The help was appreciated, and very much needed. The only problem came from when someone else joined them, and he had to put her back down. The wall held her up for a few moments as he darted off, but after that she felt her knees give out entirely. The deep, burning pain at her side was part of the reason, exhaustion the rest. As she waiting, gasping quietly, she reached over to inspect herself. Her ribs on that side were definitely bruised... if she didn't wake up black and blue in the morning, she'd call it a miracle. Whether something was broken, or fractured though, she couldn't tell. It hurt to breath in and out, and simply standing had become unbearable.

Her forehead dropped against the rather cold wall, and she let her eyes slip shut. The sounds of brief shouting, and a grunt, some thudding, and then a door being slammed shut. She wasn't aware what had happened, and frankly, didn't care. Sleep was tugging at her, calling softly for her to just let it drag her into unconsciousness.

Megan was vaguely aware of being lifted, if only because it sent a jolt up her side. Strong arms held her, and she didn't bother to protest or wiggle. Whatever happened, happened... right? Her head rested against his chest, she clung to the coattails of her muddled senses, and just let him take her wherever it was they were going....

...Which was off the balcony, oddly enough. What Vicente would surely notice as he closed in on the balcony, was that the glass doors were wide open. Being the top floor, and completely sealed in every paranoid fashion, it got quite hot up there. Especially in a room full of running technology. The second thing he would probably notice, is that the balcony led to a gated back yard. Down on the ground lush bushes, elegant trees, and exotic plants had all been packed into the average sized yard. A little stone path led from the back doors to a canopy covered patio. Hidden from the elements under the weather proof canopy was a rather large hot tub, and a short wooden bar for entertaining guests.

It was a pretty long fall from the top floor, and had Megan been alert enough to notice what the Assassin had planned, she might had freaked out a little. Luckily for him, she was fading in and out, and was mostly unaware of what he had planned. All she knew was that each stride hurt, even with him holding her tightly, and that the breeze on her skin felt just wonderful...

Behind them, with a collaborative effort, a small army of goons set about busting in the door, all armed to the teeth with various weapons. It didn't take them long to dislodge the plant stand and force their way in. Whether they made it in time to catch the 'Loose guests' or not, was soon to be discovered.

Vicente figured it was a stupid decision but at the moment when he had that brief moment of possibly becoming those people’s lab rat, he made the call that stupid was probably his best option right now. So he ran for the balcony. The cool night air was inviting and tantalized him with its allure and promise of freedom and escape. The scent of the evening spurred him to keep moving, even after he heard the sounds of the screaming and yelling from behind. More people had entered the floor. Though the entire area was shrouded in blackness, it would not take long for them for find him hanging out by the balcony. He would have to make his grand escape quickly.

Once out on the balcony, Vicente pressed off to the side so that neither he nor Megan were so quickly visible. The longer that he could stay out of sight, the better. Gently he set the young woman down (it was because of pain and blood loss only that he was so gentle with her!!!), and held out his arms. He calmly took a breath as he tried to access those shifts again. These one hurt because they were so brand new but he could not waste time thinking about it. It was his best line of escape.

Baring his teeth, Vicente growled and shook as the bones in his arms snapped into places, expanding and growing longer. Covered in course brown hair, Vicente did his best to not make too much sound but the shift was so new for him that he quickly found that it was taking longer than he would have liked. But he was not going to stop it now. Before he knew it, after pain wracked throughout his body, the assassin twitched and gasped as the fine bones were cracking into place.

With a gasp, he leaned back against the wall and sighed as he looked down. The shift was complete; his arms, much longer, fingers also thicker, longer, and webbed with a thin membrane, were clearly visible. He had never experienced this side of his powers before. He turned his arms and looked at them in the moonlight; bat wings. He never would have thought.

When he first experimented with his powers as a boy, it did not take him long to learn the limitations that he thought he thought he once had. During a particularly horrible instance, Vicente had eaten a chicken leg in order to gain the claws…he ended up having one leg that was far too small and nearly got him killed. Shouldn’t the same have occurred here? For whatever reason, it didn’t it seemed as if his powers had changed to now accommodate smaller creatures.

He had to smirk at this.

He flexed his wings and breathed in the night air. He would fly; he would join those creatures who were not lashed to the earth.

A glance down at Megan and he picked her up again. She was exhausted and probably useless at the moment, but he needed her to hold on if she wanted to get out of here alive. And he let her know that.

“Megan,” he said as he nudged her arms with his long fingers. “Wrap your arms around my neck and keep them there, no matter wait. Tonight…we fly…”

Once she was secure, he boldly walked up to the railing of the balcony. Stepping onto it, it expanded the long batwings and breathed in the night again. A flashlight illuminated him from behind but Vicente had no fear of them anymore. They were pests and he was going to escape this night.

“Tezcatlipoca,” he whispered. “Guide us with the winds of the night!”

And he leapt…flapped his wings…and plummeted for the fact that physics dictate that he is far too heavy with wings far too small to support him.

“Fuuuuu--!!!”

