"Harlequin? Isn't that a romance novel series?" (one on one)

Harlequin? Isn't that a romance series or something?

Harley Quinn was an odd person. She looked like your typical busty, bubbly blonde bimbo. Long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and so on. But she wasn't your typical blonde bimbo. She wasn't really a bimbo at all. Sure, she acted dumb sometimes. But beneath all that, she was brilliant. She possessed degrees in psychology, engineering, and numerous other disciplines, in spite of her rather young age. She was an expert marksman, able to hit just about anything WITH just about anything. An accomplished actress, musician, design artist, even aspiring comedienne. She was definitely not your run of the mill girl.

But everyone has their problems, and Harley was no exception. When she went out on the town, she didn't wear miniskirts, or dresses, or anything that would make her the envy of the girls around her. Instead, she wore an outfit out of the middle ages. She wore the costume of a harlequin. A female comedian, juggler, acrobat, and all around entertainer for royal courts. She never explained it. In fact, no one knew about it. The reason why no one knew is because she wore them when committing crimes. No police official had ever seen her outside of her costume, at least, not knowing it was her. None of her friends had ever seen her inside her costume.

But one day, she chose to make a heist from the wrong person. Neither of them were prepared for the results.

Billy Soren was a collector of oddities. He had many things that most people wouldn't expect even existed. Gemstones mined from a mine that is not supposed to have existed. Images from the REAL wrecked UFO, not the Roswell Coverup one. A piece of what may or may not have been Atlantean technology. The pride of his collection, however, was the shards of what was said to be a holy sword, forged in ancient times to ward off evil. They were kept under glass, on a pressure sensitive platform specially calibrated for the shards. The only other thing on the platform was a pair of fist sized orbs, perfectly round, of unknown metals.

He didn't expect anyone to ever even try to steal with him. Most people wouldn't even consider it. They either didn't think he had anything worth value, or didn't want to risk losing something in the attempt. Billy Soren was known for unusual tactics to prevent theft, in addition to a bit of eccentric paranoia. Most people kept guard dogs. He kept a pair of handbuilt autonomous sentinels. Most people would call the police. He would prefer proving a point to would be thieves. That was why he had licenses to own and use more weapons than most people would think existed. Many of those weapons were on prominent display, as well.

On top of that, he lived in a mostly underground home built partially in the sewers in the 50s. It would be hard for a burglar to get in. Even harder for them to get out, let alone undetected. But even so, one night Harley Quinn had donned her outfit and gear and attempted what was pretty much impossible. She was going to attempt the theft of what she had heard was a valuable piece of artwork. Boy was she in for a surprise.

OOC: looking for a lady to play the role of Harley Quinn, the Harlequin. The item she's attempting to steal is not what she thinks it is. It's the shards of the sword, instead of the artwork she's expecting, and she isn't going to be escaping (though she'll try many times, I'd imagine)

"Harleen? You ok?"

The blonde leaned back as far as the office chair would let her, a rather blank smile on her face as she stared at her friend with wide blue eyes. "Hmmmm?"

"You've been staring at your computer for, like, twenty minutes now. You alright? I thought you were paying attention to me." The brunette on the couch sniffled, wiping at her eyes. Oh right, she was here boohooing over her boyfriend, or dead cat, or... something. Harley had stopped paying attention to her awhile ago, around the time she started crying. Harley hated crying.

"Awww, don't be like that, Kelly. I'm sorry. I jost found somethin' real interestin' on the interwebs, that's all." Harleen smiled, spinning about in the chair and throwing her arms open wide. "Gimme a hug! That'll make ya feel better!," She exclaimed, beaming a giant smile.

"Rick DUMPED me! How is a hug going to help!?"

Rick. Boyfriend. No dead cat! "Everybody loves a hug, sugar." Getting up from the chair herself, she yanked Kelly to standing, giving her the tightest hug imaginable until the girl gave a weak grunt of pain. Ooops. Too tight. "Now don't you feel grand?," Harley asked, still clutching her arms about her.

"N-not really...," Kelly wheezed, gasping as Harley let go.

"Aww, All you need is to clear your head. No sense doting over a jerk! Get out on the town, tell him to screw off. Ya don't need him, Kell. There are far more fish in the sea! Besides, he never had that much'a sense of humor. How good can I guy really be if he doesn't know how ta laugh once in awhile?"

