Mess

Mess is the 14th Track in Kiwi Blitz. It is named for “Mess” by Anamanaguchi.

Summary
With the help of 42, Ben and Steffi subdue Natrix (in the previous track), Taurus, and Tigris (the bartender). They deliver Natrix to the police, along with a computer flash disk containing evidence of his crimes. Ben kisses Steffi, and they decide they're officially dating. Steffi invites Chandra to hang out, but Chandra's excitement evaporates when Steffi says Chandra can also meet Ben, her new boyfriend. Heinrich approves of Ben, but won't let Steffi be vague about what they did that night; keeping secrets, he says, is what drove her parents apart.

Plot
In three pretitle pages, Steffi and Ben are just about holding their own against Taurus when Tigris, the bartender, enters the office and pulls a sword (a katana) off the wall. This, along with Taurus's enhanced strength, make the odds of success for Team Steffi very small. Steffi calls 42 to come in and find a way to help despite her rules against harming humans.

Steffi manages to trip Taurus, a great move against the odds except that he falls on top of her. Ben evades Tigris's sword; she evades his taser. She knocks him down and is about to skewer him when 42 grabs the sword (by the blade, not the hilt) and declares "I can't let you do that." She doesn't attack Tigris, merely stopping her from harming Ben. Ben, however, has no rule against harming humans, and shocks Tigris into unconsciousness. All this distracts Taurus from choking Steffi to death, and instead he punches 42 in the face. This doesn't hurt 42, but it does dislodge her mask, so that Taurus sees her true metal face. While he's confused, Ben grabs his neck from behind and cuts off his air supply until he stops resisting and collapses.

Team Steffi is now unopposed; all the Alter members are unconscious. Ben tells 42 to examine Natrix's computer for incriminating evidence and copy it to a flash drive he brought along. Steffi adds that 42 must remove anything about the club or its employees, to honor her agreement with Chandra. Ben says the next step is to carry the unconscious Natrix to the nearby police station. Steffi is not pleased about that, but luckily 42 can carry any weight up to 120 kg (about 265 pounds). Meanwhile Ben rifles Natrix's desk looking for anything important.

The next scene is in front of the police station. 42 has delivered Natrix at the door and run off. The police aren't sure what to make of him, but attached to his coat is a homemade birthday card with the flash drive attached. Meanwhile, Steffi has called Francis for their ride home, and they're waiting at a bus stop. While they wait, 42 reports that she found evidence of 213 crimes in which Natrix participated. Alter started out doing genetic research, but more recently they've branched out into violent crimes including murder.

At this, Ben has a minor attack of hysterics, as he realizes the danger they have narrowly avoided. Steffi says "But it was exciting, right?" and Ben agrees. He then goes on to ascertain that when Steffi asked if he liked her, it was because she likes him. Once that's settled, he kisses her. While 42 politely turns away, Steffi says she thought (from the earlier conversation) that he didn't like her ("not like like like!"). He replies that he didn't say that, only that he tried not to think about it "because of what I said last time. And also 'cause you're... You're like a tornado!" Steffi, blushing, suggests that tornados can be cool. Ben agrees, but "I just never thought I'd be asking one to date me!" "Wait, does that mean we're dating now?" "Only if you say yes, dummy." "Yeah, let's do it."

Meanwhile, back at the Fuzzy Navel, Tigris is in a computer chat with other members of Alter we haven't met yet: Canis and the gang's boss, Hircus. The latter reports that Natrix was taken to the police station, but Cebus is staying on top of the situation." He also says that apparently Blitz was involved.  If so, says Canis, it's probably Raccoon's fault, because they seem to be friends.  Hircus agrees, and says that after rescuing Natrix they should "do something about Raccoon."

Speaking of whom, she's lying in bed wide awake until Steffi calls at almost 4am. Steffi says that Natrix seemed to be hitting on her, and Chandra replies that he did that to her, too. (Remember, she's 11.) Now that Steffi knows how serious this gang is, she's worried about Chandra hanging out with them. Chandra replies that she doesn't do any of the serious stuff, but the gang is her friends. Steffi suggests that Chandra needs some "friends that aren't murder-furries." In fact, she suggests, why don't the two of them hang out some time, not in costume? Chandra, suddenly blushing, says "Really?" Steffi goes on to suggest that Chandra can also meet another friend of Steffi's, her sidekick and "I guess he's my boyfriend now?" This cools Chandra's enthusiasm and she puts off making arrangements and hangs up. Steffi, not getting it, says "I guess she got shy?"

Meanwhile, Heinrich, who's been working on KiwiBot all this time, reports that he's nearly finished -- and what's with this costume party he's heard about? Steffi, looking away from him, hesitates a bit and then calls out "So Ben and I are dating now!" He approves, arm around her shoulder, and asks "But what brought this on? What were you two up to tonight?" Steffi looks away, hesitates, and says they were just hanging out. This makes Heinrich unhappy; he asks, "Are you going to start hiding important things from me?" That makes Steffi unhappy. And then Heinrich makes it worse by adding, "That's when your mother and I started to really drift apart."

Steffi, shocked, hugs her father hard, and, tears in her eyes, says "I went and did some stupid stuff again, but... but you deserve to know about it. As the track ends, she starts explaining Alter, then interrupts herself and starts further back, with her interactions with Reed.

Sound Bite
Young Steffi asks her father if she can dye her hair. He asks why, and she points out that Ben dyes his hair, to look more like his mother. So she wants to dye her hair, too, but "a cooler color." (Her natural hair is already the same color as her mother's.) What color? Pink! Heinrich is hesitant, but she insists: "Pink hair! Pink hair!"

Characters Introduced

 * Canis (by chat)
 * Hircus (by chat)
 * Cebus (just by reference)