thecapitol | So what? I'm still a rockstar.

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So what? I'm still a rockstar.

Who: Harley Quinn and anyone who dares show up.
What: Harley throws her own victory party and YOU'RE INVITED!
When: During the family visits.
Where: Caritas Karaoke bar

The Caritas Karaoke Bar was not one of the most popular places in Capitol City. In part because of it's bad location on the far side of town.

Also in part to the fact that it was a poorly lit little hole in the wall where the high society would not so easily be seen by cameras. This dim little business however was not dirty nor was it quiet. In fact there was music playing twenty four hours a day by order of the owner who claimed that without music in his life he would have no reason to live.

And thus the bar became a karaoke bar. A place free of judgment for even the most ridiculous and horrible singers to step up on stage, get cheered on while the belt out a tune and perform awkward and off rhythm dance moves.

It didn't hurt that the alcohol was cheap.

Harley swaggered up onto the stage in a outfit she had been saving just for the occasion.

Tapping the microphone she cleared her voice.

"Testing, testing, there will be a pop quiz later~"

There was some light chuckles in the crowd and Harley tapped a button on the Karaoke machine to set it playing.

The song she chose had a bouncy beat she loved. It had to be dug up from the backlog of music the club kept on hand but it fit her mood and she screeched it out half off key and half just shouting the lyrics while punching her fist in the air. It was a cringeworthy display but she was having so much fun swinging around the microphone stand and jumping onto the nearest tables that one couldn't help but laugh either with her or at her.

As the song ended and the cheers died down she waved to crowd and blew kisses before taking up the mic again.

"Thank you, thank you! That one was dedicated to my EX-Boyfriend." She made sure to put emphasis on the first part of that title as a picture of a rather distressed looking clown appears on the screen behind her.

"Yeah that's the bum!" She barked and seized upon a bowl of popcorn from one of the tables closest to the stage to throw the puffed snacks at the screen in dismissal.

"I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for him...he gave me my start after all. But you know who made me who I am today?"

The picture fades and is replaced by images of some of the more well known tributes and mentors, Barbara Gordon, Bruce Wayne, Barbara Wilson, Cecil Palmer, Cinderella, Damian Wayne, Diana Prince, Donatello, Dr. Holiday, Edward Nygma, Elsa, Eva Salazar, Hans, Homura Akemi, Kurt Hummel, Maximus, Mindy Macready, Tim Wayne. And finally Susannah and Detta, two pictures of the same woman with sharply different expressions on her face.

"She'll kill me when she sees this." Harley added jerking her thumb at the picture of Susannah, "And to be fair...I probably deserve it. But that's a headcase for another day!" She chuckles.

"The point is...no woman is an island. Or man for that matter. Not even the ones as big as Mentor Maxi there. Even if we're in different districts we're all still warriors right? We're all still wallflowers attending the same party and waiting for the right moment to dance!"

At the word dance the screen shifts again to one of her more popular videos where she and Donatello were engaged in brutal combat ontop of stampeding buffalo. The video appears to have been doctored however so instead of blood splatter sparkles burst from each wound like she's full of glitter.

"I gotta say, Green Genes there is one of the best dance partners a girl could ask for. I hope he wins next...no offense to those of ya who won't win." she added with a stage wink.

"Anyway, I wasn't the only winner in the last arena...but I'm the only one of the four I give a crap about so lets do what we came here to do!"

She held the Mic tight and bellowed so loud she didn't even need it's support.

"Scream and drink till we forget how insane everything is! LETS GET CRAZY"

She kicked off the next song and called out over the music "I wanna see you all dance for this one! Especially you District nine! Your mentor commands it!

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"Waauh," Mindy pretended to protest the hug, but was actually feeling better because of it.

"Thanks! I would say the same, but its you, and you're pretty cool about it either way. That's why I like you!"

She looked more than a little shocked. "A brick?! Are you shitting me?"

Harley tipped back her colorful drink for another sip.

"I just know what she told me. And that's how bad it was back then, not that I'm old enough to remember living in that time. But people were brutal bastards during her time. So brick plus head equals instant three way in your brain I guess." she shrugged.

Mindy took a drink, sighing.

"Hey, they're pretty brutal now, they just make laws around it. Hell, if the law won't work for you, all you have to do is pay someone to move around it for you."

"Well sure." Harley acknowledged with an amused smile "But back then you didn't even need to pay someone to move it. At least where I come from everyone has an equal chance at being a terrible person no matter what skin color, species or even home planet."

Racism always seemed like a smaller issue when there were documented aliens from other planets, mutants and metahumans running around.

"Where I'm from, white people just got better at hiding their racism," Mindy said, shrugging. "It's why they stuck urbanites in the shittiest cities and then gentrify the fuck out of it later. Then, when people in the slums act on fucked up values, they blame it on race. I blame it on shitty people making sure poor people live like shit, act out, and then jail them worse. Sure makes me life a fuck of a lot harder back at home."