Kelly smiled finally, giving a nod. "Thanks, Har. I get what you're saying... Maybe you're right. Maybe some me time would be good... You want to go out to the bars with me tonight? I'd really love some company."

"That sounds real nice, sweets, but... I kinda have some plans already." Harley scratched her head as she made a face, giving a quick glance back to the computer screen. This Soren guy had quite the curious collection of things, hidden away from the world in his secret little 'cave'. "Maybe tomorrow?," She added with a squeek, giving her a grin.

Kelly just nodded with a smile, heading out the door. Harley followed her, grinning as she closed the door behind her, leaning against it with a sigh as she heard her friend walking away. As fun as it may have been to go spend time with the girl, Harley had her own plans to deal with. A quick change from the jeans and tee that she had lounged around the house in to her form fitting black and red harlequin costume, and she felt far more alive. Almost dancing as she applied her white makeup and the small black mask that hid her from the rest of the world, she kissed the mirror and left a blackened set of lipmarks.

She loved passing through the city at night. It was so... freeing. Everything seemed to have a lively air about it, so grand and vibrant...

But this guy didn't live in the city. He hid away on the outskirts of town, hiding away with the sewer stench. The idea of playing around in such a stinky sector made her nose wrinkle already, but the prize for her efforts made it all worth it. The website about him and his collection made it sound like there was a great number of items worth her interests in there... And they were all just hiding beneath the surface.

It was already starting to smell funny as she found the right address. This was it? She stepped up to the small door, peering into the building. Didn't seem like much. Maybe she was wrong... No, this was it, alright. Huh.

Fishing around in her purse, she produced the small tube that looked to be lipstick- only for it to leave a greenish streak against the door as she slid it against it, a rather odd odor wafting from it as she stepped back, watching it eat through the door for a moment, then easily kicking through it with her boot.

Now, to find these curious toys for her new fascination...

Billy had been reading old books. Really old books. When the alarm had gone off, not as an audible sound, but as a blinking red light on an instrument panel nearby, he'd sighed. The red light indicated that the door had been opened without the scanner being disengaged. He stood up slowly, and turned to his control panel. He immediately flipped a set of security covers, and then two of the switches under them. He took security very seriously, as his intruder would soon find out. To begin with, a few booby traps, he thought. Then he had to chuckle to himself. "Too bad it's not a booby or two that I'm trapping." He sighed at that thought.

Then he pushed a button, switching a video wall on, showing the views from various security cameras in the facility. He raised an eyebrow as he saw a figure step down the stairs. Then he flipped a third switch, causing a security shutter to slam down behind her, giving her no way out the way she came in. He didn't know it was a she, of course, as the light wasn't the best up there. But he'd find that out soon enough. If she made it through the first few traps, he'd flip the automatics and the entire security system would be active, recognizing only his special subdermal ID tag.

Cat and mouse time, he thought, as he watched the screens.

Jump a step, hop a step, move on down...

Harley was actually singing to herself in her head, almost as though she were playing hopscotch with a group of kids rather than breaking into Soren's personal museum. This was actually seeming to be far easier than she had thought, a rather surprising thing after what she had read on the internet about the guy. Eccentric, paranoid, and secretive.... Well, the secretive part she could definitely see now- but the paranoid? Hmm. That door hadn't been too complicated a thing; a basic security scanner having been the main issue- but that was easily dealt with by just going straight through the damn thing.

That was an odd noise.
A sort of metallic clunk and plunk, coming from above her. Now what the heck could that b-

Time to move!!

Harley leaped the rest of the way off the stairs, taking a tuck-and-roll across the floor as the gate fell closed behind her. Crouching back up, she frowned as she looked towards it, blowing out an agitated sigh. So much for easy.

From this position, however, she could see a little red light hitting the wall across from her. Now what was this? Looking across from it, she spotted the tiny little box- a trip light! So Mister Soren did like to make things complicated.... She smiled, glancing up the wall and finding a few more of the red dots patterning it. Hmm. That'd be a tight fit to squeeze between... But it was worth a shot.

Contorting her body as best she could, she slipped between the first two sets, her eyes locked against the warning dots on the wall- barely visible, but enough to guide her from setting off any further unwanted surprises. For the second bunch, she dropped to the floor, guiding beneath them in reverse as she held her breath. So far, so-

"OW!"
She glanced down, seeing the red line drifting across her chest. That burned! Hastily moving out from beneath it, she winced as she stood back up, rubbing a gloved finger over the charred fabric and the burned flesh.

