"I-- I-- I don't know, I swear! I'm just the receptionist!" A red haired guy stammered and cowered back from Shatterstar's swords. He pointed down the hallway to a hall, before hurriedly pulling the lanyard off from around his neck and thrusting it towards Ric's waiting hands.

Things had moved quickly after Art received that final phone call. The call to Scott had dispatched their back up - Ric and Tabby, with Lila as transport. Gaia had tagged along as well, determined to come along since her friend was in trouble. The group had stormed the studios at the address Art had been given, and were now making their way through the corridors thanks to the security pass they'd taken from the receptionist. The place was oddly deserted, almost as if it had been cleared out in anticipation of their arrival.

Which it had. The only souls left in the building now were Rita and the executive producer - whom the group quickly found once they reached the last studio. It was a vast empty space, with Rita standing slightly in front of a large man, dressed in a strange blue outfit with a sword in hand. Art stepped forward, waving off Star for the moment.

( Rita? What's going on? )

It wasn't at all unusual for Art Centino to have spent New Year's Eve party hopping. He knew a lot of people, he got invited to a lot of parties. He'd intended on making it to Inferno for the countdown, to ring in 2010 with his friends from Paradise, maybe even land himself with another Ali-kiss.

Except he'd been distracted. Rita was a girl he'd met recently, it had been her first time working on a major movie as a stuntwoman and they'd got to talking. She was as bright and bubbly as Art was, and they'd been pretty much inseparable while they'd been working together. Except then they'd lost contact when the movie had wrapped, and Art had been a little sad that he'd forgotten to get her number. So when he found her at this party, he pounced, and they spent the rest of the night talking and giggling, and in the end, kissing. It was inevitable, given the evening, and given who Art was, and the next morning he'd been pleased to find himself waking up with her wrapped in his arms after they'd crashed out on a bean bag.

And that, my friends, is how Art Centino found himself with a girlfriend for the first time. Even now he couldn't quite figure out how it happened, but he was starting to discover he didn't mind it at all.