Not that it mattered in the long run. A criminal was a criminal, and were punished accordingly.

"Anyway, in the end, you're gonna have to figure out how you make amends. I just kinda feel bad when she's all fucked up.. She seems like a really nice lady."

"She is a really nice lady." Harley encouraged, "She just also happens to be a racist, homophobic, violent, selfish bitch, and a pompous stuck up prissy girl. She's just forced those parts of her apart." And while in some ways that was really for the best, Harley and her particular view of how the world should be wanted those three pieces united if only to see the outcome.

Mindy snickered. "Susannah seems nice enough. Hell, she likes Guy enough, and it just looks like she's seen some sht. I'd be curious to talk to her more, I guess."

Really, if Harley wanted to poke a snake, what happened to her was on her.

"So. Are you as happy as I am that you don't have to compete anymore?"

"Interesting how so many of your judgements about people come back to their relationship with everyone's favorite man from the dawn of time." Harley chuckled teasingly.

"When are you gonna put on some face paint and tell him you wanna make cave babies?"

As for the question, "Aw don't kid yourself, you and I have way more fun in the arena then the rest of those chumps."

"He gets around, maybe more than me," Mindy said, shrugging. "Plus, I figure she might have done him wrong in the Arena, so she made up for it later."

She laughed, punching Harley on the arm. "Oh come on, look at me! Besides, you didn't see the broadcast. He has a girl waiting for him. Strong looking, cute. With a rack. Can't really compete with that!"

Besides, she could see how much he missed Eep. Her and him? She barely entertained the thought.

"Ok, yeah, not gonna lie. I miss the adrenaline, even though I know I could die at any minute. Sure you'll enjoy the perks of being a mentor though!"

"Oh for sure." Harley put on a posh accent "I will be having tea and supper with the most royal of upper crust stuffed shirts." Then she burst out in giggles.

"Nah, I'll just do what I always do except try to use my head shrinking skills to make our tributes happier."

And less mentally stable.

"Hey, go easy on your head shrinking already," Mindy said, blowing a raspberry. "It has its peaks and its falls. Start with just talking and getting to know some of them. Hell, let's start with what you DO know about the ones we got."

"Pfft, please what don't I know?" Harley bragged and spun on her stool casually. She really should be bouncing around to the other guests soon but she could spare Mindy a few more minutes.

"OK I'll admit not alot about some of the more reclusive ones, but we've got the Fenton kid who keeps a box of letters written to someone under his bed in another language. I'm still trying to suss out what they say but I'm pretty sure it's to his girlfriend. He doesn't have much of a sense of humor when it comes to bloodsport but he likes to wise crack when he's not so doom and gloom. Also he's the kind to try and help those in need, we'll have to toughen him up if we want him to actually start doing what needs to be done." She babbled. What she didn't say was she was sure those letters would lead her to more of his weaknesses if only she could read them properly. Burning them might also be enough to put him over the edge.

"You already know Donnie, and I know him better. I've even seen the tapes when he became a super mutated monster version of himself have you? They are super cool!" She giggled inappropriately at their mutual friends torment.

"Elsa has a very soft and caring heart but I suspect underneath that fluffy snowdrift layer she's got a hard core. Hard enough to kill herself to protect others. She's scared and that makes her choose poorly, but back her into a corner and her survival instinct overtakes her depression and fear." She continued "Her sister is the obvious trigger but the more connections she makes with people the more cracks in her armor there will be. She's starved for socializing but also awkward at it. Half the time she can't tell when I'm being hillarious. Can you believe it?"

The bartender poured her a drink and she continued further as the lights danced across her face. While her lips were twisted in a corrupt smile her eyes were cool and calm with sparks of mania dancing in the back of them. Only a trained eye like Mindy's would notice something so subtle.

"Zoe is new enough she's still got some mysteries to her but that girl is excitable in her field of expertise. Ask her about Titans if you ever want to drone out all sound for an hour or more. She's got just enough mania in her that if you push on it cracks can appear for better or worse."

Her tongue lashed out to lick the sugar from the rim of her new drink and she slithered it back in before her next choice.

"Eva's cold as ice and sharper then a dagger in the soft fleshy parts of your belly. Fiercely protective of her interests, the only way to get close to her is persistence, desperation and hard work. Cross her and she'll nuke you and salt the Earth so fast you'll wonder why your skeleton is sizzling before you even know she did it. I think the only reason she forgave me for the Eponine incident...well actually I'm not sure she has. But if she does it'll be because practicality told her that in the end Eponine came out fine and probably didn't even learn her lesson."

That was all for now "I've got some notes on the others but nothing worth bragging about. You already know what I think about you even if you insist I'm wrong about most of it. Which is rude by the way, I don't come into the scummy drug den and tell you how to murder a bunch of grown men." She teased.