Billy had to admit, as he watched the person move, now very much aware of her femininity. She was definitely quite the effective cat burglar. She had the breaking and entering part down pat. But there were quite a few surprises in store. As the lasers, tuned much higher than ordinarily think possible, left charred fabric on her outfit, he knew she realized she was in over her head. At least, that's what he told himself. She clearly hadn't counted on any resistance, or at least, standard security blunders.

He watched intently on the monitor, flicking switches and pushing buttons every so often, setting off more traps. She was good, he gave her that. Finally, he pushed the automatic system button, and stood up from his seat and made his way out of the room he was in. He followed a route leading directly to his, for lack of a better term, museum. There he stood in a hidden alcove, waiting. He had a feeling this one would be along soon enough. When one of his robotic sentinels started to move towards the door, he waved them down and into hiding. He wanted to use those as a last resort, and had the urge to meet this sneakthief face to face.

Harley slowly moved down the hall, still muttering to herself about the hole in her suit. That was going to be hell to fix... She glanced up as she heard a soft hum, leaning a hand against the wall and peering ahead in the darkness. Rather hard to see with the limited light... She had a flashlight with her, but to openly bring it out and give a perfectly visible bullseye on herself wasn't a very good idea. She'd rather see how far she could go on her own without resorting to that.

Mister Soren had more gifts for her, didn't he?
The odd noise grew more noticable as she slipped down the hall, easily spotting the small camera on the cieling above. If that was that easy to find, there had to be something worth his interest to watch in this area. Starting across the floor, she gave a surprised yelp as the floor seemed to give way beneath her, the stone falling through to the sewers below. Grabbing hold of the remaining stone, she hoisted herself back up, gasping. So that's what was so interesting, watching his 'visitors' plummet into the stinking pits below his little home. Watching her step far more carefully now, she tested each movement with a gentle tap of her foot, inching across the floor slowly but surely.

Various other traps lined the path ahead of her, leaving her bruised and with new holes in her suit. This had better have been worth it...

Approaching the doorway that had a dim light shining through, she took a soft breath, letting it out with a contented sigh. She may have been sore, but at least she made it. Now all that was left was to find this glorious curiousity...

The feminine figure from his monitors, the form of his intruder, finally drew towards the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. He usually kept this particular room dim, with only spotlights trained on the cases. It made it easier for him and harder for thieves. As she came closer, he studied her form. Excellent curves, he thought. The suit was a bit much, of course. What a waste, he thought, covering up such an excellent physique. If she weren't an intruder, he might have considered inviting her up to bed, he mused.

He looked at his watch, nodding slowly. She had made it to his chamber of antiquities in less than an hour. Most people didn't last five minutes before fleeing in terror. He looked up again, and again waved down his Sentinels. He watched her carefully, to determine her reasons for attempting the breakin. At that point, that was his main goal. To determine what he had that would entice a thief enough to risk their life in the way she had.

As she drew closer to her goal, he held in his hand the control for the lights. At the right moment, he'd douse the spotlights, then bring everything up. Way up. High enough to momentarily blind her, but not his sentinels. They would have her tied up in a flash. The thought brought an almost sadistic smile to his face. He waited a few moments more, and when he saw her standing before his prize collector's piece, he tapped one button, then the other. The lights cut out entirely, then flashed into radiant brilliance. At that moment, the sentinels pounced her.

He lowered the light levels after a few moments, and cleared his throat, finally speaking after the two mechanoids had trussed her up like an animal. "Such a shame. Not only that you'd cover such an impressive figure, but that you'd waste your life trying to steal from me."

Anything else he wanted to throw at her? Harley carefully approached the doorway, trying to keep an eye out for anything new that might spring upon her. So far, it seemed as though the worst was literally behind her. Placing a hand against the doorframe, she gave a smirk. For all the fight he had given to keep her out of here, she had made it in anyways. That must've really burned his butt.

