Public Mr. Heartbeat 864 ABY

[Daiya]

U U V | D​

"Better?"

Daiya looked up at the woman, then back down to the tattered remains of her shirt's sequin design. Her head tilted one way and then the other, trying to see the pattern from another angle. Maybe Ruby Jaxx had a point, there was always fashion value in the destroyed somehow. Ripped jeans, frayed edges, roughly cut sleeves, patches to cover up holes, even the teen had gone out of her way to trash some of her own clothing to make them fit the trend, though she had never outright destroyed a whole image pattern before. "You really think so?"

Maybe Daiya could start a new trend!

She nodded idly at the suggestion to get one of the event t-shirts, but stopped as something registered with her brain. "Wait, backstage?"

The girl's face lit up at the idea, vanishing the woes of her tarnished shirt. Getting backstage would be the highlight of her evening, even more so than watching Jerec Asyr twerk onstage. And if she could catch a glimpse of some of the other contestants, maybe even meet a couple of them...Daiya's grin deepened into a devilish plan. "Good idea, Ruby!"

Daiya knew just who to ask, too. The teen waltzed around the crowd still milling around the bar, the earlier fight had little effect on their yearning as long as the drinks flowed free. She made her way toward the stage, slowing as she approached the judge's panel. Someone held out a hand to her, and the teen stopped to look up at the large security guard blocking her path forward.

"I need to talk to Yula," she told the Devaronian man, but he just shook his head at her. The girl let out an exasperated groan, leaning around the man to catch a glimpse of Yula Perl before he stepped to block her view again. "I know her, okay?"

"Yula!" Daiya shouted around security, "Yula! That wild Wookiee woman trashed my shirt, can I go get one of those Mr. Heartbeat t-shirts?"

 

[Yula Perl]

OOC | Please ignore my weird spoiler/tags in this post, they don't mean anything for the competition. I’m trying to defeat the tag system once and for all.

Spoiler

Ru Comet Warwick Armani Rhonin Starlin Rand

Yulenka.

She cringed. Not even her own family used her real name, unless Joza was scolding her for something or another. Mathieu Brion probably would have assumed that Yula was her given name, if not for the one mission they’d undertaken where a grizzled Jedi Master had insisted on calling her Yulenka.

“This is a night out, Mat!” Yula spread her arms in a wide gesture meant to encompass the venue. “And here I was, thinking that you’d both do me a solid and fill out the lineup. At least Cadere is making an effort to enjoy himself!” Still, she was grateful that one of them was sober enough to guide the other. For now.

Spoiler

Kal Jerec Asyr Dagon Kaze

The crowd’s attention shifted to Bandit Six as the marsupial candidate wandered onto the stage in a tutu to the beat of traditional holonet folklore. When he clambered onto a built-to-size bicycle and began pedaling around, a chorus of aw’s and laughter emanated from the crowd, and several people hopped up onto the edge of the stage to take selfies with Bandit before he shooed away by security. “Let’s hear it for Bandit Six and his...sweet bike skills!”

Scrolling through her datapad, Yula glanced down at the following name. “Next up is-“ Interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps, none other than Salvor King barreled onto the stage, who was being pursued hotly by a Devaronian security guard. “Uh-“ She wasn’t sure how it began, but Yula inched towards the side of the stage, away from the brawling men. Shrieks of excitement ripples through the crowd and the young woman who had fainted earlier, now revived, passed out again from sheer excitement. Bowling pins and blindfolds came out as well, and before they knew it, the Devaronian was down. “—uhh Salvor King and his actual volunteer friend! Please escort him to the medical tent before the next round.”

Spoiler

Sly Chance Grundark Caltin Vanagor

The next contestant to hit the stage was Franco Kennix , who garnered lots of attention from stripping off his shirt and showing off the tats. For his talent portion, Franco displayed his impressive skills with blaster handling. A proven marksman, his set had folks on the edges of their seats as he blasted through a multitude of targets. “Someone knows how much crowds like this appreciate a good firearm- Franco Kennix!”

As the talent portion continued, Hansel Aulin reentered the stage wearing his snazzy suit, microphone in hand. The soulful song brought tears to the eyes of several audience members, and it didn’t take an empath to understand that Hansel was singing from his soul. When the last notes traded away, the crowd burst into applause. “Let’s give it up for Hansel Aulin, who can tug at the heartstrings like no other, folks!”

