Problem: Sara hadn't eaten in several hours. Her stomack had started growling at her at about 4pm. With Sara's advanced healing abilities, she had what some people would think of as a hyperactive metabulism. Technically Sara could go without food, but to keep her body mass the same, or at least close, eating was preferable.

Solution: Go get food. Fast food would do. The only problem with going to get food was that this seemed to have lead to her next problem.

Sara's Next Problem: SOMEBODY WAS FREAKIN' SHOOTING AT HER!

Sara's Next Solution: She hadn't come up with it yet.

Sara had been walking on the street, with her head bowed under the hood of a long coat as she made her way down the side walk. Blond waves of long hair poked out from under the fabric framing her face in hair that had been made slightly wiry from the humidity in the air. It was only briefly that Sara glance street signs to see where she was. Other than that, her eyes focused on the ground in front of her bare feline feet as she traveled.

Sara was passing a tall 15 story office building when she heard the familiar sound of the gun going off. Sara's eyes had followed the concrete corner of the office building's parking ramp up, tilting her head, and weight back, just when the shot echoed between the tall buildings. The office building's tall glass pannels vibrated in their settings, making Sara's head ring, and the wall size glass window next to Sara seemed to crumble over her. Glass rained over her head as she instinctively crouched. Moving so fast her fabric of her coat snapped like a whip.

Sara pushed off of the ground into a full out feline sprint. Feet pounding the side walk at a fast, yet unsteady interval. She looked over her shoulder across the street, looking for the shooter, but there wasn't really enough time for her to think. More gun shots rang out and echoed between the buildings making it imposable for Sara to pinpoint where her attacker was by her sence of hearing. With every fresh shot, another window was smashed and killed, and who knows what else was hit on the other sides of the glass.

The hair on the back of Sara's neck was standing on end in the short time it took her to reach the corner of the concrete parking structure. She ducked behind the concrete barrier just as on last bullet smashed against it. making powder and rubble explode like cute little fireworks.

Somewhere inside the building, an alarm rang out. Delayed reaction as if the building it's self had been in shock about what was going on. Then realized what it was supposed to do. (Silly slow humans at the control panel.)

One security guard at the parking security station up front looked completely baffled. The other ducked under his chair in the tiny glass cubicle. The long metal arm at the entrance of the drive way was left in the up position, forgotten. The SUV that was just coming in had jumped the curb sending it's self colliding with the back end of a handicapped vehicle. It wasn't lucky to park in front today. The rest of the parking lot harbored a handful of people who looked like they were confused, and shocked as Sara brushed by them. Shift change.

So choosing to run in this parking structure wasn't the best idea Sara had ever come up with.

It was by chance, really. While driving to a meeting, Roland saw her on the street. It almost caused him to have an accident, his instinct telling him to pull his car into the sidewalk. Run her down. However, this was no normal quarry. This one was every bit as dangerous as the creature she resembled. As fast, as resilient, as deadly. Attacking her head on would have been a serious mistake. A mistake he remembered too well. Some men would have forgiven and forgotten, happy to be allowed to live on after such a brush with death. Most men weren't hunters.

A hunter stalked his prey, watching its routines and rituals. She traveled the same grounds, found her meals in the same spaces. He assumed she had a den, but that, again, would be a mistake. It would be too familiar to her. To capture and kill this one, he would have to catch her completely unaware, wait until she felt safe. It gave him time to prepare, to find the right angles, the right guns. No more claws and teeth. He accepted that. He was no match for her in a fair fight. That's why he would make sure it was as unfair as possible.

The sights on the sniper rifle followed her down the street. Occasionally, it would waver to a nearby mindless citizen. then it would find its way back to the back of her mane again. He only needed a few more seconds, the adrenaline pushing the clock on each one. With a click, the safety went off. Magic time. All he had to do was squeeze. Unfortunately a large crow landed net to him. Its flutter of wings and loud caw would have been little more than a nuisance had the safety been on and Roland's nerves not wrapped tight like razor wire. The gun fired, though it was well off from its mark.

