When we finally stepped into the tattoo salon, the familiar chime rang through the air. The same tattoo artist who had inked us before the absolute of a clsuter f*ck on that g*ddamn xeno spaceship was behind the counter, tapping away at a holo-journal.
His eyes flicked up as soon as we entered, a smirk creeping across his face as he took in our ridiculous appearance.
"Well, well, well,"
He said, crossing his cybernetic arms, the servos whirring slightly.
"If it isn't the famous Flip-Flop Commandos all the way from a planet Infested with brainwashing fungus or should I say… beachwear mercs?"
Airid laughed, stepping forward.
"Don't worry man we didn't trade our fangs for flip flops yet where just on an extended vacation."
The tattoo artist raised an eyebrow, taking in our loud Hawaiian shirts, flip-flops, and cigars hanging loosely from our lips.
"Yeah, sure if you say so"
Darius shook his head, clearly still annoyed by the whole situation. He jabbed a thumb in my direction.
"Trust me, dude. We didn't have much of a choice in this one. Our 'fearless leader' here thought it'd be a good idea."
"I dunno,"
Paul said with a grin, stretching his arms behind his head.
"It's starting to grow on me. The people love it."
The artist chuckled, shaking his head.
"You guys are something else. I'm sure the already crazed netizens who are making youre memes as we speak will be eating this up as long as someone post a pic of you In these clothes."
He motioned for us to head to the back of the parlor.
"Alright, so what's it gonna be today?"
As we took off our Hawaiian shirts, the artist caught sight of the burn scars crisscrossing our bodies, the freshest ones from our latest encounter.
His eyes widened, and he nearly dropped the tattooing machine in his hand.
"What the f*ck happened to you guys?"
He gestured to our scars.
"Did you get shot by a bunch of combat droids with laser rifles or something?"
We all gave each other a look, half amused, half exasperated. He scoffed, realization dawning on him.
"Wait... you actually did, didn't you?!"
His voice was a mix of shock and disbelief.
"Why didn't you post a video of it? That would've blown up online!"
I chuckled, leaning against the chair as the artist prepped his tools.
"Oh, don't worry. I've got a video edited and ready to go. Just need to upload it. It's gonna be badass."
"Well, what the hell are you waiting for then?"
He said, shaking his head as he adjusted his gloves.
"Post that sh*t. I wanna see it."
I pulled out my holo-phone, tapping a few buttons to upload the already-edited footage. I made sure the most confidential parts were cut out, and the epic final battle scene, with us wielding laser edged combat swords, was highlighted, all set to some heart-pounding, adrenaline-fueled music.
As the video uploaded to the Galactic Tube, I grinned.
"Alright, it's up. Enjoy."
The artist had already started working on Airid's tats, but he angled his holo-journal to the side to watch the video as he worked.
We heard the familiar pings as the video began getting views. Within minutes, comments started flooding in.
@S*aaceM*rineFanatic12: "Holy sh*t, these guys are taking on combat droids like it's a f*cking Tuesday!"
@FlipFlopWarrior69: "Okay, I wasn't sure about the Flip-Flop Commandos at first, but these guys are LEGENDS. That sword fight??!"
@PlasmaPrincess00: "Wait, they took on droids with laser swords? Are they mercs or J*di??"
@XenoTechLover: "That moment when the droid's head just popped off from a single slash... perfection."
The artist whistled as he watched the footage, still tattooing Airid's arm without missing a beat.
"Man, I've seen some crazy sh*t, but that was intense. You guys look like a bunch of psychos out there."
Darius grinned.
"Hey, we were outnumbered and low on ammo. It was either that or getting turned into scrap metal."
"Though we did almost kick the bucket"
Paul added, laughing.
"And this guy had to haul our asses back to our corvette all by himself"
The artist finished up with Airid and moved on to me, working on restoring the intricate tattoos across all over my body.
The buzzing of the tattoo gun filled the air as the holo-screen displayed more and more bullet comments.
@MechGod23: "The sword fight is straight out of a holo-action movie. iron Fenrirs slash Flip-Flop Commandos need to be a legit series."
@NebulaWanderer88: "Where can I get one of those laser swords?!"
@PlasmaPandaX: "I'm still not over the fact that they're fighting in glorious melee with an army of droids on one side and chugging f*cking flip-flops through the battlefield on the other side f*cking Unreal."
Seeing the comments the artist couldn't help but laugh, wiping down the fresh ink on my chest as he finished the touch-up.
"You guys are gonna have one hell of a story to tell at the bar."
Paul grinned.
"If not for the paycheck and the free drinks Id definitely wouldn't but up with youre crazy s*it vamp"
"Free drinks, huh?"
I said, flexing my freshly-inked arm.
"Good thing we're making enough credits to buy out an entire bar."
As the artist moved on to Darius, the comments kept rolling in, most of them focused on the insanity of us charging into combat with swords and making out alive despite our Injuries that would have killed any baseline human.
Some even speculated on how we managed to survive the entire ordeal, while others were already asking about our next mission.
When the artist finished up with the last of us, wiping down the last bit of ink from Darius arm, he stood back to admire his work.
He chuckled as he looked us over, freshly inked, covered in burn scars, and decked out in our absurd beach wear.
"Alright, Iron Fenrirs, you're all set. Tattoos look good, scars look better, and you're officially viral again."
He paused, grinning.
"Flip-Flop Commandos, huh? Are you guys planning to adopt that title or something?"
Before he even finished the question, we all shot him looks of pure defiance.
"F*ck no, dude,"
I said, shaking my head as I tossed my Hawaiian shirt back on.
"This was just a spur-of-the-moment, crazy f*ck idea. There's no way in hell I'm changing our title from Iron Fenrirs to Flip-Flop Commandos."
"Yeah, man,"
Darius added, slipping his sunglasses back on.
"No matter how many times they meme us, we're not going down that road."
Paul laughed, adjusting his floral shirt.
"The day we officially call ourselves the Flip-Flop Commandos is the day I pack my bags and go start my own f*cking PMC."
The artist raised his hands in mock surrender.
"Alright, alright, I get it. You're still the Iron Fenrirs. But, I've got an idea, might be crazy, but hear me out."
He leaned against his counter, clearly building up to something.
"How about we take a group selfie? You guys, me, and the sign outside my tattoo shop. You're all wearing those ridiculous flip-flop commandos shirts, and I'll post it online, tag my shop, and your PMC. In exchange, you guys get free tattoos for life."
There was a brief silence as we all processed what he just said. Then, in perfect sync, we looked at each other, exchanging expressions that ranged from 'this is insane' to 'why the f*ck not.'
"F*ck it,"
Paul said, throwing his hands up.
"We've already gone viral, might as well ride the wave."
Darius shrugged.
"I mean... free tattoos for life? Kinda hard to say no to that considering the fact that we are most likely gonna be frequent customers"