Spoiler

Jared Starchaser Damian Starchaser Okkeus Dainlei

After Hansel, Kirk Korrado , a fellow Zeltron took to the stage. Would he sing? Start a brawl or display an impressive feat of acrobatics or marksmanship? The answer to all of the above was: nope. Standing center stage, the Zeltron expertly ran a comb through the violet bush above his lip, to the surprising interest of the crowd. Yula herself waited with baited to breath, anticipating lasers or explosions to cap off the relatively benign act. “Kirk Korrado is definitely in the running for ‘least amount of property damage’ folks! Thank you, Kirk, from the bottom of my uninsured heart.”

Spoiler

Ryv Ezekiel Graenge Mav Halo

As the talent portion concluded, Yula’s attention was drawn by a small voice trying to rise above the crowd. Said small voice belonged to a small body, which was currently being blocked by one of the stage guards. “Wait, Daiya ?” Yula squinted, making her way down the stairs before waving away the guard. “Daiya, what happened- ohh. I knew something was up when I saw you tussle with Ruby Jaxx and Rekha Kaarde . Hold on” disappearing backstage, she reappeared with a T-shirt and a bazooka. Both were handed to Daiya.

“Here, get changed and have fun with the T-Shirt cannon.” A recipe for disaster. Her eyes slide to the side. “Do not shoot the Wookie lady. On purpose. Ahem.”

Spoiler

Wynter Rackham Bushido Brown Darth Metus

—

After the intermission ended from the talent portion, the third and final round began.

“Contestants,” Yula addressed all of the men standing on stage, a few of whom were confused as to why they were there in the first place. Even Mathieu and Cas hadn’t had a chance to remove themselves from the proceedings just yet. “You’ve all done well to make it this far, and have my sincerest thanks for not causing any medium-to-large scale fires. The competition will conclude with one final question:”

Glancing down at her datapad, Yula spoke into the mic before passing it onto the first entrant to answer.

“If you could have one wish in the galaxy, what would it be?”​

Spoiler

Tulan Kor Saket Keane Hawthorn

 

[Starlin Rand]

Yula Perl

In all honesty? His one wish would be something selfish. Well, it might benefit more people than himself, but his reason for wanting it had nothing to do with others and everything to do with his own sanity.

Hobbling up to the stage, still holding the drink to his aching head, Starlin tapped the mic, then said, “I guess I wish for... ah, feth it. Galactic peace, man. No more fighting. Or if nothing else, no more fighting between Jedi—“

He didn’t have much more to say, but right at that moment another contestant ran up, visibly buzzed, and proceeded to deepthroat the mic. Starlin stared at him, shrugged, then walked off the stage.

 

[Warwick Armani Rhonin]

Simple: He wanted The Force. The things he could do with that....

He walked out on stage, buttoning up his third wardrobe, this one an all black, exotic leather mix.

"Yeah, good question. I'd love to harness The Force, but y'know, all those weirdos that have it always end up being these stuck up, goodie-goodie virgins, or some evil monster freak show that tries to take over the galaxy. Like...can't ya just have fun with it? I dunno, but I gotta go now...so..."

He screamed in a high, rough voice: "...GOOD! KARKIN! NIGHT!" Then slammed the mic down, resulting in a loud thud as he jogged off stage.

 

[Cadere]

Not even allowing Yula Perl to finish, the Kiffar Jedi wandered toward backstage and there he saw all the other contestants. "Wow, up close some of you actually are pretty." Cas stated unenthusiastically, rubbing the back of his neck. In the time it took for Mathieu Brion to arrive, Cas had sobred up a little, enough to know that he'd just made a massive fool of himself in front of tons of people.

Hearing Mathieu's voice, Cas turned to face him with a roguesih smile and ran his hand through his hair. "Uh-huh, all of this testosterone in here is making me feel queezy." the intermission concluded as Cas made his way to the backstage's exit. Unfortunately, both he and Mathieu were ushered back on stage by security, seemingly mistaking them for actual contestants "Guess we're in it for the long haul now." he shrugged as he made his return to the stage.

On stage, Yula would present the contestants... and Mathieu and Cas with a pretty broad question. Following Warwick Armani Rhonin 's answer, Cas gazed out at the crowd and hooked his fingers to his chin "Errrr... galactic peace?" he answered. It was a cookie-cutter answer, but it wasn't necessarily far from the truth. The Kiffar wanted nothing more than for everyone to get along and to be happy with no more suffering in the galaxy. One could dream, right?

With that, Cas turned to Mathieu and tapped the tall Morellian's chest with the back of his hand "See you back at the table, bud." before hopping off the stage and making his way back.