She started to give a soft laugh, only to end up cringing at the sudden blinding light that filled the room. "Kill the highbeams, ya jerk!," She howled, trying to shield her eyes- and finding them suddenly being grabbed by something rather strong. Metallic, it felt... As her eyes adjusted, she saw now the two bots that held her, though still tried to fight as they bound her. She glared towards the voice that spoke, the lights still rather bright behind him. This must have been Soren. So he had been playing with her-!

"Consider yourself privileged, Billy-billy," She cooed, still twisting and thrashing as the robots held to her. "Not everybody catches my eye..." She paused, glaring at the metallic hunks that held her. "But what's with these, huh? Your toys play awful rough..."

Billy shook his head, and walked slowly towards her. Her irreverance was refresshing, considering she was the first to actually make it to the room she was now tied up in. He knelt down, surveing her costume, and grinned. "So how does it feel to have lost?" He stood up again, and looked away. "So, what specific item did you come here to still? The Spear of Osirus? The Atlantean Silvance? Rune Metal?" He turned to look at her again, one eyebrow raised.

Then he grinned, before continuing as he knelt down again and tugged at the tattered costume she wore. "Or did you come to get rid of your clothes?" His voice was teasing, then his face went dark. "Either way, you wasted your time. I could let you go, and let you spread the word among other thieves. No one steals from Soren." He tilted his head. "Then again, you did make it this far. Maybe I should keep you as part of my collection."

He looked into her eyes. "What's your name, little thief."

"Who said I lost?" Harley grinned, giggling now, only to yelp a bit as the motion caused the bindings to rub over the sore spots on her burned chest. "Just because you caught me doesn't mean you've won." She gave him a curious look as he stooped down at her, only to stick out her tongue when he asked what she was after. Being defiant was something that came naturally to her, finding the harassment of others to be very enjoyable- even if she wasn't exactly in the position to be doing such a thing.

Her tongue was still extended as he tugged at her clothes, snapping it back in quickly with a glare. He was playing with her again...

Part of his collection? Was he serious?

At his question, she snapped out a quick jolt of a laugh. "Oh, come on now. You really need to get out more, Billy-boy. You don't know who I am? Harley Quinn.... Maybe you should get your head out of the sewers once in awhile, puddin'. I'm almost a celebrity, really.... Everybody wants me, nobody gets me." The smirk left her lips now, a sneer curling them instead. "That includes you."

Her defiance was amusing. Very amusing, in fact, and the little stuck out tongue was so juvenile he almost laughed. As she introduced herself, he grinned. "Harlequin? Isn't that one of those trashy romance novels?"

The quick laughter she produced almost seemed panicked. He stood up slowly, musing on what to do. He almost seemed to be talking to himself as he continued. "Hmmm...I could always throw you back out into the traps. You didn't set off nearly all of the active ones. And you only came in through the north entrance.:

He spread his hands in both directions, indicating several other passageways. He dropped his arms again, continuing to think. Then he had an idea, an epiphany of sorts. He waved off the Sentinels. Then he grinned almost sadistically again. "Tell you what. You went to an awful lot of trouble to get this far. How about a game."

At the look on her face, he expounded. "Pick a passage, any passage, except the one you just came through. If you can make it out in..." He looked at his watch, counting to himself. "The hour and thirty eight minutes till sunrise, you can take whatever you can actually carry, aside from the items in that case in the center of the room. If you can't, you will make your way back to this room, from which you will be carried to my bedroom." He looked down at her, actually smiling. "How does that sound?"

He was making fun of her name.
Hey now, no one made fun of that. Now she really wanted to hurt him.

As he paced, rambling on with his ideas of what to do, she just stared at him sourly, her eyes keeping time with each step he made. Only one of many entrances? Just how many different ways did this guy need to get in here?

What confused her even more was when his bots released their grip, the binds around her loosening enough to fall free of her. Slipping them the rest of the way off her body, she watched him curiously. Was this a trick?

"So if I get past your little toys, I get whatever I want outta here?" She pondered that a moment, then frowned. "How do I know you'll keep your word on that? And why not the case? Sayin' that just makes me want it that much more. The whole gotta-touch-it-cuz-you-said-no thing." She laughed at that, though quickly returned to a solemn tone.

"And just what do mean by your BEDROOM?"

Billy raised an eyebrow, listening to her questions. Then he grinned for a moment, turning to face her. "Are you sure you want to know why not the case? And I said only what you can carry. In one trip." He stretched slightly, then looked at her for a moment, considering what to tell her.

