wrongful imprisonment of my own predecessor for a crime that one of your operators committed," the navi answered, keeping a no-nonsense frown. "TaxidermyMan the First, TherapyMan, and TriangleMan the first were all killed and Mime imprisoned by assumption. I intend to find out who the real culprit is, and having you all in one place helps with that."

The other three regarded her with animosity. Kismet spoke to calm them down while Jailbird leaned in to speak with Nitro again. "Uh oh... Now they've got their guard up, even if they don't really suspect us. It's not going to be easy to distract them when they're like this..." she whispered. "I just got word from Ferris; he's already at the first house, the Blackwell guy with the forensic navi. We have to start stalling them now..."
"I've seen a lot of stuff since I've been on the Net," Nitro explained. "I'll admit that TaxidermyMan's kind of freaky, but it takes a lot more than a weird looking guy to get to me."

Tina wrinkled her nose a bit at the stench coming off of TaxidermyMan, but she otherwise retained her composure (and her bugfrags). She nodded to the new arrivals as they entered, and greeted them, introducing herself and Nitro (in a luckily coincidental two-sentence structure).

Nitro raised an eyebrow as Jailbird explained TriangleMan's speech pattern. Even taking TaxidermyMan into account, TraingleMan was a front-runner for the oddest Navi in attendance tonight.

He groaned inwardly as the last arrival, Trace, put everyone on their guard. He'd have to act quickly to get everyone's attention away from the Mime. He stood up and walked over to the group. "Hey, come on, let's not worry about all that!" Nitro said, adressing the group. "The past is the past, right now we're all here to just kick back and have a good time!"

"Nitro has a point," Tina agreed. "Why don't we split into teams and we can get started, Nitro and I can act as captains and choose the teams." Tina moved in front of one lane, while Nitro moved to the one beside hers.

"Alright," Nitro said, not bothering to be chivalrous and let the lady have first pick. "I'll take Jail first."

"Very well," Tina replied. "Kismet, if you'd care to join me."

Nitro pondered his next choice. "...Hey TriangleMan. Come over and join my team."

"Miss Shok," Tina said. "If you'd care to join Kismet and I."

"So I'll take Trace," Nitro said. "Which leaves TaxidermyMan with you."

"Very well then," Tina replied, gesturing to said stiff navi to have him come over. "So, shall we begin?"

Once the lanes were set up, Nitro entered in the names of their lanes bowlers, intentionally putting Trace's name first so she was occupied for a moment while Ferris was busy. "Hey, Trace, you're up," he said. Over on Tina's lane, she decided to go first for her group.

[TEAM LIST]
Team Nitro:
Nitro
Jailbird
TraingleMan
Trace

Team TNT:
Tina
Kismet
Shok
TaxidermyMan
"Ha! To not worry about this would be denying both the reason of my creation and the very essence of forensic science. I'll play along with your games, but don't think I'm playing blindfolded," Trace scoffed; her mission to find the killer seemed to be an overpowering motivation, so much so that the irony of her cluesnessness towards the shared goals of the party's mastermind could be called tragic.

"No, no, the boy's got the right idea! My ancestor got killed, so what? Big whoop! Our operators have moved on and even ol' Simon's looking better. Did he even ask you to use the party to investigate? He just came, right? Don't be hung up on the past! I mean, I'm all for preserving old, dead things, but sheesh!" TaxidermyMan argued. "Let's just bowl a good game!"

Jailbird looked around at her team and frowned. "Hey uh... Good on you and Tina, taking charge of the situation, but did you really have to pick this guy? The Amazing Three-Pointed Man?" she asked Nitro in a hushed voice.

Apparently not hushed enough, because the big navi lit up his triangle again. "Triangulating... I am amazing, aren't I? Doesn't it feel best to share your true feelings?"

"Screw. You!"