 

[Ru Comet]

Yula Perl

---

Ru stood with his arms crossed as he thought carefully about how to respond to the question. The others seemed to have equally spontaneous replies to one another, at least those who had spoke so far. The glittering courier tapped his chin and then walked forward when it was appropriate, picked up the microphone and spoke with a chiming tone "My wish would be to win of course." he gave a winning smile indicating that he wasn't that shallow "But really? I really wish everyone could afford a starship. I got lucky and won a lotto on Nar Shaddaa, that's home by the way, and so I got to ride into the solar flares and all. Lot of people will never get that close to true freedom. Its a big galaxy, its a shame some will never get out to see it, or only in the blur of a hyperlane as the chartered transport takes them from one starport to another." Ru paused and then gave a thumbs up to the audience "Thanks for the fun!" he handed the microphone off to another contestant.

 

[Kal]

Having reappeared somewhere between possessing the Angry Gamorrean Woman and the announcement of the third and final round, the slender shadow that was Kal was distinctly different - where previously he had been ill-defined, he seemed to have reshaped his form into one resembling an attractive if black-and-white young man in, you guessed it, a swimsuit. Well, something resembling a swimsuit, anyway - he was all spirit.

Evidently, the Shadow was oblivious to the fact that Yula Perl had decided to do away with the swimsuit round.

While the microphone handed to him by Ru Comet fell to the ground with an ear-wrenching screech due to the incorporeal nature of his body, Kal seemed quite content to make do without it. Without any real warning those present would hear his voice projected directly into their minds; such a display of telepathy might be difficult, for the average Force User, but to him it was easier than generating comparable soundwaves.

<I would like to know everything, of course! To satiate my curiosity, partially, but that amount of information could easily be levied for a worthy goal, say, the galactic peace several of my competitors have defaulted to.> Seeming quite content with himself, Kal was sure he had "won" the question.

He could have asked for an equivalent amount of power, of course, but that might raise unwanted parallels with the ever-ambitious Sith and while situationally useful, comparisons to the Sith were hardly ideal for popularity contests like this one.​

 

[Franco Kennix]

Wearing: This
Location: Stage
Objective: Win competition at any cost

Seemed like everyone was bringing their a-game to this competition, if he hadn't sent the bribe then Franco would be feeling very nervous about this. However, there was a quiet confidence in the man, he knew he had the victory secured, or at least he believed he had it secured. Watching the others do their talent portions before the announcer moved them onto their final round. It was a classic round, the one wish, a number of cliches ran through Franco's mind. He could go with the galactic peace option, though as a smuggler, chaos was something that improved business rather than hindered it. Finding true love, while he was interested in finding love, he didn't think using it for that would be good use of a wish. All the money in the galaxy? Well, living the rich life sounded nice, but he knew he would be dead within a week of owning that money, either someone would kill him for or he would kill himself through too much drinking and partying. So, to avoid death, it would make sense to avoid all the money in the world.

So, what was going to be his answer? The participates were listing off their responses quickly and Franco was feeling a little spooked since it would be his turn sooner rather than later. Two people going with galactic peace, Franco had to restraint himself from rolling his eyes. One guy mentioning wanting to use the Force, but clearly didn't know much about it from what he was saying. Even Franco knew that Jedi weren't virgins, or at least some of the Jedi he had interacted with weren't anymore. Another wanted infinite knowledge, which while sounds good on the surface, Franco figured it would be a massive migraine. Being the smartest person in the room was not always a good thing, especially since not everyone would get along with that. Oh, and they mentioned galactic peace as well, Franco should have kept a bingo card for this round. Every year there was some cliche answer from all the participants, at least that was how he felt when watching. One interesting answer was gifting everyone a ship, that was different and caught Franco's attention. While giving something to others was common, specifically a ship, that was certainly interesting.

The microphone was suddenly shoved into Franco's face. He look smiled casually, "my one wish, would be to have a comfortable home, sitting in front of a fire and cuddled with my soulmate." So, yes, Franco became the very thing he mocked, a walking talking cliche. However, this was a competition and he was eager to win so he held back his real answer of the fastest ship in the galaxy and infinite number of gullible fools to give him millions of credits for jobs. He doubted that would go down well with the crowd. Handing the mic over, Franco took a step back and felt nerves rising. He wanted this badly it seemed.

 

[Okkeus Dainlei]

Well, he was this much closer to winning this thing.

As much as he despised being up on this stage, and the embarrassment he was feeling, the crowd seemed to like him. Maybe it was because he was one of the younger competitors, or maybe they like his silly humor. Whatever it was, he hoped it was working.

His small act for the talent portion impressed the crowd as well. Continuing on from his introduction, he made another show of his electric abilities in the force. Shooting out small lightning bolts and sparks, the crow was loving it.