Then he turned back to her, speaking quietly. "When you get back, Achenar here will be waiting for you. Sirrus will be in the control room. When the timer reaches zero, all of the doors will close. If you're still inside, you know where to come. If not, Sirrus will reopen the door. Then you can come in and get what you can carry, and you'll be shown to the elevator to the ground level entrance."

The reaction when he mentioned a direct route made him grin. He knew that would annoy her to no end. He quickly straightened up, getting rid of the grin, and turned to walk towards a doorway. "I look forward to it either way."

"I could carry that," She stated flatly, still sitting on the floor where she had been dropped, nestled between the ropes that were once around her. "I'm not some weak little thing... Ya should'a noticed that by now."

As he explained further details of his little plan, she frowned, catching the obvious hint that he believed she'd fail in his voice. When he went on to reveal how she could retrieve her prize if she won, there was a twitch in her face.

There was a fucking elevator?!

Getting to her feet, she huffed at his rather snide farewell, glancing between the various other exits. If he was taking that one, it most likely led deeper into this place. Not the option she wanted. She only had less than 2 hours, and the idea of getting stuck in an endless labyrinth wasn't that appealing. Even less appealing was the idea of being brought to his bed. She really didn't like the sound of that.

Behind her was the way she had just come, and that wasn't on the options list. Well, there hadn't been too much winding in that hall, which meant that the hall across from her now was most likely a continued route from that... Or a more winding version. Damn it! Trying to make sense of this place was only confusing her more.

Screw sense.

"Eenie, meenie, mynie... That one." Jabbing a finger out before her, she grinned, rushing towards the doorway chosen at random.

Billy watched her running for the hallway. Then he grinned, and turned back to the doorway. He walked down the hallway until he came to the room he'd been in before. He walked slowly, since on of his two Sentinels was already controlling the traps and monitoring her progress. When he got there, she'd not even gotten to the first actual trap. He should have probably mentioned that she'd chosen one of the least maintained paths, so there were sections of stone missing.

He sat down at the control panel, watching the video wall. After watching her for about five minutes, he grinned, and picked up a headset nearby. He set it on his head, and turned it on. Then he spoke teasingly. "Careful there, watch your footing, cutie. At this rate, maybe I won't have to strip you down when you get back."

He knew she'd be annoyed by the jeering. He was counting on it, in fact. He enjoyed the teasing, and it had to be rather easy to mess with her that way. It wouldn't be too dangerous, and if she'd asked, he could have given her a salve for the burns from the lasers. Of course, she hadn't asked, so he hadn't offered. The teasing continud as he watched her go through traps, pitfalls, and other obstacles.

Harley kept running as she entered the new hall, finding it to be just as lacking in light as the one that had given her access to begin with. Her left foot fell against rocks, while her right-

She gave a light yelp of pain, wincing as her ankle twisted outwards and caused her to fall against the side of the hall, her suit ripping more against the stones there.

Crap... now that was going to slow her down...

Still, she continued to move on, now a bit more cautious on where she was stepping. As Soren's voice sounded off above her, she glared upwards to see if there were any little red lights to indicate his cameras. "Then why don't'cha be a gentleman, Billyboy, and come lead me out?," She called sweetly, only to grumble a few choice words under her breath.

A few more badly placed steps, another exercise in her limbo skills and the pale warning of laser, and she was beginning to think she was close to the exit. This wasn't so bad...

Her hurting foot skimmed across the stones beneath her feet, sending a spray of pebbles ahead of her as she walked. She paused as she realized that they were taking a bit to echo in the dark.... Hesitantly tapping out with her toes, she found that there was a rather big drop ahead of her.

So much for easy.

Worse yet, she had no idea how long she had been at this. But that didn't mean she was about to give up. feeling around with her foot once again, she found a rock, picking it up and tossing it lightly before her. No sound. Another rock, another toss, this time a bit further. She did this 3 times, finally hearing the gentle thunk of the stone rolling along the ground of the other side. That was a decent gap, with a nice plunge to stinkville down below.

Billy made a mental note that he'd have to give her some medical treatment. Again, he watched the way she moved, throwing out teasing taunts every so often as he watched. "That wouldn't be fair. I'm the one you're betting against, remember?" He had to admit, he was actually getting fairly aroused watching her body move. Then she reached the dropoff.