And so the exchange went on a while longer. In the mean time, Shok and Kismet took their places with Tina, neither speaking. "I lucked out, huh? Three pretty girls on my team!" TaxidermyMan laughed. With one of them being something out of a Frankenstein themed porno and another wearing a giant ball over her face, one could not easily see how he came to the "pretty" conclusion.

"Triangulating... We will see which team has the superior navis," TriangleMan retorted. The crowd of navis made their way over towards the shelves to pick out balls of proper weight. Jailbird lagged behind with Nitro.

Half of the navis picked exceptionally heavy balls. Three navis did not: Trace and Kismet, who were smaller girls, and Jailbird, who might just be too lazy to carry anything heavier. "So guys, just bowling is a little boring, huh? Why don't we add a little gamble to it?" Jailbird ventured.

"Triangulating... Strip bowling? Don't flatter yourself... Are we doing strip bowling?" TriangleMan asked with feigned indifference. Trace's face lit up red, but she quickly shoved it down beneath her coat's high collar.

"I was thinking cash, really, but uh..." Jailbird muttered, crossing her arms behind her head. She looked at the ceiling and surrendered the situation to Nitro (or forced it onto him).
"Hey, it was either him or the stuffed stiff," Nitro muttered back to Jail. "Do you want to smell him all night? I mean, I feel kinda bad for leaving Tina with him, but, you know, she's tough, she can deal." He made sure to keep out of his earshot as he selected his ball. It wasn't really as heavy as the balls the other guys (and Shok) took, but it still had some decent weight to it.

Tina, meanwhile, selected a lighter ball, like the other girls, and took a seat with her team. She blushed a bit at TaxidermyMan's remark (or perhaps it was going flush from the effort it took not to pass out from the stench coming off him). "You flatter me, TaxidermyMan," she said, but she didn't really say much else.

Nitro was a bit surprised at how quickly Jailbird jumped to gambling, he figured they were a few frames away from having to go to it. He was even more surprised, however, at how quickly TriangleMan jumped to Strip Bowling. He seemed somewhat keen on the idea, too. He inwardly cursed as Jail passed the buck onto him, but retained composure. As he "Um"ed and "Ah"ed, he noticed Trace's face go red. Maybe Strip Bowling might be the way to go, or at least talking about it should keep her distracted for the moment.

"I dunno," Nitro said. "I mean, tossing some zenny around might be fun. Of course, I'd be open for some Strip Bowling, if you guys really wanted to..."

"I feel confident enough in my abilities to try it," Tina said, despite her earlier objections. It seemed she had caught on to Trace's nervousness as well. "How about the rest of you?"
"Triangulating... The triangle shall be master of spheres. Phyra and I are well off as it is. I may as well degrade my opponents," TriangleMan replied, coming as close to a smirk as possible with no visible face.

"You just want to see some boobs," Jailbird chided, but was met with no response. "Anyways, I'm good with it."

"I'm very good with it!" TaxidermyMan seconded. Shok nodded along. Kismet slowly, perhaps reluctantly, nodded as well; she had probably caught Trace's reaction too. The last person left was Trace, who did not seem at all eager to let her face out her coat, let alone commit to stripping.

"Come on, I'm a good bowler. We'll win for sure," Jailbird encouraged her teammate.

"Fine. But know that I'm going to be watching for any evidence that might betray any of you!" Trace responded, although the possibility seemed pretty low.

"Triangulating... Excellent. What are the rules? The losing team all has to strip? How much...?" TriangleMan spoke up. "And Nitro, you aren't worried about your girl having to strip? She can't beat me."

"She's not his girl, dumbass," Jailbird sighed. "And she said she was okay with it,right?"

"Triangulating... Yes. So explain the rules..."