He flapped, and flapped more, and shouted as he tried to at least glide them to the hot tube so they wouldn't smear on the ground below...

She was set down (Strangely gently) and she zoned out. She couldn't focus on the sounds from behind, the yard below, or the odd grunting and sounds of pain coming from the guy next to her. An overwhelming sleepy feeling washed over her, and she was finding it hard to keep herself from simply flopping over and falling asleep.

“Megan, Wrap your arms around my neck and keep them there, no matter wait. Tonight…we fly…”

...Fly? She didn't know what the hell he was talking about. She made a point to mumble that thought incoherently at him as she forced herself once more to her feet and wrapped her arms around his neck. It hurt, but no more than the other various things she had been subjected to. Besides, it was a kind of muted pain now, probably because her body had finally caught up to her and flooded her with its own version of a painkiller.

She missed the short, odd prayer he mumbled. Instead focusing on clasping her hands together as securely as she could. The fact that he started running toward the edge of the balcony didn't bother her at first, until he climbed onto the railing... and she felt her legs dangle under her.

At that moment, Megan woke up a little again. Just in time for the both of them to hop out a little ways... and then shoot damn near straight for the ground. Her own string of curse words caught in her throat, refusing to budge past her heart (which had jumped up to join them), as they careened through the air toward the canopy covering the hot tub.

Two bodies proved to be too much for the canvas to hold against, and Megan soon found herself submerged. The shock of what felt like boiling water forced a jerk knee reaction out of her, and without giving her injuries a second thought, she flailed and pulled herself from the water before the man she had been clinging to inadvertently caused her to drown.

...Unfortunately, her towel had finally given up. " #$%*&! #$^%@!!" A few very colorful and choice swear words tumbled from her lips, and blue eyes landed on a discarded robe left hanging over the side of the hot tub. It was wet in some places from their rough landing... but at least the damn thing would clothe her more than a bath towel.

With the threat of those inside the building skittering out from within like an army of ants, she shot a pained glance over at the large house, and then swiftly around the yard. Hidden partially within the shadows, she spotted a gate. A gate that led out to a little back alley. With another curse, she hefted herself fully out of the steaming water, and leaned against the hot tub. With a nod of her chin, she pointed across the yard. "Back gate..."

Like a stone. That was really the only way to describe Vicente’s short flight as he felt the hair whipping violently all around not only his frame, but Megan’s. he plummeted to the earth and try as he might to flap his wings or to at least glide with them, it was swiftly proving to be impossible. If he did not stop himself, the man was going to become little more than a smear across the ground. Thankfully he was able to angle his wings just enough to alter his course but it was a poor substitute for actually flying like a bird.

It was then that Vicente saw they were going to impact…with canvas?! Vicente snarled as he gave up on the wings and tried to hold Megan close. The smaller they made themselves, the less damage that they were going to take.

SPPPLLLLAAAAASSSSSSSHHHH!!!![/b]

The canvas shook and ripped as both Vicente and Megan landed hard onto its surface; the warm water underneath was already bubbling up and came close to simply dampening them. Sadly, such things were not meant to support two, full grown adults. A tear tore through the air and suddenly both were submerged into the hot, bubbling water.

And that is one hell of a soberer.

>> " #$%*&! #$^%@!!"[/color]

Megan flailed off to the side while Vicente gasped and growled in kind. He painfully had to try to shrink his batwings down to normal hands. It was hard work but when he finally managed it, he saw that Megan had already pulled herself out and was clinging onto the ground like a woman happy to be out of the air. Before long, she had apparently spotted a discarded bathrobe and slipped it on. It was definitely an improvement over the towel she was wearing before.

When his hands had finally returned, Vicente gasped as he pulled himself up and hacked and coughed due to water simply being all over him. He shook his head to shake some of the water off (it also woke him up a bit) before he finally moved onto his own, two, shaky feet. He sighed heavily as he shared a glance with Megan. They were not out of the woods yet.

And he was definitely not going to try something that stupid again.

>> "Back gate..."[/color]

He nodded and quickly made way for it. He wanted nothing more than to get out of this place and forget it.

“Come on,” he muttered as he approached the gate and looked out into the city. He gave a small sigh. They were not far from Falcone territory and he also had safe house hidden separate from his apartment. That should at least provide them with shelter until morning. “I know where we are,” he said as he jimmied open the back gate and shoved it open with a soft squeak. “Just stay behind me and don’t draw attention to yourself, okay? You have no idea how many agents the Wayne family has just wandering around their terriroty.’

Yes, yes... She got the gist of it. Don't cause any scenes, don't draw attention, blah blah blah. Had she mentioned that her side was killing her? Nope.. not yet, anyway. But... they apparently had a walk ahead of them, and with no shoes on and being only clothed in a thin (cheap) silk robe, she was sure she'd have the time to complain along the way.

...maybe.

Complaining took words, and words took effort... and she was really tired. Maybe she'd just save it for later and e-mail it too him or something. "yea, yea..." Her words barely even made it out, and were probably too soft to hear. Meh. Instead of trying to make herself talk louder, she set about releasing the incubating spiders on her back that hadn't been compromised in the struggle from before. The feeling of them hatching was painful, and also served as a reminder to her hands-around-throat blackout.

