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Death is a joke...

Scarlet's smile quickly faded as one of the goons lifted up a walkie talkie. There shouldn't be anyone else in the casino. Her defenses would have reacted. Who were they talking to? Maybe it was just a bluff? Her question was answered a moment later as she heard an all-too-familiar laugh echo through the walkie talkie. She grit her teeth as the goons surrounded her. She knew the Perfume Lady would come for her sooner or later but that didn't make it any better when she did. Still, Scarlet had had plenty of time to prepare for this. Even if she hadn't, the room directly in front of the vault was chock-full of defenses. She didn't seem to mind as they surrounded her.

"I don't have time for this," Scarlet muttered as she snapped her fingers. Suddenly panels in the ceiling opened up above them and several nozzles released a rush of madness-fueled fire down into the room. Being her own resonance force, Scarlet wasn't harmed by the fire but they made short work of the mooks, burning them to ash in moments. The immediate issue had been taken care of but Scarlet knew she wouldn't have long before the Perfume Lady was upon her. Scarlet closed her eyes and focused for a moment. Suddenly all across the casino the shells immediately dropped what they were doing and erupted into violence, attacking each other and anyone else in sight. The purpose of this little trick was straight forward. The sudden increase of action and resonance force all across the Casino would make it much harder to find Scarlet, at least using her own wavelength as it would blend in with the wavelength of the chaos going on around her. Scarlet snapped her fingers again and suddenly she was back in her private quarters. Even so, she wouldn't have long before The Perfume Lady realized she wasn't in the fault and could guess where she'd gone. She quickly gathered up several strange looking books from her bookshelf before pointing at it and burning it to the ground. She took the books and stuffed them inside her coat. She had to leave. There was no doubt about it. Fortunately she had come up with a place to lay low while the Perfume Lady searched for her. Friends in high places, so to speak. As far as she knew, the Perfume Lady was unaware of her connection to her new destination, giving Scarlet the perfect opportunity to hide. "Curse her..." the Magician muttered to herself as she went about either stashing or burning important documents related to future plans she had.

Death is a joke...

Scarlet finished sorting between what she wanted to burn and what she wanted to keep. With a snap of her fingers the documents slated for burning burst into flames, slowly blackening and crinkling under the heat. She placed the documents she wanted to keep in a small case she stashed in her coat. She could tell the Perfume Lady's movements from how she seemed to calm the shells around her. Another one of her strange abilities. Scarlet let out a sigh as she heard the Perfume Lady's calls filter through the speakers. "Get a life, lady," she muttered aloud as she sat down in her favorite chair and crossed her legs, waiting. She realized she was taking a risk to meet The Perfume Lady just so she could taunt her, but Scarlet couldn't help herself. This woman had dared to break into her casino and chase after her. Her! How dare she.

As she waited Scarlet sat musing to herself. She was fairly confident in her escape plan. Her....patron would more than welcome her presence. The man she had in mind certainly cherished her and she was willing to humor him. Life was give and take after all. Besides, it wouldn't be a bad setup. She would be living with someone who could provide cover for her and take care of himself as well. And most importantly, she would be safe from that wretched woman. Scarlet allowed herself a small smile as she thought of that last statement. The Perfume Woman could pull her hair out looking for Scarlet for all she cared. Besides, being a Mafia Madam wasn't a bad life...

Death is a joke...

Scarlet grit her teeth in frustration as she heard her casino being destroyed and her own shells turned against her. Part of her wanted to walk out and start shooting anything that moved, but she knew that would be foolish. Instead she sat patiently waiting. When the final door was crushed and The Perfume Lady stepped through to greet her, Scarlet kept a neutral but pleasant expression. "And there YOU are you obnoxious woman," she replied, keeping her pleasant tone. "I can't say I missed you." She leaned back in her chair as she watched her adversary. She could feel herself getting weaker and she knew she was getting weaker but she had time to trade one more barb. "What brings someone as esteemed as yourself to my humble casino?" She asked, the sarcasm evident in her voice.

Death is a joke...

Scarlet finally allowed herself a genuine smirk. "Oh, I don't think that will be happening anytime soon," she told the Perfume Lady as red symbols slowly started to glow around her chair. "Did you really think I would let you get this close to me without an escape plan?" She asked. The symbols flashed and Scarlet snapped her fingers, vanishing in a blast of resonance force. The resonance force was not just a catalyst for Scarlet's transportation, it was also a trigger for the bombs planted beneath the casino to detonate, engulfing the building in a fiery explosion. The explosion itself wouldn't do more than scratch anyone powerful enough to breach Scarlet's casino (though the same couldn't be said for their minions). It was more of a middle finger to the intruders.

Several miles away Scarlet appeared in her chair, legs still crossed and several miles closer to her destination. "Let's see how you like that," she said with a smirk. She had enough of a head-start to give her plenty of time to arrive at her destination, still she had taken enough risks for one day. She got up and started towards her new home, leaving the lone chair behind as a testament to her escape.

[[Exit Scarlet]]