Jailbird moved closer to Nitro and whispered again. "Ferris has found the first box. He's cracking it now."
"TNT's not my "girl", man." Nitro said, correcting TriangleMan's assumption. "More of a... colleague, in the explosive and destructive arts." Nitro nodded as Jailbird informed him of Ferris's progress, and decided to give a cover for the whispering, in case anyone noticed it. "Yeah, that sounds like a pretty good idea," Nitro said. "Alright, here's how it'll go. One person from each team'll bowl one frame at the same time, and whoever knocks down the least pins for that frame'll remove one piece of their outfit."

Tina nodded (not letting her slight irritation at being called Nitro's "girl" show), and added on a condition. "In the event of a tie, the one who knocked down the least on their first roll will be the one to strip. For example, if I knocked over four, then three, and Nitro knocked down five, then two, I'd have to remove something."

"Right," Nitro said. "And if it's still a tie after that, no one strips. Oh, and at the end, the losing team has to strip to match whoever lost the most of their clothing on that team." He gave a moment for TriangleMan to "triangulate", then continued. "Alright, so, are we all clear on the rules? If so, it's TNT and Trace up first." Nitro stole another glance at the team monitors, and took note of who'd be against whom.

MATCHUPS:
Tina - Trace
Kismet - TriangleMan
Shok - Nitro
TaxidermyMan - Jailbird
"Oh ho! She's single? That's good to know," TaxidermyMan laughed in response, suddenly switching to a position with a big laugh and spread palms. It was really eerie, like the world's least appropriate shop store mannequin for any purpose. "That's a pretty extensive rulebook you thought up... Sounds to me like your had this on your mind. I don't blame you; Jailbird isn't such a bad catch and I hear you two are cozy. Maybe she's the one?"

Jailbird shrugged it off with almost hurtful ease, then looked up at the monitors. "Looks like you'll have a shot at me later tonight though," she teased. He chuckled along and probably would have made some kind of gesture if his movements weren't sort of one per minute.

"I have to go first? Darn..." Trace murmured, walking forward with her ball held in two black-gloved hands.

The light on top of Shok's head began blinking on and off. TaxidermyMan translated. "She asks why all pairs can't bowl at once? We have enough lanes," he spoke up.

"Then nobody's watching anybody and it'd be boring, right?" Jailbird defended. She seemed to realize that it was much better for their stalling if the game took longer. "The two competitors can bowl at the same time using different lanes, but only those two."

Trace nodded, scoping out her own lane. "Very well... assuming both lanes have the same specs and conditions. I would conduct a thorough investigation, but I'm sure you all don't want to wait on it," she murmured. Walking carefully, she approached the lane a little slower than she ought to, raised the ball a little higher than she ought to, then started it left a little more than she ought to. The result was a very early gutter ball.

She hid her red face in her collar again, now that it was thoroughly apparent that she was no wiz at bowling. Her next ball did little better, following just along the curb long enough to hit two side pins over and stagger a third, which failed to fall over. "I hit it!" she whispered, sounding surprised and excited for a moment, before promptly hiding her face again.

((You're free to RP your own rolls and scores. Just keep in mind your opponent and the situation to decide the best score to go for...))
Tina felt a bit uneasy as TaxidermyMan suggested she was single. She subtly gagged a bit, either at the thought of him and her being a couple, or at the smell coming off him getting to her for a moment, but she quickly regained composure.

As she took her position at the lane, she smirked slightly at Trace's poor performance. She felt confident that she wouldn't be undressing tonight. She rolled the ball down the lane with rather exceptional technique, though her ball curved a bit, only knocking down four pins at the side. Still, it put her in the green no matter what her second roll was. She rolled the ball down the lane once again and took down four pins once again, bringing her score to an even eight. Smiling, she looked over at Trace. "Sorry, I suppose that means you have to remove something," she said slightly apologetically (though with a somewhat noticable tone of relief) before she sat back down, reclining a bit.
"D-Darn! Rrrgh," Trace huffed, practically jumping at the sound of Tina's ball catching more pins than her own. "Fine,"she sighed, then quickly, with no ceremony or superfluous motion, yanked off one if her black gloves. Underneath was only more of her black skinsuit, tantalizing no one. "Is that right? Can we move on?"

