The club was packed almost to capacity on this, its opening night. Countless ad dollars, as well as a few favors and a few whispers in the right ears, had ensured that tonight, and every night from now on, Rosso's Place would be the place to be. It was Barton Town's hottest new night spot. No one seemed to know exactly why this was, but then, the music was good, and so were the drinks, so no one seemed to care, either.
Near the back of the dance floor, a man in torn white jeans, sunglasses, a bright red jacket and a matching red mohawk stood leaning against the wall, arms crossed. He was Fernando Rosso, teenage multibillionaire, supergenius, CEO of the Life Foundation and owner of Rosso's Place. Next to him, a man in an impeccable white suit stood, hands clasped behind his back, observing stoically. After a few moments of silence, he spoke.
"Sir. Forgive my impertinence, but are you sure this is wise? Allowing regular human beings to intermingle with Meta-Humans... Encouraging it, in fact... Is it not dangerous?"
Fernando snorted dirisively, barely audible over the music.
"Of course it's dangerous, Mr. Smythe. Every experiment involves an element of danger."
"Yes, sir. I'm simply concerned for your safety, sir. Being out in the open like this, in an area where conflict is bound to arise..."
Fernando sipped at the martini he was nursing.
"Smythe, do you know why I decided to attend this opening personally?"
"I do not, sir."
"I decided to attend because I wanted to have a little fun. I have worked very hard over the past couple of months. I daresay I deserve one night of drunken revelry. And presently, you are doing a tremendous job of killing my buzz."
"My apologies, sir."
"Don't apologize, Smythe. Just have a drink or something."
"Sir, my system will metabolize the alcohol before it can impair my judgement. You designed me to find imbibing spirituous beverages to be pointless."
"I did, didn't I? How sad."