[zapdragon555]

[Complete the original task and get a sample for Zae]

Lupin was busy observing the little dart and vial that Wiks had handed to him rather unceremoniously. He unscrewed the vial and gave it a sniff, making a terrible noise and reeling away. "This is some strong shit," he muttered, coughing for air, and Jigen swiped it out of his hands before he could drop it.

"Yeah, well, I'm holding it. Only one of us is a sharpshooter," he muttered, adjusting the hat on his head now that they were back out in the light of the sun. He kept the vial and dart in the shadow of his body, half hunched over as he began filling the dart with the liquid.

"It's a big lizard, how hard can it be to hit?" Lupin chittered back, and Jigen gave a noncommittal grunt that didn't seem to suggest he'd be giving the dart back.

[zapdragon555]

Speak of the devil. Lupin's eyes widened as a deep, snarling voice reverberated from the stage, momentarily paralyzing him with fear. It was like a tiger's growl, but even deeper, a thing that shuddered into his bones and stopped him in his tracks. "There," he whispered, grabbing Jigen's shoulder and pointing to the stage. "That's it."

"Not just some freak in a costume?" Jigen muttered, already fitting the dart into the shooter that had been handed over from the scientists as well.

"Dunno. I just got an inkling."

"Well, it's better than nothing, and we've got to hurry," Jigen muttered, raising the shooter to eye level and aiming as the crowd began to get antsy. It wasn't a bad cover... it was enough to shoot--

"Jigen, wait," Lupin exclaimed, clamping his hand down on the shooter, the swift action causing Jigen to curse sharply. "It... it talked. It can talk... that wasn't part of the deal."

"No, they left that out, but I'm pretty sure it still fits the description of 'big magic lizard.' Let go."

"Jigen, it has feelings," Lupin muttered, his brows knitting as he watched the Chaos onstage. The alert to evacuate rang in his ears, drowning out whatever Jigen was going to say. Instead the man fixed Lupin with a strong, hard stare, and shoved the dart in his pocket.

"Alright, fuck you. What do you wanna do," Jigen muttered, and Lupin grinned at his partner's begrudging cooperation.

Before Lupin could answer, a much more familiar performer leapt out of the waiting tent, sword in hand and aiming straight for the Chaos' throat.

[zapdragon555]

"Goemon, wait!" Lupin cupped his hands around his mouth and screamed in the direction of the samurai. It was certainly enough to get the man's attention, before the Chaos' tail came down hard against his body and slammed him onto the stage. "Shit," Lupin hissed, following after Jigen, who was already sprinting towards the stage to help the swordsman.

Gun ripped out of his beltloop, Jigen fired off a few shots into the air to disperse the crowd further, but unfortunately it drew the Chaos' attention rather quickly as well. It was enough for Goemon to roll away and, clutching his ribs, retrieve Zantetsuken from the stage floor. He was injured, but he could stand and draw the blade.

"Waaaait!" Lupin cried, clamoring up onto the stage with surprising agility, putting himself between the two men and the Chaos. "Hang on a second!" he shouted, whirling around to face the Chaos with his hands out. "Everyone calm down. Jigen, we're only here for a sample, remember? Our client wants DNA. I don't wanna kill it." He jammed a thumb back at the Chaos after he'd turned back to his partner. The Chaos' expression, as much as it could change, shifted into something like surprise.

[zapdragon555]

In the silence (other than crowd noise) that followed Lupin's declaration, Goemon staggered slightly from his sturdy stance, and Jigen's hand came up to steady him by the shoulder. "Alright. Whatever. And then what? There's Seraphs coming. We'll all die if we don't hurry up and get out of here."

It was then when Fujiko emerged from the tent, a question as to what was going on on her lips, interrupted by a startled scream and a stagger backwards. "Th-that's--!"

"Yes, this is the Chaos. Fujiko, Chaos," Jigen muttered, gesturing his gunpoint between the two. "Any bright ideas, lady?"

Fujiko recovered herself quite quickly, staring at the huge dragon, then looking out on the horizon--an abnormal glint of light told her all she needed to know. She'd heard of Seraphs, and their cruelty. One glance at Lupin's hopeful expression, and she gathered the rest. "Yes. Most of the performers ran off. A few left their costumes behind. One's quite impressive. Boys?" She turned to Goemon and Jigen, the former of which seemed a little more willing to listen than the latter. "Think you can handle being a distraction for us?"