"Triangulating... Doesn't she need to take off her coat? Or at least both her gloves?" TriangleMan asked, drawling with annoyance and skepticism.

"There's no such rule. He only said take something off, which I've done," she responded, tilting up her nose and taking her seat.

"Triangulating... That's bull! But no matter, for using the triangle formed as these pins as my compass point, I cannot fail. I will strip our Head Family guest to her barest essentials and beyond," the big navi threatened, wiggling his pointy fingers in anticipation.

"I expect to be no less fortunate in bowling than I am all other walks of life," Kismet sighed, moving forward. She threw out her cloak around her, revealing a sort of blue, rubber suit with darker colored gloves and a yellow belt. Her body did indeed seem rather small and... featureless, like a child's.

As the two moved towards the pins, both of their helmets lit up with some sort of targeting systems. They both rolled and... both scored strikes.

"Care to try that again?"

"..."

"Care to try bowling again? To break the tie?"

"Triangulating.... Affirmative," he responded, then rolled again like his arm was attached to a bolt action lever. Nitro nor anyone else had even seen him retrieve his ball. Another strike fell for him. He turned to Kismet with smug satisfaction; she then immediately duplicated her previous roll.

"A draw? Super boring," Jailbird sighed. Shok nodded along slowly, then rose and approached Nitro,towering with her eerie, constant grin and electric buzz. In her hands was the bowling ball, possibly the largest allowed size, indicating her great strength. Although she was tall, nothing about the shapely and indecently strapped body before him belayed any of that strength at a glance.

She stepped forward and rolled the ball with an awkward motion; it just as much flew as rolled, smashing six pins. The next ball hit the other side, granting a spare.

"Just like a proper lobotomy!" TaxidermyMan marveled.

Jailbird began to whisper something to Nitro, probably a status report, then realized it was his turn to bowl. She disengaged and leaned back the other direction, allowing him to move up and bowl.
Nitro and Tina both watched as TriangleMan and Kismet scored strikes twice in a roll. It seemed that, were they in a genuinely competitive match, having both on the same side would have been a great asset. However, with Kismet matching up with TriangleMan, she was the best candidate to flub a few rolls if TriangleMan needed distracting. However, repeated ties might bore him, so he may need a bit of extra attention.

Nitro looked up a bit as Shok approached him, ready to bowl. He felt a bit nervous as he realized she had the heaviest ball available in her hands. He was actually a bit intimidated. Nonetheless, he took his own ball and approached his lane. He stepped forward, rolled the ball down the center, and... cursed himself thoroughly. Sure, he got an eight so far, but the last two pins standing were in the worst positions possible. Nitro had rolled the infamous 7-10 split.

He glanced over at Shok's lane. Okay, no big deal, she only hit six, he should be- he silently cursed again as she cleaned up the rest of her pins. Turning back to his lane, he rolled the ball down, trying to put just enough spin on it to knock the pin across the boards into the other. However, that spin caused the ball to curve early and land in the gutter, missing both pins.

Nitro groaned a bit, before resigning to the rules. He decided to remove his visor, setting it down on the seat beside him and reclining, sighing a bit. "Alright, Taxidermy, Jail, you guys are up."
"Fine," Jailbird replied groggily, sounding like a little kid doing their best not to ask for five more minutes. "Let's make this stiff a little stiffer!" TaxidermyMan stared a second, prompting her to speak up again. "Like dead, you know? Keep it in your pants." He laughed along with the joke, then stepped up with her to join the bowl.

Jailbird went first, lifting up her ball lazily. A mixture of laziness, possibly not being used to bowling, and having no particular fear of being beaten in bowling by a guy who could only change the position of his arms once every minute, led to the most offensively awful two turns of bowling imaginable; the first ball went almost straight into the gutter, and the second went in before reaching the pins. She raised both arms behind her head and sighed, kicking at some invisible rock. Despite her attitude, she actually did look a little aggravated for herself for doing so poorly in front of her friend.