People began to scatter as the glass behind her exploded and fell over her. A few superficial cuts were hardly enough. The crow flew off, cackling in its raspy voice at its trickery. She started to react and move. Shots popped off as she moved, the recoil kicking the gun off. He would have to work on that problem.. No problem, as it seemed she was running into the very structure that Roland was on top of. Cars began to scatter like their drivers, in a panic. The gun disassembled itself and found itself snug in its case, soon slid under the hidden compartment in the trunk. Its relatives joined Roland in its stead. A pistol grip shotgun and two pistols.

Starting the car, he pulled backward into a precise half circle, one move. The engine gunned and he was on his way down to meet her. He'd be just another car among the others. Just another face, driving another car. The guns would be a giveaway, so they would come out at the very last second. The Lexus devoured the concrete as its tires gained courage. The shotgun across his lap, he slid the strap over his neck so that it would hang on his left side. The power window slid down as he kept his focus. Pedestrians leaped out of his way on the way to their own escape from the scene.

Rolling into the final turn to the bottom level, Roland stopped the car. There were people scrambling this way and that. He held the handbrake, gunning the engine, planning his own charge. She was in his sights. The other bodies moving past his vision were speed bumps.The safety was clicked off on this gun as well. It would come out after she dodged him .Which she would. The charge would be a distraction. Once she moved, he would see how she liked Mr.Shotgun's opinion of her.

yeah.That's right. Blame the mutant. Sara thought as people stared at her and rushed past her, glaring. idiots. Sara thought with her ears flicked back against her hair.

Cars were grid locked at the exit. Every driver seemed to be getting in every other driver's way and a couple of pedestrians were still zigzagging between vehicles either trying to find their own cars, or trying to get back inside.

The situation sort of reminded Sara of watching a school of fish. If one car jumped then another one did and all in the same direction. Away from the threat. That some people seemed to think was her. All of the cars except for one. One very cool looking car I might add.

The car's engine had gunned and Sara was frozen like a statue. Deer in head lights. Eyes wide and ears flicked so the hood over her head fell back around her shoulders. The car laid rubber and Sara hesitated till the car's hood had nearly reached her. At the last second Sara pushed off with her feet. She pushed her palms down on the hood top of the car, claws scratching the paint for better grip as Sara used the cars momentum to swing her feet forward.

Her right foot smashed into the safety glass of the windshield. The glass broke but the safety part kept her foot from going completely through. Sara's left foot landed on the hood, close to the windshield wipers. She kicked off and jumped forward over the roof. Using the car like a set of stairs, she grabbed a hanging sign that read "8' clearance" pulling herself between two support beams in the ceiling.

She'd busted the front wind shield in hopes of having a distraction of her own. Sara was going for an escape between ceiling beams.... for now.

The Lexus lifted from the ground, jumping in anticipation. Mind you, it was only a millimeter or two and it was for a fraction of a second, but its speed and power could not be contained for that flash of a moment. Smoke rose from the concrete as the tires pushed it hard and fast toward the cat girl. What would it be, Roland wondered. A jump to the right or left? Only the rapidly declining time would tell. Her reflexes were as sharp as her claws as she left the ground herself. It was more than a millimeter. Much more.

She seemed as if she might actually take the hit. Roland wasn't sure of ehr strength, other than knowing it surpassed that of a human. Her hands used the hood to vault her feet forward, one punching the windshield, the other denting in the car's roof slightly as she simply walked over it. He looked in his mirrors as he applied the handbrake again, hearing several thumps as pedestrians helped him drift. She hadn't landed. The shotgun was resting on the door through the open window as he scanned for her. Some guy was yelling at him about the fact that he had hit his wife. The barrel of the shotgun gave the guy the idea to save it for later.

There was a clearance sign swinging that could not have been hit by anything, save the feline gymnast. Roland let the engine roar in disgust. Those not unconscious from the impact started to crawl away, no doubt as cellphones called 911.The key turned in the ignition, silencing Roland's own beast. He opened the door, his long leather trench coat hiding the two pistols on his sides. He crouched down bu the car, looking up into the spaces between the concrete beams. It was the only place for her to hide. He didn't think cats could fly. A blast fired into the first space. Nothing. He moved up a few inches, the darkness of the shadows up there hiding anything or nothing.