...It wasn't a happy thought. Now that she thought about it (or could even think, for that matter), it was the closest she had come to the ultimate scare of death. Losing consciousness while someone really intended to end you. Never wanna repeat that again... that's for sure. As she followed along, wincing nearly every time she took a step, she made a promise to herself that she would never put herself in such a position ever again.

.... and that she'd punch the next pizza boy she saw in the face.

Hard.

Following Vicente out into the alley, she let her eyes wander to him, and they stuck. He had a new name... and crazy bat wings, and apparently a penchant for jumping off really high balconies... but he had saved her life. Damnit! She hated owing people things. Hateditwithapassion She stopped at the first chance to offload a few spiders onto a wall, and issued a silent command for them to skitter off an give her a view of things. As much as she wanted to just follow along behind Vicente, trusting that he knew what he was doing, she couldn't.

She needed to know for herself, and having a few spiders run along ahead to tell her if alleys were clear would certainly help her shot nerves. "...I hope wherever we are going is close, because it kind of hurts to move..."

Ah! Success! She got a complaint out after all. She made sure to mentally pat herself on the back.

Vicente was beyond exhausted but he didn’t put a voice to that. He didn’t need Megan to know that he was tired, that he was sore, and that his powers were suddenly changed upon him. He was angry enough with himself for having been caught, and he didn’t need the young woman to know that he was more than a little irritated with their chances. They needed to get back to their own territory, but they had a distance to go before they would reach a safehouse.

Unfortunately, a scantily clad woman and a bruised up assassin were not going to look like the most subtle of people. But, he would have to hold on that they would be okay. He could get them both out of this, he knew that he could…

He sighed as he stumbled out past the gate and into the open air of the night. He was free of the building but not free of the situation. The sounds of Megan’s discontented voice danced across his ears but he really did not give them much heed. His mind was far too wrapped up with trying to figure out their next move. The location looked familiar, and he knew of a safe house, but without a way to get there, they would be sitting ducks.

A peer down the street and it looked just as deserted as he would have expected. No wonder this was the perfect place to torture anyone, no one was around to notice! A glance down the dark, litter strewn streets, and Vicente noticed that indeed they were in Wayne territory; a bad part of town that contained mainly dirty bars, tenement apartments, sweatshop labor, and sleazy strip joints, it was the symbol of everything that the country attempted to fight against. And yet neighborhoods like this were popping up more and more.

The assassin kicked away a newspaper that flew across his feet and peered across the street to the nearest building. It was a strip joint, The Juicy Peach. He couldn’t see any parking up front but there had to be a parking lot in the back. If they could just get in…

>> "...I hope wherever we are going is close, because it kind of hurts to move..."[/color]

He grinned.

“Hopefully not too much to keep from dancing…” was all he said as he grabbed her hand and made for the strip club. Megan should prove a good enough distraction to get him someone’s car…

“Hopefully not too much to keep from dancing…”

She didn't even comprehend what he had just said as her hand was snatched up and she was dragged along behind him. A colorful string of curse words sprang forth from the pain that erupted up her side, as he was tugged into movement.

Dancing...? Was he serious? Had he lost a few nuts and bolts from being zapped a few times?


...No. No, he had apparently not. After a very pitiful explanation of what he had in mind, Megan found herself waltzing through the backdoor of a dingy strip joint. Which, no one had bothered to lock, as it turned out... It was definitely one of the lowest points in her life. Where had she gone wrong...?

...She had a few answers to that question, actually... but she chose to ignore them. Mr. Monkey arms out there had an idea of how to get them to safety, and she was honestly too tired to think of anything else to do.

"...And you are...?" The woman facing her down, who was clearly a regular dancer, looked Megan up and down before a knowing look flashed through her hazel eyes. The split lip, bruises, and general unhealthy appearance led her to think things. Things that Megan probably wouldn't have liked, had she been noticing. Instead, Megan was focused on trying to think up a valid excuse as to why she was soaking wet, half naked, and beaten half bloody in a strip club.

"...I'm...uh...new...?" Was all that fell from her lips. The nervous tremor in her voice didn't seem to fool the woman, who only squinted at her and pursed her lips. The lady dropped a hand to naked hip, flipping blond hair over her shoulder. Her outfit was... an odd one... Green tube top and green booty shorts, with what appeared to be some sort of turtle shell strapped to her back. If Megan hadn't known any better, she would have guess that it was a poor attempt at some sort of turtle ninja, as there were nunchucks dangling from a string at her side. But... strippers didn't dress like that, did they?

Megan was spared a rather scathing, cattish remark by a guy bursting into the room through a set of velvet curtains, frustration clear on his face.

"Where's Candy? She's on in five!"

The woman scowling at Megan shrugged, and returned to applying a thick layer of eyeliner in a mirror. "I dunno, phil. She didn't show up."