He hadn't realized just how wide the gap was. He'd known it was there, but it wasn't until she was standing alongside it that he realized the extent of the damage and disrepair to that section. He couldn't help the words that came out at that realization. "If you fall in there, you're getting a shower before bed. I honestly didn't realize it was THAT bad. I'll have to do something about it later." He mused, then fell silent in thought.

If she made it, she could have whatever she could carry, aside from the contents of the big case in the center of the room. That's what he'd told her. He didn't expect her to win, of course. But now he was half afraid of epic fail. He turned to one of the sentinels for a moment, and told it that if she fell in, the mechanoid would have to go get her to make sure she didn't drown with that ankle sprained. The counter continued moving towards the slamming of the security gates as he continued to watch her, looking forward to what would happen when she didn't make it.

"You're so nice," She hissed, trying to gauge just how far that jump was now. The stone had taken a bit of a throw to hit the other side... Usually she could make it pretty far on a tumble roll, but with her ankle being tender, she wasn't sure how much help it would be.

Still, she had a goal. She had to make it across. He had promised her a worthy prize for her efforts; all she had to do was beat his little contest.

Taking up another rock, she dug a slight trench in front of the edge of the gap, the tossed her drawing tool across. The thumk was enough to remind her of just how far it was. Well, here goes nothing...

She paced back a bit, drawing a breath before taking into another run. As her foot found the little trench she had created, she lept, springing off with all the strength she had. Her ankle was screaming in pain now, but she tried to ignore it.

She was only inches short, clawing at the dirt to keep herself from falling into the mess below as she caught hold of the other side. "Dammit-!"

Hauling herself up, she sat on the dge for a moment, catching her breath, then laughed, looking upwards once more. "Ya see that? I did it, Billyboy!"

Billy watched as she paced back and forth, thinking. He admired her determination. He also admired her ability to think quickly like that. He watched as she ran towards the edge. He almost sent out a Sentinel to rescue her, but she managed to scramble back up. At her defiance, he grinned. He had a feeling he'd enjoy her in many ways.

"Congratulations. Now let's see you get through the actual traps. Better hurry, you only have about ten minutes till sunrise. Oh, and as an added bonus, if you make it, I'll replace that oufit of yours for you. It's looking like there's not much keeping it on you." He teased, hoping to break her concentration.

He looked at the countdown for a moment, then smiled to himself. This was the most fun he'd had in a long time. He found himself looking forward to the outcome either way. If she won, she'd have beaten him, and he'd have to rework his security system. If she lost...well, he'd think about that when she was brought to his bedroom afterwards.

Actual traps? This hadn't been part of his little toy center?!

"Ohh, ducky."

Glancing down with his tauntings over her clothing, she frowned. She had been pretty ripped up from all this. The reminder over the time didn't help any either. With her ankle feeling so strange, she wasn't going to be moving very fast. Still, she was going to try. Those items were still strong in her mind, taunting her to come back for them... That, and she was partially afraid on just what was meant by his comments on the bedroom.

Moving down the corridor, she kept a hand against the wall, trying to keep her eyes set on the area before her-

Only to hear the soft tick of a wire snapping beneath her foot. Quickly looking down to the broken wire, she snapped her head back up, looking to see what had been set off.

Billy smiled as he noted the effect his words were having on her. He continued to watch, the timer slowly counting down as she continued, now hugging the wall. Then she set off a tripwire. The trap for that one was pretty simple. It consisted of a padded hammer that swung down through the corridor. It was meant to knock her backwards, or send her flying back, depending on where she was at the time. And it was on a motor-driven pole, so it did full revolutions, specially timed. He'd watch to see if she got the timings.

As traps went, this one was pretty simplistic, but it was also rather dangerous since she was already injured. If she landed the wrong way... He turned to the sentinel, and issued a command to meet her if she were in fact sent flying back, so that she didn't injure her leg any further.

She watched as the hammer passed overhead, a slight frown on her face as she kept rythm of its movements, then gave a quick laugh. "Ohhh, come on, Billy. I've played with bigger toys at home!"

Still, the limping of her bad ankle was going to slow her down, and that thing was goign at a pretty decent speed. Had to figure out its movement to a T, to plan the best path around it before getting knocked into next week. That thing didn't look like it would be just a gentle bop in the butt.

Bummer. She kinda liked that.

