Zeldoten sighed as more and more cops began pouring into the museum. She started to reach for her belt when shots were fired, one deflected away from her by her bullet shield. To her dismay though, one deflected into her belt, tearing through it, while the other shattered her wand. She scowled and grabbed one end of the belt.
"This just isn't our night," she muttered, hurling the entire belt at the police.
Vials shattered, the contents mixing together. Harmless on their own, mixing together had the effect of letting out a foul-smelling haze, filling the room with caustic fumes. As the officers began to cough and rub their eyes, unprepared for a chemical attack, Zeldoten managed to heave the half-conscious Nibbles onto her back, staggering away as quickly as she could.
"Come on, buddy. Wake up!" she grunted, managing to get a decent run going.
In the distance behind her, the thief could hear more cops entering the building, though they mostly stopped to hack and wheeze. As nice a distraction as it was turning out to be, Zeldoten couldn't help but curse. The loss of her alchemical tools and extracts would make escaping difficult at best, especially with a Giant Friend Crab to carry. She wouldn't leave him behind though even if it meant have to fight all the cops with her bare hands. Fortunately, he began to stir.
"Glad you're back with me, Nibs," Zeldoten said. "Turn small whenever you want."
She groaned as she began stagging up the steps. The entrance would be too well guarded and likely any fire exits would soon be too. Nobody would expect her to go further away from entrances and exits though; precious seconds or even minutes for her to plan an escape. Her burdens began to ease though as Nibbles returned to his normal size, assimilating into her shoulder. She smiled and patted her familiar, now able to run at full speed. Angry voices were echoing from where she'd been though; her smokescreen was no longer effective for reasons she wasn't going to find out anytime soon, so she continued running, quickly ducking into an exhibit room.
She examined her surroundings, seeing a window big enough for her to fit through. The sounds of approaching law enforcement made picking the lock unfeasible. She needed at least a minute without any tools to work with. Escape seemed out of her reach, so she looked about for a weapon.
Trash bins...bolted down. Benches...too heavy without Nibbles and he wasn't in good shape. Rope barricades...potentially. She quickly hefted one of the metal poles holding the velvet ropes. Not too heavy, it'd be a good club. Zeldoten decided she'd rather flight than fight though.
Hmm...flight...
He tested the pole again. Yeah, it'd work. It'd work REAL good.
In another life, Zeldoten could have been a decent javelin thrower. Her mentor had taught her the art of a good throwing arm and, after years of practice, she could Throw Anything. The pole launched towards the window as the police were finally catching up. Glass shattered loudly, sending shards of glass falling to the crowd. Without a moment's hesitation, the Tiefling charged towards the window.
"FREEZE! KUWAHAWI PD!"
Zeldoten didn't even look back, too focused on her escape. Metal slid against leather as an officer drew his weapon, firing a shot. This time, she wasn't so lucky, taking a hit to her arm as she leaped out the window. She hissed as glass ripped into her, spilling blood as she plummeted...
...
...
...
Her wings unfurled as she pulled out of her dive. The cops had only brought squad cars and the SWAT team was only just pulling up. A few officers on the ground fired upwards, striking the tip of her wings, but Zeldoten flew onward and upward into the night sky, her dark form silhouetted by the city lights as she began to search for sanctuary. An aerial response would surely be coming now that at least one unit had seen her flying away. Up and up, block after block, she soared overhead, letting people see her cruise towards Hydro City, turning around once she felt she was unseen. Now it was just a matter of finding a place to hide...
~
Twenty minutes later...
"No, I don't like it in here either," Zeldoten sighed quietly. "I spend entirely too much time in these things."
Her situation stunk, figuratively and literally. Once she'd gone to ground, the thief had dove into the first dumpster she could find, using a claw to slice open a trash bag enough to fit inside. She could still hear sirens, though the only people to actually open up her dumpster had barely dug through before deciding it was too gross to hide in. Lucky her.
Nibbles' eyestalks barely protruded from Zeldoten's shoulder, the crab not wanting to actually be in the dumpster with her. She panted and gasped as she dug about, deciding it was safe enough to actually make some noise, eventually finding a glass bottle.
"Yuck. I hate this. I hate this SO MUCH," she grimaced. "I wish I was back with the tour group hanging out with Ibuki's roadies and drinking."
Drastic measures had to be taken though. She was too injured to sleep off her wounds, especially in a filthy place like this. She gagged slightly as she put the glass bottle in her mouth. She'd need it as she stuck one of her claws in her leg and-
~
"That was horrible," she muttered.
Healing magic from her concealed Infernal Healing wand began to patch up her wounds, including her leg. She'd need a few more charges to be back at 100%, but situations like this were why she had hidden the wand in such an...unconventional hiding spot.
"Just a few more minutes, Nibs," she promised. "Then we'll get out of here."
The crab's eye stalks wibbled inquisitively.
"No, we're not giving up on this. Not yet," Zeldo sighed as she shook her head. "We're down, but not out."
Nibbles lifted one claw into the air. Zeldoten smiled and bumped it with her fist.
"That's right, we're The Zeldoten Gang!!!," she laughed. "We've been in worse situations. We'll get out of here, regroup, and get back at that leaping lizard and his rat pack."
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