"Damnit! Who do we have who could fill in for her?" He eyes landed on Megan, and after flinching at her appearance, he pointed at her with a stubby thumb. "Who's this broad?"

"I dunno, some floozy off the street?"

Phil eyed her up and down, before nodding. Apparently he was content with what he saw, battered face aside. "Well, whoever you are, you wanna make some money? We need a replacement asap, and you look about Candy's size."

The twenty five year old winced. Oh, if her mother could only see her now.... "yeah... sure." She managed back, forcing the words from between clenched teeth. If there was one thing she had never envisioned herself doing, it was this... She was never going to talk to Raf--...Vicente... ever again! Well... once she got home, anyway...

"Alright, that's what I'm talkin' about! Let's get this show on the road people! Beth, you get her ready... i'm gonna go find Spunky." He turned to leave, and with a huff Beth stood to follow the order. The next few minutes were a whirlwind to Megan. A layer or two of foundation was applied, covering up under eye circles and bruises. Dark eye shadow and false lashes were added, and her lip was cleaned and patched together with liquid band aid. A layer of red lipstick was slathered on to finish the picture. She was stripped (Which was embarrassing in itself) and stuffed into a small blue dress. When she finally managed to catch a glimpse of herself, Megan flinched again.

They had dressed her as Dorothy. A short, poofy skirt and thin blue straps that ran across her shoulders. She may as well have been wearing a bra, apron, and skirt, for all it covered. Her cheeks heated accordingly. Beth slapped a pair of extra tall red heels on her feet, threw her hair into lazy pigtails, and politely pushed her toward the curtains Phil had come out of. As she stood, waiting some sort of cue, she plotted various ways of getting revenge and sent out a silent call to her spiders. She wanted them near by, if this was actually going to happen...

"Hey girly~ Don't look so nervous!" Someone swatted her playfully on the behind, and when she turned to lay into them, her eyes fell upon an awkward sight. A woman stood beside her, decked out in a furry bra and furry panties... with dog ears clipped into her hair. The woman was half of Megan's height... didn't even come up past her hips.

"...Oh sweet Jesus, you're Toto, aren't you?"

"You betcha, sweetheart!" Toto Handed her the back end of a leash, just as a voice from outside hollered into a microphone, "And now, here comes Dorothy and TOTO!" She was all but dragged out onto the stage by the short woman, quietly cursing to herself the whole way...

'I am going to murder him for this... '

The plan was a simple one: Megan would sneak into the back, get herself on stage, and do her best to cause some sort of distraction so that he could get someone’s car keys from their pocket. While it would have been easier for him to not fully rely on her as a distraction (after all, there were half-naked women everywhere already!), he could not risk having her follow him. It would draw too much attention to him, and there was no guarantee that the rest of these women could get these men’s full attention.

Therefore, it was up to Megan. Besides, he knew that if there was one thing that Megan was good it, it was drawing attention to herself.

Once he made sure that she made it in through the back door of the establishment, Vicente turned and moved back towards the front. A greasy haired man chanted and called to him, pronouncing the world’s most beautiful women and a feast for the eyes! Vicente snerked and went in, despite the fact that he knew at least one of the “talents” in there did not match up to those statements.

The air was thick with cigar smoke and the flashing of multi-colored lights. Music undulated and beat with the rhythm of a tantalized heart so that it coursed through a man’s body and tingled just the right areas to get him to spend money on alcohol and dances. The whole place was a siren calling to wayward passerbys, hoping to empty their wallets. But Vicente was immune to such…”charms”. He noted the stains, the scarred women, the smell of watered down alcohol; it was definitely not the place that he wanted to spend his money at.

Instead, he kept his eyes open. Few, if anyone, actually walked to a stripclub, so it was only a matter of finding someone distracted enough…

>> "And now, here comes Dorothy and TOTO!"

Vicente loomed in the background until his eyes fell upon a rather large man who had cheered at the sound of the next act. He stood up, dancing a bit to the music, making his bald, sweaty head gleam like a disco ball. The heavy breathing was so loud that even Vicente could hear it. But, what made him the best target, was that his keys were already half hanging out of his pocket. Slowly he crept up…it would be a simple—

“Megan?” he mumbled to himself.

He paused when he noticed the skimpy, blue outfit, the high red heels, and the other young woman dancing next to her on a leash. Vicente had to pause, his eye twitching slightly, before he just smirked. God how he wished he had actually brought his phone so he could take a picture of this.

The music grew louder and the man he had been stalking actually howled and beat the stage next to Megan.

“That’s right, Dorothy! Shake it over here!” he cackled. He then held up a small sandwich baggie, from which he jingled quarters and dimes as if they were worth millions. “You wanna see MY wizzzzard! And your little dog, too?!”

Vicente chuckled and observed before he continued to creep up to the man…

Oh... dear... god.

Megan was blinded by a multicolored spotlight temporarily. When he eyes adjusted, Toto was already prancing around the stage expertly, heading toward a chair that had been set out off to the side of a lone... gross.. pole.