As it passed once more, she darted off behind it- only for it to come back at her far quicker than she anticipated, the sore spot making her move slower than she wanted and leaving her open for the pendulum to smack into her hard, sending her back against the wall she had just left.

She gave a soft yelp as she fell, clutching her leg. 10 minutes... Probably more like 5 now. She frowned, trying to peer around it. How far was she? It seemed rather taunting now, the idea of the exit so close that she could swear she smelled fresh air rather than the wafting touch of sewer gas from the pit behind her.

Getting to her feet, she gave it another try, darting ahead of it this time and now being smacked hard in the rear, projecting her in an upside tumble against the other wall this time. A soft grunt slipped form her lips as her head bounced off the stone, sitting up and rubbing it with another frown.

The timer continued to count down, things seeming to slow down for them both as she staggered around. He nodded at the sentinel as she took the hit from behind. He practically winced as she slammed against the wall, and shook his head slowly. The sentinel had already disappeared from the room. He watched her rub her head, and could see the frown. He cleared his throat before saying anything.

"Giving up already? You have two and a half minutes still, and the exit is only about another fifty feet down the corridor. If you stop now, you'll lose. Is that what you want? In that case, I should send out the sentinel now then, to make sure you get back safely. After all, can't have my prize lying around in a dark, dingy hallway to rot. It's not my style, and it's not suitable for such a prize, is it?"

Either the teasing would spur her on, or it wouldn't. Either way, the game was almost over, one way or another. It was up to her how it ended. Meanwhile, he ordered the other sentinel to bring him a first aid kit, which he'd need to patch up her injuries. He wasn't going to let her go home until he'd at least made sure she was alright.

"Ain't giving up," She puffed, closing her eyes as she rubbed her leg. "I was just enjoyin' the back massage...."

With the reminder of time, she made a slight face, getting to her feet. "Tell your toys to get my stuff ready. I'll be back for it in just a few minutes... And no swapping it off for fake crap. That's cheatin', Billy-billy."

She grinned as she continued down the path, though had to wonder on just how easy Soren made it sound to get out of here. Seemed almost too easy. Just to finish walking the rest of the path? Something else must have been waiting for her. With every cautious move, she anticipated something coming out of the walls, another unexpected suprise to appear from the floor, even a visitor from the cieling.

And yet... nothing.

She was actually shocked when she spotted the door, starting to laugh as she approached it. "That was fun, Billy! The best workout I've had in months! 'Course, now I've got a terrible amount of sewing and repairs ahead'a me... but I can't say I haven't had worse in that line. Ha! But now you owe me big!," She taunted, still laughing as she came up to it.

It cut short, however, when she realized there was no door handle.

Her 'lipstick' was still up by the original door where she had entered, and her leg was in no shape for trying to just break through it.

"Oh, you suck, Billy." There was no humor to her voice now, more of a growl as she turned to glare upwards. "That's not funny."

Billy had decided to cut her some slack, and turned off the rest of the traps. There weren't that many left anyways in that corridor, and she really wasn't in any condition to deal with things like flying tasers, light orbs, and sleeping gas anyways. He watched her, getting ready to concede defeat, when she got to the door and there was no door handle. He blinked a few times, then cleared his throat, and spoke into the mic. "Uh...You might want to step back. You just ran out of time. But while you're there, see if you can spot anything on the ground that looks like a door handle. As I said, no one's used that entrance in a long time, so it's likely the handle rusted off."

As he said that, the security shutter started to slowly lower. This one moved slowly as well, proving his point about the age of the place. He debated just calling off the challenge. She clearly would have won, barely, if not for the missing door handle. He took off the headset to issue some commands, then put it back on. "I've got a first aid kit here, so I'll treat your wounds when they bring you in. As for the bet, I suppose it's void, since you clearly would have won if the handle had been there. It's a shame too. I was looking forward to unwrapping my prize." He sighed at that, and then stood up, taking off the headset. He started for his room, where they mechanoids would bring her.

He carried the first aid kit, and waited. He took stock of the injuries she'd received, and knew he'd have to twist her ankle back into position, probably apply a salve, and do the same to the burns. He might have to give her some pure oxygen to clear out her lungs of anything that might have been floating around in there. Might have to massage her back to take care of the hit she took from the mallet. And of course he'd have to check her head.