The automobile purred as it made its way down the streets of Shanghai. The starless sky spanned over the city as windows and streetlights glowed. The streets were crowded as commuters, workers, and pedestrians milled to and fro. Wu Han was missing from the vehicle, having already gone undercover to help watch Indiana's back while they made the final deal with the mobsters.

"We he- We're here, Doctah Jones," Short Round said, depressing the brakes as they turned a final corner. Neon lighting framed a sign written in English, with Chinese lettering to its side.

"CLUB OBI-WAN"

Indiana Jones, clothed in a fine white suit with a bowtie, a false red flower on his left breast, and lacking his usual Fedora, reached for the door handle. Looking to the back seat, where Anna sat with her head dipped and eyes averted, he tried his best to comfort her, "Hey, Anna. You doing alright?"

Anna looked up to him with a rather long face, "No. Why would I be?"

"Yeah... yeah," Indiana frowned, taking his hand off of the door for a moment and turning around to look at her, "Listen, Anna. I'm sorry about yesterday, and last night, okay? You were just trying to do the right thing."

"I just want to go home..." Anna muttered, drawing her hind legs close and looking away.

Indiana resisted the temptation to make a snide remark about her being the one wanting to come along in the first place and simply gave a weak smile, "We'll be in the States by the end of the week, okay? I'm not mad at you or anything, we're going to take some time to relax."

"Okay..." Anna shrugged, still not meeting his eyes.

"Yeah," Indiana sighed, looking thoughtful for a moment before turning his head towards Short Round, "Keep circling the club. Be ready to step on it if things go south. If I'm not out by..." he checked his watch, "Ten o' clock... head back to the hotel," looking towards Anna, he continued, "And Anna. Just in case, I want you to go and fly to one of the rooftops near here. You hear gunshots, people walking near you, anything, you fly as fast as you can to the airport and look for Art Weber. Tell him you were with Indiana Jones."

"Okay," Anna finally straightened up a bit, looking out the window up to one of the nearby rooftops.

"Remember the rules, this time, okay?" Indiana attempted a smile as he probed Anna one last time.

Anna's gave a long-suffering sigh, "Yeah..."

"I love you, okay?" Indiana said as he leaned back from the window, straightening up his suit jacket.

Anna stayed silent as she watched him walk for the club entrance. After a moment, she whispered, "Love you too, Dad..."

Short Round gave her a sympathetic frown as he turned in his seat, "Doctah Jones will be okay, Anna. He always is."

"I sure hope so," Anna mumbled as she opened the car door, stepping onto the sidewalk before taking off and flying for the rooftops. She watched as the car pulled away from the curb and motored down the street.

"Anything goes!"

The singer on stage finished with a final crescendo from the live band. The patrons of the club cheered as the performers, the lead singer included, ran off the stage, getting out of the customer's hairs as they dispersed up the stairs and into the staff areas.

Indiana Jones's eyes swept the club as he walked in. He knew better than to think Lao Che had just selected any old nightclub to meet in, this place was probably just a front for his business. He had to assume everyone wearing staff uniforms here, and perhaps certain members of the crowd, were in with the mob.

"Talk about jumping feet-first into the dragon's lair," Indiana thought to himself, giving a glance at the giant dragon head prop on the stage as he walked down the rest of the flight of stairs to the club floor, dress shoes clicking softly.

There was only one person amongst the waiting staff that he could trust. The man in question walked by, an empty platter in his hand and a napkin around his arm. Wu Han leaned in to whisper to him, "Be careful."

Indiana reached into his pocket, almost on instinct. He did not have his revolver with him, as it was too much of a risk to bring it into a negotiation where it could be found by Lao's personal bodyguards. Taking in a deep breath, he walked confidently towards a table near the center of the club. There, he recognized him.

Lao Che was a taller than average Chinese man with a full, but not muscular composure. He wore a black suit with a white bowtie and flower, just like his two underlings sitting to either side of him. Indiana suppressed a sneer as he saw the man sitting beside him. He couldn't see his hand, but he knew that hand was missing a finger after the incident last night. He suppressed the urge to quickdraw and blast the man who'd tried to steal his daughter away. He resisted, and removed his hand from his pocket as he sat down on the empty seat, clearly reserved for him.

"Wǎnshàng hǎo nǐ hǎo ma?" Indiana said as he sat down. Two men in black suits provided him a napkin a pat-down search.

Lao Che tilted his head slightly, "I did not know you spoke my language, Doctor Jones."

Indiana kept his face neutral as he adjusted his coat, the two suited men backing away, "Only on... special occasions.'

Lao Che leaned forward, "So it is true. You have found Nurhachi?"

Indiana raised an eyebrow playfully, "You know I did. One of your boys has been tailing us this entire time, and last night he tried to break into my daughter's room," his eyes fixed onto the man in question, who flinched and raised his left hand, wrapped in bandages and missing a finger.

Lao Che straightened in his seat, voice turning sour, "You have insulted my son."

"No, you've insulted me," Indiana dismissed, keeping his cool outer demeanour, "If I'd tried to steal your son, you'd have killed me. I spared your son's life."

The man to Lao Che's right stood up, slamming his palm onto the table, "Nǐ shuō shénme?!"