Yeah... she was not touching that thing. Or the floor... or anything else, for that matter. It also didn't help that she could now see all of the sweaty faces out in the audience.... and one overly excited man right up front.

...was that a bag of quarters?

Oh lord. It was. She felt like crying. This place wasn't even classy enough for proper customers. Megan stood there awkwardly for a moment, more concerned with making sure her underwear (or lack there of) by tugging the front of her skirt down as far as possible and keeping her back to the curtains. She was not under any circumstances, going to remove any articles of clothing from her person around such people.

Nope. Not no way, not no how.

This sentiment, combined with the deer in headlights expression she couldn't managed to get rid of, only seemed to egg the crowd on though. They were used to lose women waltzing around on stage with nothing on. No shame, no clothes, same old same old. Her poor attempt at modesty, the awkward way she was dancing, and her blatant refusal to meet anyone's was fresh, new... and kind of adorable. A little annoying to some, exciting to others. It was like a virgin had walked on stage. As Toto danced around, gathering dollars and fives in various straps, she listened to the cat calls grow, and cast a curious glance behind her.

Her dancing partner wasn't being very enthusiastic. She looked so new and inexperienced it was cute. The women grinned, throwing her small arms in the air. "Everyone give a holler for Dorthy!" The raise in volume prompted a twitch from Megan, who tried to wiggler her way back through the curtains. Toto caught her by the arm and hauled her back, dragging her toward the edge of the stage. Men (and some women) leered up at her. She spotted the baggy of coins again.

"Hey, Dorothy! I don't got a yellow brick road, but you can follow my happy trail all day!"

A vein twitched somewhere behind her ear, clearly signalling that if she stayed in this environment any longer she'd have an aneurysm... icy blue eyes landed on the grinning bald man. By far, he was the worse... Even over far more vulgar, disgusting catcalls, he was suddenly the target for her anger.

...and there was certainly a surplus of it, at this point.

A tight, malicious smile curved her lips, and without abandoning her efforts to keep her skirt down, she clopped over his way. Thankfully, the layers of tulle kept her from showing too much in front as she stopped before him and leaned forward a little. The curve of bust and length of bare thigh pushed the guy into a giddy fit. Unfortunately, if didn't hide much from the other half of the crowd behind her... She ignored that for now. A little waggle of a hip, the bald man started slapping the stage again. She waited until for a downswing, then accidentally set her heel onto of his greasy paw. She also inadvertantly put her full weight on it, and let the heel of her shoe dig in. The guy howled, snatching the hand back, and dropped the baggy of coins on the stage.

"Oh! Dear me, look what i've done.. Sorry, sir... accidents happen though..." The guys on either side of him howled with laughter, and she stooped to pick up the poor neglected bag of change. With a smirk, Megan turned, intent of crossing the stage to pass the bag off on Toto.

... but Baldy had other plans.

One grubby hand flashed out after he recovered from the pain, and he latched onto the back of her skirt.

RIIIIIIIIIIP

Instantly, the place rumbled with crows of delight. The feeling of air on her nearly bare backside cause her whole face to turn tomato red in a split second. A wave of fury followed after, and with a clenched fist, Megan spun and lobbed the bag of metal coins straight into the guys face. It hit hard enough to knock him back off his feet. He fell, torn skirt still gripped in a hand, and Toto was at Megan's side in an instant. The twenty five year old had had enough, and though she was reeling from a wave of pain tossing the bag had caused, she still had enough fight left in her to turn and shove Toto off the stage.

(Thank you to Saph, for the yellow brick road joke~!)

It was just painful to look at. Vicente stood back and watched as “Toto” hopped around and danced and gyrated in the most provocative ways. It was so much so that it actually made the gathered men and women forget the fact that this woman was, essentially, supposed to be dressed up as a dog. Whatever the case, though, Toto did good work to dance and get money from people. But it was the other woman on stage that proved to be the most entertaining.

Cat calls, shouts, cheers, and jeers, all flew through the air as Vicente stood back and watched as Megan stood up, scantily clad, and…didn’t do a damn thing. She remained there, looking more like a statue that was vibrating during an earthquake. So scarce and small were her movements that they were practically unseen.

But it was that sheepishness and fear that made her so alluring. Men immediately began to have fantasies of a virgin-esque dancer, a young woman with no experience, dancing to procure money for an ailing relative! It was a back story that these perverts had only read about in smut magazines and dirty websites. But, here it was, in front of them, in the bare flesh.

Megan was indeed doing a good job of keeping the attention on her. He would definitely have to compensate her for her troubles after all this was over. If they made it out of here alive, that is.

He edged closer to the bald, sweaty man, and made ready to snatch his keys…when he was disrupted by the man’s over exuberance for Megan’s presence. The man gyrated along, slapped the stage and howled like a monkey as she whistled his catcalls to her…

>> "Hey, Dorothy! I don't got a yellow brick road, but you can follow my happy trail all day!”

Vicente rolled his eyes but had to smirk as he saw that the man was truly distracted. He would easily be able to get the man’s keys and pull Megan out of the club.