Edited 2014-05-25 07:09 (UTC)

Mindy took a drink, but she was smiling all the way. So Harley was, without question, definitely paying attention. Good. She hadn't thought the girl was lax there, but she was always curious about exchanging information. After all, there were a few people she herself needed to get acquainted with, learn about. The next Arena was coming up fast, and she didn't want her Tributes to be caught with their pants down.

"I know a little about Steven Rogers too, though not because of here, actually. He's ind of a big thing in my world. In any case, he's a headstrong guy, but might be queasy about outright killing, especially when it comes to children. I mean, you can still get through this thing without caring about that, but still. He can get the job done when he needs to. The Capitol were smart to include him for their games."

She made a face. The drink was a little more sour than she expected. "And you forgot to mention my favorite, Riley! She's tough, smart, and knows how to have fun. She's young too, so that gives her an edge. She's from the same world as Joel and Ellie, so she knows how to survive on little, not that I'm going to let her starve of course. If she can translate that kind of living to the games, and get a little more edgy, she'll go far. Far as I've seen, she only has one weakness, and that's a person."

Coincidentally, it happened to be the same person Mindy knew was one of HER weaknesses too, but for Riley it was different.

"Dave I'm still trying to get a fix on. I like the guy, and he's the closest to getting my jokes about my world. I get the feeling that back where he's from he's a big deal. He got a hell of a power downgrade coming here, so he's going to have to adjust. But I'll be trying to get everyone to training to learn more about their strengths and weaknesses so I can better access what he can do. I'm sure Eva will back that too."

Harley nodded in satisfaction "Well I didn't feel like I needed to talk about Riley since she's part of "Team Ellie" and you're all up in that business." Harley teased.

"Between the two of us we've got a good lot of mentoring covered, physical, mental and emotional. Throw in Eva's experience, Capitol connections and inner power and we're practically unstoppable so long as we work together."

"Dude, I always feel the need to talk about the best people. Besides, always helps to have a fresh pair of eyes. There's a few of the tributes that are new that I don't know about, and I want to change that."

She nodded, clasping her hands together. "Yeah, our District is doing pretty damn good right now. If anything, because we've won two in a row, eyes will be directed on us. Gotta make sure we play the game, you know?"

"No problem here." She laughed "I've been playing the game since day one! The difference between the two of us is I had more fun then you did. You enjoyed the challenge, I enjoyed chaos." She spun on her stool again and hopped off onto her feet.

"It comes down to what we do," Mindy said, shrugging. "You pretty much live chaos and crazy, I only do that when I want to kill every motherfucker in the room. That was never how I was in the arena. Those people had faces, stories, were trying to survive like I was. Now, get me in a place where its nothing but scum, and I don't have to hold back? Then you'll see some shit."

"Oh I'm sure you'll get your chance." Harley wagged a finger "And when the time comes I hope you don't do anything stupidly heroic. I intend for you to live long enough to actually have to walk all the walk that you've been talking since you got here."

The music had died off and someone needed to be encouraged to step onto stage and do some singing to encourage others again. "Come on you walking weapon, time for you to step out of your comfort zone." She cackled grabbing Mindy by the arm to drag her along.

"Living long was never something I planned. I live hard, and I've come pretty damn close to biting it a few times already. But I' definitely try to stay alive. Dying's not something I want to happen for a long time."

Oh wait. What?

"Dude, what are you doing?!"

She giggled in that unstable way she had and dragged Mindy into the crowd towards the stage.

"It's my party and I want my friends to sing. So get your cute booty up there and let's find you a song." She demanded.

"Oh god." Mindy was definitely not a people person, though she still felt better here then she would have being around Capitol fop.

"What were you thinking, a duet?"

"Nope! This is all you babydoll! Get up there and show them just how brave you actually are." She teased jabbing her fingers into Mindy's sides to tickle her if it were still possible.

"Alright, ok! Don't start something you can't finish, pigtails!"

Nothing lie a little casual flirting. Mindy had already picked out her song, and was queuing it up.

"Now don't laugh, or I'm fucking you up Harley."

She cleared her throat, and her voice was light, airy.

"I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream
I know you, the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam
Yet I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem
But if I know you, I know what you do
You love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream..."

Harley didn't laugh, no instead she cheered and bounced on the balls of her heels clapping and encouraging others to do the same. She was like a rabbit how she couldn't keep still and kept hopping in an all too distracting way given her outfit.

This was exactly what she'd been hoping for.

This made her nervous, and she was glad no one else was around. Sure, dad had always shown her violent films, but he'd also thrown in Disney, since you never really could escape the mouse. Sleeping Beauty just happened to be one of her favorite films.

She still continued singing, but gave Harley a nod. This song WAS a duet.

So what? I'm still a rockstar.

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