Next he would just start emptying shells into each space until something fell out.

Sara's eyes were dilated from the boost of adrenalin Shining brightly from the shadow of the cement that blocked her from view from the sides. She was only visible to people who were either directly ahead of her or directly behind her, If they looked up and watched where she had gone rather than watching the Lexus plow through bodies. The smell of fresh blood hit Sara's nose like a slap in the face and gilt started to fuel her own anger. She'd had a choice. Move or get hit, and her getting hit would not have had a different outcome for those now on the cement floor of the parking structure.

Sara was currently in an awkward postilion. The cement support beams ran horizontally across the ceiling with no space above them that would allow Sara to perch comfortable or to use as a shield. instead she'd had to press her hands and feet against the drop down supports on either side of her and she did her best to press her back against the ceiling to try to help the claws on her hands and feet find sturdier traction.

The cars ignition ceased, and Sara felt her pulse hammer so hard in her throat she swore the sound would give her exact position away. concern about attempting to move forward or backwards kept Sara still. The footing was uneven. One miss placed step, or crawl or what ever it was that you wanted to call Sara's current position, could cause her to slip, or fall, putting her at a disadvantage. A momentary one, but a disadvantage nonetheless. Plus shifting would mean that the claws on the cement would cause cement dust to shift down from where ever she would try to move.

The first shot rang out and echoed in the parking structure making Sara jump and smack her head into the cement ceiling at her back. People shouted some more down below, and Sara's air came into her lounges as a hiss. Ok think things through. With the same breath she blew the rebel strands of hair that had gotten in the way of her eyes off of her face. Her ears twitched and she tried to pinpoint her assailant's position below.

A second shot gun blast rang out. This one much closer and Sara could feel the vibrations in the barriers around her. Again she was left with two decisions. She could just wait and sit tight for him to kill her. Or she could do something to try and stop the madness now. She flexed her arms as she started to feel them lock up with the excess tension that not only came from the pose she'd locked herself in, but the tension in the air. Sara leaned her upper body forward looking for any sign that her target was close enough. A shadow on the ground drew her eye. He was back lit by the scattered lights that produced several silhouettes on the ground that acted like an arrow when Sara saw where they came to a point she took action.

Sara swung her lower body out feet first. aiming to have her self jump and land slightly to the side of him. He'd have to track her sudden movements a little bit more that way, rather than Sara attempting a straight on attack and him just having to fire at her. On her way down she tried to grab for his gun arm and push it up towards the ceiling. She landed on her feet crouching low to the ground and with a twist of her legs her momentum shifted as she attempted a low tackle aimed for her shoulder to hit his solarplexus. Take him down to her level.

If she missed, well.... She'd have to run and dodge again wouldn't she.

An older gentleman moaned softly, his glasses broken near him. Well, they were cracked in one lens, but they might have still been useful. His lower half was under the car. The door on the Lexus swung open and a black boot stepped out, landing on them. He uttered another sigh of resignation before shock took over. That was a moment ago. This moment carried the echoes of subsequent shotgun blasts into concrete. Come on, kitty. He had seen her leap before, but logic demanded that either the next shell or the following one would find her.

Before he had a chance to find out, she decided to make her move. And what a move it was. In the time it took him to track her, she was already on the ground, twisting her body to tackle him. The tackle was unavoidable. The aftermath? Not so much. As she landed and twisted her body, Roland looked over at a nearby car and the shotgun found its way to the hood. He crouched so that when she hit him, he would just go with the impact, rather than try to stop it. it still felt as if it would be the equivalent of what American football players did to each other. And he wasn't covered in girly padding.

Roland slid across the concrete, the trench coat taking the abrasions he would. Her weight was tremendous. She was in no way and no where fat, but the mere mass of her muscular body felt like he was supporting concrete. His hands crossed at the wrists, fingers curled and pointed in a V toward her neck. Then the pistols appeared, the two barrels pressed firmly against the strong pulse there. " Even you can't heal from this kind of wound, Princess Mew Mew. Now back off." The safeties clicked off and the twin hammers slid back, ready to come down and euthanize the feline. " Slowly."