Unfortunately…Megan was quick to cause a ruckus. That really should not have surprised him, but he was shocked by how quickly the scene descended.

>> "Oh! Dear me, look what i've done.. Sorry, sir... accidents happen though..."[/color]

The man cringed and shook his injured hand, but, just as Megan sauntered away from him, suddenly he lashed out and grabbed her skirt. A quick tug and soon Megan was wearing nothing but a top and shiny blue panties that left nothing to the imagination. Vicente raised his eyebrows, smirked a little, but said nothing as suddenly a baggie of coins was hurled towards the man’s head. The fat man cringed and yelped as he felt backward, narrowly missing the assassin. He then looked up just in time to see the young spider-goddess shove the dog dressed woman off the stage and all pandemonium broke loose. After all, men fought over who would catch the young Toto, while others laughed and pointed at the man with coins all over his face.

“That little bitch!” the man huffed and wheezed as he struggled to stand.

Vicente grinned as he held out his hand. The man gratefully took it and was aided onto his two feet. Vicente smirked as he patted the coins off the man’s cheap suit before suddenly he seized his collar.

“Be careful what names you throw around,” Vicente hissed as he suddenly brought his head forward and slammed his forehead into the man’s nose. Blood splattered as the man choked and stumbled back onto the ground. As he fell, Vicente pulled the man’s keys from his back pocket. Casually he whistled to Megan to follow him. It was time they made their exit.

Chaos, chaos everywhere. She didn't know whether to flee, or laugh. It was honestly pathetic watching people fight over a woman, even if she was provocatively dressed. They may as well have been monkeys fighting over a banana. She took a few steps back, about to turn and head back through the curtains, when a whistle caught her attention.

It was almost hard to spot Vicente in the crowd, but considering everyone else was busy trying to find entertainment in some form or another, he stood out like a sore thumb. Well, it looked as though she was no longer needed! She could not have been happier.

"Stop her!"

Megan cringed, and glance over her shoulder in time to see Beth, another stripper, Phil, and an unknown male throw the curtains aside. The unknown male was actually the owner of the establishment. It was also important to note that he was pissed. A normal day of lurking in a backroom while watching all of the various cameras he had set up and counting his earnings had come to a crashing halt the moment the woman in the Dorothy costume had walked onto the stage. At first, he had been rather nervous about her act. She wasn'y dancing, she wasn't stripping.. she wasn't doing anything! But, then the crowd couldn't get enough of it, so he had relaxed. The moment he had glanced away from the screen to take a leak, all hell had broken loose. He didn't know what had started it, all he knew was that when he came back into the room the crowd was in an uproar and the woman was shoving one of his best dancers off the stage.

"I want that little @%*&#$ caught!"

ohsh*t! Megan kicked a heel at them, abandoning the other as she took a running leap off the stage into the gathered people below. Thankfully none of them had been expecting it, so instead of getting dragged in and under like unfortunate Toto had, she merely landed awkwardly on a few people.

It still hurt like a mother, though. A wave of nausea washed over her, rendering her unable to rise for more than a few moments. Eventually the pain from her injured ribs numbed enough that she could push through it. She hauled herself up, not caring that she landed a foot in more than one persons face on the way down, and headed toward Vicente.

...She also had the mind to gram her tulle skirt on the way past and tie it around her waist. There was really no need to make things worse by running around in sparkly blue underoos through the city if she could help it.

With her jaw clenched, she finally made it to the assasin's side, and shot a look behind her. Some people were hindering her pursuers path, what with Beth being the next thing on stage with a chest and legs. The men around Megan didn't seem to want to get too close to her now that she was next to an imposing male figure... and for once, she was glad for that. "Lead the way, boss.." She breathed, unable to put any power behind her words. Her reserve of energy was running low... even the adrenaline pumping through her system had little to no effect. Every step felt like a struggle, and every breath sent a lance of fire up her side.

The owner shoved man after man after woman out of his way, hollering at the top of his lungs for people to stop them as they fled out the door. Phil was stronger and thinner than his heavier employer, and thus set about tossing people out of the way if they refused to move. Beth fished Toto out of the crowd, who was now lacking a bra and both her heels, and dragged the poor woman back stage.

Megan followed the assassin out to where the parking lot was, and waited for him to locate their get away car. The keys had a button for unlocking, locking, and activating the alarm. She built up a wad of silk in her mouth and watched the door like a hawk. When the door to the strip joint flew open again, and she saw Philes face start through, she didn't hold back on spitting a small ball of sticky silk as hard as she could in his direction. It hit him in the shoulder and at that moment the spiders she had lurking outside fell from above the door and attempted to attack the man's eyes as well, resulting in a panicked flailing of arms. Phile lurched back the moment he saw a widow skitter down his chest, and ran smack into the owner. The silk on his shoulder smooshed against the other man's suit, and for a moment they were stuck together like conjoined twins.

Vicente paid little attention to the mass of confusion that was happening around him. To be honest, none of it concerned him. Megan had did her job of causing a distraction, though he had hoped to be able to leave this place a little safer than when he first walked in, but oh well. Tonight was just turning out to be one of those nights in which he was not going to get any rest. But Vicente was fine with that, so long as he made it out of this place alive.