But now it was down to the final portion. The question, from what he heard, could make or break someone’s image. As he walked up onto the stage, he prepared to answer it, no matter what it may be.

When he heard it though, he knew he could possibly win this thing. One wish? That was easy. And it would win the crowd over.

“Well, if I could have one wish in the entire galaxy, it would be to visit every planet there is.. There are so many amazing things to see out there, so many things to do, and so little time.”

Taking a step closer to the edge of the stage, he let out a deep breath.

“Plus, it could help me find out who I truly am. Everyone should travel to new planets more, because it truly an amazing adventure.”

With that, he handed the microphone back to Yula. Without another word he walked backstage, where he was passed by the next competitor. Hopefully his answer would help him win in the end.

Otherwise, this was a big gag for one laughing Trandoshan spacer.

Yula Perl | Franco Kennix | Daiya | Kal | Ru Comet | Cadere | Warwick Armani Rhonin | Too many of y’all

 

[Salvor King]

​

ROUND 3: The Question
​

A little voice in Salvor's head began to speak. It was a voice his conscience had developed in a mostly vain attempt to keep his inordinate impulsivity in check. 'This is the part where you say world peace and everyone claps,' it implored. He grinned to himself with mirth over the contention in his head. Like hell was he going to wish for world peace. Salvor King was many things, but a liar wasn't one of them. He couldn't think of a single answer more insincere than that.

When the microphone was held up toward him, he snatched it gracefully and took it for himself. His tongue rolled around behind an open-mouth grin as he contemplated. "I know what you're thinking," he asserted, addressing the crowd with a theatric air of self-satisfaction.

"He can read minds too!" came the cry of someone in the crowd, clearly still impressed with his talent portion.

"I- No?"

The crowd jeered.

"Heyheyheyhey! Shut up for a second."

The crowd went silent.

He smiled, nodded, and continued. "You're thinking... Salvor King? What would Salvor King wish for? The five-time galactic champion, athlete of the year, the face of shockboxing, knockout machine, and record-breaker Salvor King!? What would he wish for? He must have it all!"

Salvor cracked a grin, looked down toward the crowd. "Well, you'd almost be right on that last part," he added cockily. He mused a laugh to himself, now pacing on the stage and fidgeting with the microphone as he kept it in front of his face. "But, contrary to what you good people believe, I the five-time galactic champion, athlete of the year, the face of shockboxing, knockout machine, and record-breaker Salvor King, am just like the rest of you. Yes, truly, even despite my overwhelming, monolithic, inordinate success, skill, and appeal."

"So?" There was a pause. "Obviously, that must mean that I,

thefivetimegalaticchampionathleteoftheyearthefaceofshockboxingknockoutmachineandrecordbreaker Salvor King-

INHALE.

-have a wish too."

Anticipation became tangible. Everyone wanted to know what his wish was. No, really, they wanted to know. This was actually working. Don't question me, I'm in control right now.

Slowly, he raised the microphone to his mouth and articulated. "Galactic Peace."

After a pause, he guffawed into the microphone and shook his head. "Nah. Nahnahnah, I'm just fething with you. Chit, I dunno. Uhhhhhh-?"

King looked around.

"I dunno, that I never took that AvCorp brand deal? A Zeltron woman, good with her hands, and that doesn't read tabloids? To win? This really wasn't a good question now that I think about it. Actually, yeah, feth it, Galatic Peace. Final answer."

The crowd cheered.

He gave the original mic-holder a wink as he handed it back.

 

[Yula Perl]

When the final question round came to an end, the curtain closed on the contestants while the judges deliberated at their table. Several contestants were escorted out, particularly one inebriated man who’d deepthroated the mic instead of answering the questions. After a few minutes, the judges handed Yula a datapad, and the curtain reopened.

The crowd hushed as the contestants looked on hopefully. “Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, I introduce to you our second runner up: Okkeus Dainlei !" The crowd cheered, and Yula placed a sash over Okkeus’ shoulder that read “Stud Supreme”.

“Our first runner up is… Salvor King !” Again, the crowd erupted into cheers and applause as Yula cautiously placed a “Himbo Supreme” sash over the shockboxing champion’s shoulder.

“And our winner, Mr. Heartbeat 864 ABY….” A dramatic pause as she looked down at her datapad. “...is Ru Comet !” Ru was awarded his own “Mr. Heartbeat” sash, and of course, a cheap plastic crown. The crowd went wild, balloons and glitter fell from the stage, and one contestant ran away in tears from the ‘glitter in his eyes’.