"Cheer up, Jailbird! There's always next time," her opponent laughed, holding his ball with his weird, pick-like fingers.

"Triangulating... Next time will be best if you secure this victory, TaxidermyMan. Taking off her shirt will be the most work Jailbird has done for the good of the Mafia for a long time," TriangleMan sneered.

"Who's team are you on, anyways?" she groaned.

Of course, there was no way that there could really be any threat present, right? Even with her pathetic results, it'd have to be a tie, because TaxidermyMan couldn't possibly bowl. First off, he had the barrier of his weird movements to overcome. Secondly, even if he could get through that, he had to hold his ball with his bizarre gloves. There was no way it'd roll down the alley right...

But sure enough, when he made that blinding quick transition to his next frame, the ball fell out from his hand and rolled very naturally down the alley. He managed to knock over seven pins at first, and then two more. "I'm a little rusty, but I'd say I've still got it, more or less," he chuckled, still frozen in the stance of releasing his ball.

Here, Jailbird had a unique disadvantage: as a navi, she walked around in her convict's suit with no shoes and no gloves. This meant that basically her only article of clothing right now was her one-piece unitard, which covered her from neck to ankles. One could easily suspect that this had not occurred to her, so devastating a disadvantage it was... But she simply shrugged and grabbed hold of the neck-hole, stretching it out to her shoulders.

"H-Hold up! We all have to strip down to our worst player's level if we lose altogether?! That isn't fair!" Trace gasped. Apparently she'd already forgotten that she was little better at bowling than Jailbird.

"Oh, stop whining. I'll get him on the next turn," Jailbird reassured her teammate, beginning to pull down her snug, namesake garment. It came off the top easily, enough, then clung to her hips for a moment before she finally managed to get it off. Underneath, her body was somewhat pale, but very well shaped, if a little lanky. Her athletic frame was clad only in black panties and a matching t-shirt; the former were very tight while the latter was a bit loose. The bottom was somewhat minimalistic, riding very low on her hips.

"Triangulating... And to think you're the one that suggested this game. You really have neither the mind for strategy nor the conviction for hard work. That body is the only good thing of yours... but one can't form an equilateral triangle from only a single point..." TriangleMan chuckled, always a charmer. She simply rolled her eyes and took her seat again, plopping her shapely butt down uncomfortably close to Nitro.

Trace readied her ball and got back up, glaring at Tina. "This time I'll do much better... A forensic scientist who can't learn from the past is no kind of scientist at all, are they?!" she exclaimed, clearly feeling scared for her dignity on multiple levels.

Now that Jailbird was back in her seat, she leaned in to speak to Nitro again. "Hey, they finished up in Simon's house. Nothing incriminating. I think Ferris is in Phyra's house now. If he finds anything to use as blackmail material, I hope he holds onto it, because damn if I don't want to see that stupid-ass TriangleMan miserable," she grumbled, hanging in close despite her skimpy clothing.
"...Huh?" was all Nitro managed as Jailbird sat down and relayed Ferris's information. He was a bit distracted by... obvious distractions. "O-oh! Oh, yeah, okay sounds good!" Nitro said, the information finally getting through to him. A small part of him couldn't help but agree with Jail's sentiment about TriangleMan. He was starting to get the impression that he was a bit of a prick.

Tina, meanwhile, stood up as Trace called her out, readying her own ball. "Very well then, Trace, I hope you give me a bit more of a challenge than last time," she taunted the Navi a bit. "After you, of course," she said, allowing her the opportunity to roll first. As everyone's eyes were focused on his teammate and his support program, Nitro stole a quick glance down at the small of Tina's back. He was a bit curious if she did, in fact, have a tattoo down there.