Next time he was definitely not going to open the door to let her in, though.

He had whistled and, stepping past a pair of brawling men, he suddenly felt the presence of his scantily clad companion at his side.

>> "Lead the way, boss.."[/color]

There were no words of acknowledgement except for a curt nod. She was there and she knew to stay at his side now and out of trouble. He didn’t notice her grab her skirt, or try to protect her modesty, but mostly he didn’t even notice that they were being followed.

Megan had apparently caused enough of a ruckus to get the owners of the establishment on her tail. But, weaving in and out of the angry crowd seemed to be enough to lose them; which was good since Vicente was quickly running out of his patience.

Before long, he forced his way back out into the cool night and made way directly for the parking lot with the car’s keys in his hand. Thankfully the ring of keys had one of those convenient security buttons that allowed a driver to lock, unlock, and panic alarm their car from afar. As soon as he stepped into the lot, Vicente pushed the button which immediately set off a sound of honk and a flash of lights from the corner.

“This way,” he said but turned just in time to see Megan spit sticky silk into the eyes of a pair of men who were attempting to follow them out of the building. They clawed and screamed and flailed as they collapsed into a heap. The assassin paused, smirked and then continued on to the only car that had lights out. He paused when he reached the vehicle, sighed, and glanced to Megan. “Beggers can’t be choosers. Get in.”

The…car… he walked up to was a bright pink, Smart Car with a large Hello Kitty printed on the side of the doors. The assassin hoped that this was a borrowed car and not really what that fat man in the strip club drove. If so…well…it was just plain weird.

He shook his head as he unlocked the car doors and attempted to squeeze himself into the driver’s seat. A string of curses soon followed after. Yeah…this was going to be easy…

An alarm captured her attention. She turned from the two struggling men, and followed Vicente barefoot through the parking lot. It wasn't until she had gotten halfway to the car that was beeping and honking, that she felt just how cold it was outside. Goosebumps raced over the flesh of her arms and legs, and she fixed a rueful glare on the back of Vicente's head. When she spotted the car that they were to get away in... she wasn't even shocked.

"...This... really doesn't surprise me." In fact, the only thing that would surprise her right now, would be the lack of anime paraphernalia within the car somewhere. Now that would definitely be a shocker.

She climbed in after, easily fitting into the seat, and glanced over at his hulking form squeezed into the drivers. If a fat guy could do it, so could he. But... still, it was a pretty funny sight. What was it with big people driving tiny, silly cars though? Seriously! The moment the back of her head hit the seat rest, and she had the door shut, she closed her eyes. Everything that had been really keeping her going was gone. She felt drained, sore, and like part of her was on fire.

...And yet, she was kind of exhilarated all the same. She was starting to see a pattern when it came to her time spent in the assassin's presence. Something bad almost always happened... but at the end she almost always ended up feeling more alive than when she woke up that morning. Man... she really needed to see a psychologist or something. It was like she had become addicted to danger, or something... "You look ridiculous...." The usual smirk and/or laugh that would have accompanied such a statement was absent. She didn't have the energy for it at the moment. Megan. Was. Tired...

"....Maybe I should drive?" Really, it made more sense. If he was in the passenger seat, he could scoot it all the way back and at least look somewhat normal. Plus, she was a girl... and in her current outfit, she kind of (sadly) matched the car.

Now... if she could just get her legs to move her out of the car and over to the other side of the car...

BAM!

Phil appeared out of now where, slapping a hand on the passengers side window. "Ohsh*t!" Megan's heart leaped into her throat and she instinctively jumped and latched onto the closest thing to her. It turned out to be the Assassin's arm. Behind Phil, she could see the other guy, the owner, marching over. Both looked equally angry. The passenger door was quickly pried open before she could slap the lock down, and Phil reach in to try and drag her from the car. "Ah! Start the car! GOGOGOGO!"

Megan scrambled back across the threshold into the middle of the car (and somewhat into Vicente's lap space), vainly trying to escape Phil's reaching hands. He cussed up a storm when she started kicking at him, and the owner started to round the other side of the car from behind. Apparently the large assassin in the drivers seat didn't scare him that much. When a hand latched onto her ankle and yanked, she latched onto the only thing available to try and stay in the car... A leg, and the side of the passengers seat.

God knew that if she fell out of it, there was little keeping the assassin there. He'd probably just leave her in the parking lot to face the repercussions of her actions.

... The jerk.

Vicente…hated…small…cars! The man was massive as it was so squeezing into these little cars were always a pain. Not just because of the size and of how difficult it would be to drive, but also because he in no way appreciated how it made him look. First of all, he was hunched over, second, the peddles were far too awkward for his long legs, and lastly, he felt like he could just break the damn thing if he turned and maneuvered too far too one side. It was ridiculous! Of course the one set of keys he could snatch had to lead to a car like this.

Still, though, he managed to wedge himself inside of the tiny Volkswagen. A glance at Megan and he saw the amusement on her face.