“Let’s hear it for the fellas, everyone. Also, all participants will be awarded a….pack of glitter bombs and pro-pheromone patches.” She squinted to read the text, realizing that she wasn’t the one who’d written that part. “Use them wisely. Or whatever, I don’t care, I’m not your mom.”

Kal - Franco Kennix - Daiya - Starlin Rand - Bandit Six - Ruby Jaxx - Warwick Armani Rhonin - Cadere - Mathieu Brion ​

 

[Kal]

There was some disappointment among those who had failed to meet whichever nebulous criteria decided the winner, but Kal remained cheerful as ever, so much so that he made an effort to produce a clapping noise, despite his lack of a physical form. Winning would have been a pleasant surprise, but he had joined up for the experience - besides, he doubted the sashes had been alchemically altered to be spirit-compatible.​

Truly, the galaxy had a long way to go if it was to become properly inclusive in that category.

 

[Bandit 6]

Bandit was scurrying around on stage when the glitter bombs went off and nearly gave him a heart attack. He fell sideways, off the stage and landed in a pile of commemorative t-shirts. Without further ado he began to snore. Hopefully when he managed to sleep this spice high off he’d realize what had happened!

 

[Ru Comet]

Ru was standing there with his hands on his hips as he heard the runner's up being listed, he began to feel a sinking sensation in his chest as the possibility of not even being a runner-up began to look more likely. At first he was in it for the fun but as the contest went on he became more invested and now he found himself hoping that he could even get a nod for his effort. So many contestants had shown up with unique talents, good intros, and final answers.

Then he heard his name and did a double take towards Yula Perl "I won?!" he grinned widely as a sash was placed over his body and a crown on his head "I'm never taking these off!" he laughed joyously as he waved with both hands towards the cheering audience. Balloons bounced off his crown and finger tips as he was now even more sparkly than he had been previously. Most certainly this sash, and this title, would be used in his everyday courier job.

Ru looked to the other contestants and gave a sporting thumbs up to them then turned back to the crowd to enjoy his win "I'd like to thank my Mom and Dad, love you guys! And Heartbeat for putting on the event! Thanks for coming out!" he had started off glittery, then glitter-er, now he was going to need a shower - but that was for later.

The courier lifted up both hands and declared "All drinks are free! They're on me! Lets goooo!" if he wasn't speaking Huttese by the end of this the afterparty was a bust.

 

[Warwick Armani Rhonin]

It was Banthafodder and everyone knew it.

Warwick was gone before most, utterly disgusted at the lame judges. He was clearly the best of the group. Nobody sang like him, and NOBODY had the long, flowing, rose blonde hair he had, or the perfectly defined arms. He knew he should have performed the snake dance...


He couldn't believe it. He had lost to some "pretty boy", some steroid-addicted alpha male that probably looked in the mirror and say "Oh Yeah" in the most guttural way possible, and some goodie-goodie boy that thanked his mommy and daddy. Warwick didn't even try to sell spice to the drunk audience. He just wanted to leave.

He'd write a song just for these losers later.

 

[Franco Kennix]

Wearing: This
Location: Stage
Objective: Try not to go into a rage

Breathe. All be okay. Franco could feel nerves over the announcement, it was going to hard not to look smug as he took first place but he needed to try. Hearing the announcement start, he could hear third and second place, they didn't matter to him. No one remembered the runner ups, it was first place or nothing. At least that was how Franco saw it. His heart was thumping hard as he waited to hear his name next to Mr. Heartbeat, his dream come true. As he straightened ready to take a step forward, a completely different name was announced. Franco blinked, he looked around, was this a joke? Seriously, he had bribed his way to victory, he was sure of it!

Clenched jaw, he could barely contain his rage over the defeat. He was now down credits and he had nothing to show for it. What went wrong? He was sure his bribe would work, certain it would and now he felt humiliated and enraged. He stepped away from the celebration, unable to remove the bitter taste of defeat in his mouth. He put his shirt back on and punched a wall with a low growl. What went wrong? He had a sure thing, didn't he? Panicking, Franco checked the information he got for the judge and then checked if he actually sent the credits. So, he definitely sent the credits so where did they go if he hadn't bribed his way to victory?

Think you got the wrong judge. I am a criminal judge that you tried to bribe months ago for speeding charges... Franco paused and stared at the message. He had messed up. He had really messed up, how could he have messed up so bad? That judge was a fething pain in the butt, he charged Franco with bribery as well as speeding then Franco had to make a run for it since he knew he was too pretty to be in jail. Even if the dumb judge couldn't see it. Now, he was gunna have to visit the judge to get his credits back as well as deal with the fact he couldn't win Mr. Heartbeat. No open bar could help with his sorrow but he might as well try drinking some of it away.