"You mean bait," Jigen muttered, but was already following Goemon into the tent. He had to admit it wasn't the worst plan--if it didn't get Jigen and Goemon shot full of holy light. But he supposed the Seraphs were intending to cut back on collateral damage. Hopefully.

Lupin watched them leave with a tilt of worry to his brow, before Fujiko drew his attention back away. "Come on. Let's get this gentleman to safety." She patted the Chaos' shoulder, frowning at the shoddy gold paint job that came away on her hand.

"He's not gonna fit in the Fiat," Lupin groaned, leaping off the stage's back side, trailing behind the lizard and the love of his life.

[zapdragon555]

The plan went... well, swimmingly would be a generous label, but Jigen and Goemon weren't dead, and they'd bought quite a lot of time running around in a two-person Gendragutte costume. When the Seraphs moved on, Goemon was wheezing, and Jigen's brows furrowed at the samurai's distress. "Your ribs are fucked," he murmured, an observation that warranted a nod from Goemon.

"It was the beast's tail. Such force behind it... had I not been distracted, I'd have cut it in two," he panted softly, and Jigen hoisted the costume off of the both of them with a herculean effort. It clattered to the ground, mostly fabric and wood, and he reached out to steady the samurai.

"I'll beat Lupin up for it later. And patch you up. C'mon, we should catch up with them," Jigen's voice was encouraging, and it seemed to be enough to pull Goemon's mind off the pain in his chest.

---

There was no sign of any of them on the outskirts of the festival. It was a ghost town, so they couldn't have missed them... Jigen's blood was starting to boil at the thought of having been abandoned out here, but just before he could throw his hat on the ground and cuss a blue streak to the sky, he caught wind of the familiar sound of the Fiat kicking up sand.

"Thank god," Jigen turned around to almost get a face full of sand as the car skidded to a stop, but he'd managed to leap back at the last moment. Goemon stood from where he'd been crouching, his expression wary.

"All aboard the get-outta-this-shithole express!" Lupin honked the horn once, a sound that reverberated ominously throughout the empty festival. Jigen knocked him gently in the side of the head, and Lupin crawled into the passenger seat as Goemon took his place in the back. Jigen stepped on the gas and tore off, leaving what was left of the festival behind.

He seemed to be in better spirits than before. "So. We all got what we wanted. You got to save your big lizard, we came away with the DNA--" Jigen paused, his smile flatlining, then turning downwards. "You didn't get a DNA sample, did you."

Lupin grinned a huge smile. "Jigen, honey, you wound me! Did you think I'd let that Chaos get away without swiping a couple of his scales?" He reached into his back pocket. "I'm tellin' ya, you need to trust... me..." Lupin's grin started to fade. "More..."

Jigen's eyes slid away from the road for just a moment to stare hard at Lupin.

"...often..."

"Where's the scales, Lup," Jigen asked after a long pause. Lupin jolted and started patting his hands all over himself, trying to find the pocket he must have put them in. No dice. "Lupin," Jigen barked, and Lupin yelped.

"Okay, okay, listen, so... Fujiko--"

"Yeah!? What about Fujiko?" Jigen's voice was raised now, his grip on the wheel white-knuckled.

"So Fujiko said we should do this again sometime or something I dunno I wasn't listening but then she kissed me and you know how handsy she gets sometimes and ahh I don't know I guess probably she had time to pickpocket me and swipe the scales but how was I supposed to know she was after the scales huh?" Lupin rattled it off all in one breath, and thank goodness the road was empty of cars, because Jigen had half thrown himself into the passenger's side to get Lupin in a headlock and shout-lecture him for the billionth time on trusting 'that bitch' and how it always tanned their hides in the worst kind of way.

"The road," Goemon spoke up over the commotion in the front of the car, and Jigen snapped back to the wheel like a magnet, still muttering curses as Lupin tried to tuck his clothes and hair back into place from the scuffle.

"Goemon, why didn'tcha tell us Fuji was after the Chaos' DNA, too?" Lupin whined, clearly miserable about the situation, and the samurai's expression fell slightly, reaching up to pick at the faux scales on his cheek.

"I... truly thought she was just in it for the costume contest," he mumbled. The dejected tone in his voice actually drew a half-chuckle from Jigen in the front seat. "She's charming."

"She is..." Lupin sighed, which soured Jigen's laughter into a more grumbling sigh. "Hey, Goemon, you think we can pass off those fake scales on your face for the real deal?"

"Unlikely."

"Worth a shot."