>> "You look ridiculous.... Maybe I should drive?"

He gave her a little growl. If she thought that she was going to get him out of this seat just after he had accomplished squeezing in, she was completely out of her mind. He was about to protest while she maneuvered out of the car, but paused when suddenly there was a flash of movement outside. His senses up, he snapped his attention back to her side of the car when suddenly he saw the same people who had been chasing them, grabbing for Megan.

>> "Ohsh*t! Ah! Start the car! GOGOGOGO!" [/i][/color]

She screamed. She latched onto him. She begged him to drive. Vicente gave a tiny smirk but he didn’t say anything as he glared at the man still trying to pull her free from her car. Soon she was nearly on his lap, trying to get away as he reached for anything in the cluttered backseat that he could use for a weapon. But a glance in the backseat and he was immediately stunned…dolls. Tons and tons of strange looking female dolls. God, the man who drove this car had to be an absolute freak!

Megan squeaked and Vicente grabbed the closest doll he could. Once he had it in hand, he brought it down with all his might on the man’s hand that was attempting to snatch Megan. The pointed heel that the doll wore penetrated the back of the man’s hand. He screamed as he retracted it and cussed out a storm that would have made the filthiest speaker blush.

Vicente only grinned as he took the distraction. Reaching down, he grabbed Megan the only place her could, the right cheek of her posterior, and pulled her back into the car (obviously she wouldn't mind this since he was saving her life). With a turn the key, he revved the engine of the tiny car, put it into reverse and slammed on the gas.

SCREEEEEEEEECH!!![/b]

Rubber on asphalt protested before finally running backwards in a cloud of smoke. Vicente narrowed his eyes as he glanced behind his shoulder, trying to balance Megan and the tiny car, and keep his eye out for other drivers. The second it was clear, Vicente pushed the car into drive and turned to head to the street.

He was done for the night…all he wanted now was to res—

SLAMM!![/b]

He growled as he drove forward but looked in the rearview mirror. Many curse words fell from his lips as he noticed another car, a black sedan, chasing him down. In the reflection he could see the familiar faces of Wayne’s surviving men. It was obvious that they were not going to give in soon.

“Buckle up,” he said to Megan as he suddenly slammed on the gas. If it was a chase they wanted, it was a chase they would get! Hello Kitty hummed and tore down the street.

She was saved by the seat of her pants (sort of). At the moment, she was rather thankful. Later... she'd probably gripe about it. The mini car sped off, so she went ahead and transferred back to her own seat. It didn't matter if he had saved her or not, she was not going to sit in his lap the entire drive home. Once she was settled, she slammed the still (semi) open passenger door shut, and collapsed back into her seat.

Well... that was fun... Lets never--"

A sudden jerk, and crash cut off the rest of her comment. She was barely able to keep herself from flying into the windshield with a hand against the dash, and one clinging to the back of her seat. "Sonofabitch!" Megan half turned, glaring out the back window at the car that was following close behind them, attempting to catch the back of their car and force a fishtail.

"Buckle up."

"Buckle up my ass!" Enough was enough. She was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and having a bunch of jackasses trying to run them off the road was not helping. Megan had honestly never been so angry in all her life. She hadn't wanted to be a part of this... she hadn't asked to be involved in anything and yet, whether through her fault or someone else's, she always managed to find trouble like this. Had she a box of dishes in her hands, she would have started throwing them just to hear something break. Instead, her eyes landed on the hoard of dolls in back, as well as a few various other anime themed things buried within the pile.

She turned fully in her seat and reached for the seat belt. The length of life saving material was then strapped around her legs and butt as she sat her knees in the seat. Then, she slapped a hand down on the button that rolled the window on her side down. A string of angry grumble things that didn't really make much sense fell from her lips, and she leaned into the back seat and gathered as many of the dolls as she could. They varied in sizes... but were rather small. And as she soon found out, there was a life sized bust of one had been stuffed into the leg space at the bottom of the car.

Friggen creepy....

She winced, and leaned back. Not only were city streets not the right place for car chases such as this one, but the car itself was ill equipped. Megan ignored the little voice telling her that what she was about to do was a terrible, terrible idea, and leaned out the window. Wind whipped past her, obscuring everything but the sounds of tire squeals and roaring engines. Her hips bounced against the metal door, but the seat belt her legs were hooked into kept her firmly rooted to her seat. She'd remain that way, unless someone hit them from the side, or they actually got fishtailed.

But... she was going to try and stop that from happening...

With an armful of dolls, she kept one arm on the injured side of her body close and used the other to start throwing the creepy things back at the other car. A few bounced off the windshield, causing the driver to swerve momentarily.. The rest hit pockets of air and were carried harmlessly off to the side. After her supply was exhausted, she ducked back inside and reached for the bigger doll bust.

It was then that a bullet shot through the back window, and sailed through the front. Megan ducked further, falling over into what was left of the doll pile, and cursed wildly.

"Really?! A car chase and gun fight? What the hell did you do to piss them off so bad?!"