The tackle was a success and Sara found some gratification in fact that she had him. She'd moved up while he slid across the concrete, Her right arm shoved his chest down, and her left prepared to defend against the shot gun. Something that should be easy to do because they were meant for long range. It should be harder for him to maneuver the weapon this close. There was only one problem. Her hand went right through where the gun should have been. It was there a second ago. Why wasn't it there now?

Instead, Sara found herself leaning two much smaller pistols that pointed to her hammering pulse. Her eyes dilated with the surprise, mixed in with a little fear and her upper lip curled. Without thinking, Sara's right hand fidgeted with his shirt, with the tips of her claws hovering above his heart beat, while he still pressed the guns against her neck.

" Even you can't heal from this kind of wound, Princess Mew Mew. Now back off."" Slowly."

Mew Mew.... Sara's right ear twitched. She'd been called many names in the past but Mew Mew was actually rare and there was something about the name that bothered her. She'd been called it before, but she couldn't quite remember when. Sara froze, but her mind was racing. "Have we met before?" Sara asked as she slowly started to obey.

Backing up completely wouldn't be satisfactory at all. Actually Sara knew that it would be very bad. She had the advantage when he was close. Backing up would only allow her to become target practice. For now her weight was off of him, and she stopped backing up when was over his knees. balancing on the balls of her clawed feet, and trying to give herself some time to think.

An ear twitch of recognition. It brought a smug smirk of satisfaction to Roland's face. Not so high and mighty now, Mew Mew. No more near fatal attacks via claws and hanging upside down by the leg. Now the tables would be turned and predator would become prey. "Have we met before?" The lean muscle mass began to move back, sliding away from him, though the movement seemed very cautious and determined. Exactly the correct response.

She didn't move all the way back. Really, she hadn't changed the possible outcome by much at all. if she could leap several yards as a frolic, she might as well still be on top of him. In fact, a cat pounce is much worse than being mauled. She'd have to get leverage to maul. This feigned attempt at retreat was only the winding of a spring. Time to up the odds. Roland put his elbows down and slid his legs from beneath her as he looked at the open holsters. The pistols found themselves sheathed and with a quick glimpse over her shoulder, the shotgun was back in his grip. At least now he could half scoot and ensure coverage.

" Of course you do. We met over Times Square. You gave me a dangle over the concrete and I gave you a faceful of explosion. Ring any bells?" Roland put his right elbow down and used his back and leg muscles to push him another foot away, his feet just clearing her body. " Now, from this range, I don't really need to be precise. So, why don't you be a good kitty, do as you're told and actually back off." Being prone in front of a lioness was never a good thing, but he would empty a shell into her chest if she didn't start complying soon.

" Of course you do. We met over Times Square. You gave me a dangle over the concrete and I gave you a faceful of explosion. Ring any bells?"

oh yeah. it had rung a few bells. She should have known who he was based on his mutation. The last time him and her had met, he'd been calling out on of her friends, Wraith. (AKA Luke) how could she forget. "A few.... Vector." Sara teased. She had no clue if this guy had ever gotten to real super hero name of the man that he had been impersonating.

" Now, from this range, I don't really need to be precise. So, why don't you be a good kitty, do as you're told and actually back off."

Right then and there, Sara confirmed two decisions. One she had made a long time ago. Years before stepping foot in New York city before she even understood how people could coexist without taking from on another. She would not be a victim. He'd chosen to hunt her down and she had no real reason of knowing why. However she was definitely going to give him a run for his money.

The second decision was that she wasn't going to listen to him. Even if her refusing to listen was probably going to hurt a lot. Sara dropped her gaze and looked back to the side at one of the people who had been hit by the car that missed her. Still keeping Roland in her perifial vision. Her ears pinned back against her hair.

Sara's weight shifted and she took a slow step back as if she were heading his words, however this was actually going to have the effect of winding a spring in her leg. The ball of her foot pressed more firmly on the ground and the hock of her leg lowered awkwardly. Backing up was a little awkward for Sara's legs anyways.

Then quite suddenly, instead of Sara taking another step back, she pushed off to the left aiming to close the distance between herself and her attacker. There was no doubt in her mind that she was probably going to get shot in that very moment, but she hoped by moving to the side first would keep Roland from hitting her in an area of her body that was more vital. Getting shot in the side was much more preferable than getting shot in the chest.

The leap landed her on her hands, then with a twist of her body her left foot planted as well, acting as an anchor point for her other foot that swung around like a whip, trying to kick Roland across the head. Trying to knock him out like she had done before.

If Sara landed the hit, She'd have time to heal. If not.... Sara was going to have to play thing by ear.

She was moving back, but unfortunately, it looked like she indeed was opting for the pounce. Her muscles were coiled like springs of tension. Roland's finger hovered over the trigger, his eyes watching the creature warily. He wasn't one hundred percent that the blast would do all that much, but there was no reason not to shoot her. Her claws told him to do it. It took all of a second for her to react, maybe one and a half for him likewise. His finger tapped the trigger, but didn't pull it. It was like what happened when the mother and child would pop up on the target range, the reaction is there, but no follow-through.

She juked him, springing as expected but doing so at an odd angle. The gun moved in his hand instinctively, his hands changing position as the shotgun moved to the proper angle. Just a pu----------

----------*gasp*--

He was looking at the ceiling of the parking level above him. His body was cold, shivering against the warm concrete beneath him. Roland knew this sensation more than most should. It was like what happened when live jumper cable were applied to your heart. Usually in those situations, there is a doctor trained to bring you around. Same doctor who makes sure you are healthy enough for another round of torture. Unsure arms and legs pushed up off of the ground, as he reached for the nearest car to pull himself up. He threw up slightly, a wave of nausea covering his back like a wet blanket. He began to move, unsure of what had just happened.

Walking out from under the darkness of the parking deck, he wiped his face and looked around. There were several people down the sidewalk, each direction, climbing to their own feet. Something big had just happened. The cat. He had forgotten about her. He turned to see if he was about to be pounced, but couldn't see her, due to the cars in the way. A breeze and a roar rushed behind him. the cat? He turned to see the side of a garbage truck, missing him by fractions of inches. It careened into some of those same people climbing to their feet before slamming into the side of a building. Screw the cat. HE thought of the Lexus, but as the sounds of cars, horns and crashes amplified and increased, he decided against it. He ran, well sort of trotted across the street into an alley, holding himself up on the side of the building. Whatever it was, it could happen again, so he kept moving. Move, move, move.

That gun was swinging towards Sara in what felt slow motion as her foot was going for his head at the same time. she was confident that she could survive the shot and heal fast enough before he came around, if she was able to knock him out. At the very last second something hit her. The all too familiar feeling of energy, electisity up and down her muscles.

Breath!

Sara forced the though to become an action. Her chest was tight and the slow motion feeling was slowly starting to speed up. Breathing turned to coughing and she rolled onto her elbows to push herself up. But her legs weren't coordinated yet. Sara tripped and fell to her right. Chaos was already starting to start up again and with the cars that were beginning to run while Sara, and obviously the other people, were still disoriented, was not a good sign. Sara rolled again to place herself under the bumper of a car and behind the tire.

Sara was back on her elbows trying to push her feet under herself again. It took her a moment before she had her motor skills fully functional. Two staggering steps to Sara's feet, and then she was off and running as if nothing had happened. She didn't wish to kill this guy unless he pushed her farther and gave her no choice. If this guy was going to keep pushing Sara that hard, she didn't want to have an audience.

ok. So across the street. Sara needed across the.... She stopped and back pedaled as a crowd of people scrambled in front of her path. Oh good more cars. Sara thought as the screeching of tires could be heard accompanied by honking horns. Sara had lost track of her opponent, but that wasn't important. The important think was not staying in the same place.

She managed to make her way out of the parking structure and onto the side walk. Rushing disoriented people forced Sara to press herself up against the wall of another office building. There was a space in street traffic and Sara took it to get herself across the street. It wasn't quite as crowded on that side. More room to move. She was just making her way across an alley way when she saw him again. Around the corner. Sara gave Roland a little quick twittery finger wave then ran past the openning of the alley way.

Ok sometimes Sara could be a little bit of a tease in bad situations.