Before things could escalate any further, a woman wearing an expensive, scaled dress ran up behind Lao Che. Indiana recognized her as the woman who'd been leading the performance on stage just before he arrived. Placing two gloved hands on the mobster's shoulder, she looked at Indiana as she smiled, "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

The presence of the woman calmed Lao Che slightly, who put a hand out to make his minion sit. Using the same hand, he pointed to the woman, "This is Willie Scott..."

Indiana Jones rose politely, smiling as he admired her figure. She was a young woman, probably in her twenties. A medium build, with curly blonde hair. She was wearing an expensive, probably Parisian, dress that was a mix of red and gold. She had blue eyes and an almost vapid air of naivete on her face as she glanced up and down at him - Indiana would bet money that she didn't have a damn idea what was going on.

"...This is Indiana Jones, the famous archaeologist," Lao Che finished.

Willie Scott hummed as she walked around the table, taking a seat to Indiana's left, "Well I thought archaeologists were always these funny little men looking for their mommies."

Indiana sat down as she did, blinking slightly before correcting, "Er- Mummies."

Lao Che, still looking at Willie, bowed his head slightly, "Doctor Jones found Nurhachi for me. And he's going to deliver it..." he looked towards his son, "Now."

"Say, who is this Nurhachi-" Willie Scott began, still clueless.

Indiana's body tensed, heart rate rising to a familiar pitch as the sound of a revolver's click permeated past the calm piano ambiance playing from the stage. His moment of panic did not last long, as trained instincts kicked in. A cart carrying freshly roasted meat rumbled past behind him, and he reached for the handle of a long, sharp fork sitting on it, his other arm grasping Willie's right.

Dragging her seat towards him, he shoved the fork right to the space between her ribs, right where he knew a deep plunge could stab into her heart. She protested, of course, but Indiana's focus was instead on Lao Che's son, "Put the gun away, sonny," he pressed the fork harder against her dress to prove his point.

Lao Che slowly looked towards his son, before nodding subtly. The nine-fingered man pushed the hammer forward and lowered the revolver.

"I suggest you give me what you owe me," he jabbed into her side again with the fork, causing her to grimace in discomfort, "Or anything goes."

Tension filled the air, despite the pleasant conversations, laughter, and calming music filling the club. Slowly, Lao Che reached into his pocket, procuring a small cloth pouch. Placing it on the rotating tray in the center of the table, he spun it around until it faced Indiana.

Keeping his eyes on Lao Che and his men, Indiana ordered Willie, "Open it."

Breathing heavily from the stress, Willie reached forward, sparing a nervous glance behind her towards Indiana. Undoing the drawstring keeping the pouch shut, she emptied it into her hands, revealing only a few gilded coins.

Clicking his tongue, Indiana fixed Lao Che with a glare, "The diamond, Lao. The deal was for the diamond."

Nervously, Willie dumped the coins and the pouch back onto the tray, spinning it around back towards Lao Che. The mobster, poker face remaining strong, set his jaw as he took an object, wrapped in white cloth from his pocket, and placed it on the table.

Spinning it around, Willie Scott once again picked it up and unwrapped it. Inside, a glittering white jewel was found. Admiring it in her hand, Willie looked towards Lao Che, "Oh... Lao- OW!"

With a slight stab, Indiana took the diamond from her. Resting the fork on the table, he kept the diamond in his hand. For the first time, he noticed a cocktail sitting on the table in front of him. After being remote and then on the plane for so long, he felt like a good drink. Cherishing the feeling of the Peacock's Eye in his palm, he reached for the cup and raised it to his lips, raising it first to Lao Che, "To your very good health."

Before he could drink, Willie Scott suddenly got up, her elbow knocking his and spilling some of the drink onto the table. Her voice tight and provoked, she complained, "Lao! He put a hole- he put two holes in my dress from Paris!" she finished by getting up in Indiana's face.

"Sit down!" Lao Che demanded. Willie Scott complied, sitting back down on her chair and quickly kicking away from Indiana, her eyes darting between him and the fork he had pressed into her dress. Lao Che steepled his hands in front of him, fixing Indiana with his glare, "Now. You will bring me Nurhachi."

"Who on Earth is this Nurhachi anyhow?" Willie asked.

Indiana simply raised a hand as if he was signalling a waiter. From behind him, Wu Han walked up, his platter now carrying the artefact in question. Taking it from the tray, Wu Han disappeared back into the crowd as Indiana turned towards Lao Che, "Here he is."

The jade urn spun on the lazy susan towards Lao Che and his mobsters. Willie Scott leaned forward, looking at it as it passed by, "This Nurhachi's a real small guy..."

Indiana smiled as the Lao Che took it almost reverently. His sons leaned in as their faces lit up. Voice quavering, Lao Che spoke, "Inside... are the remains of Nurhachi. First Emperor... of Manchu Dynasty..."

Indiana raised his glass once more, "Welcome home, old boy," then, with the exchange finally complete, he took a nice, long swig of the cup.

As he lowered the glass, still half empty, he furrowed his brow as the mobsters on the other side of the table began to chuckle, then laugh. With a frown, he asked, "What's so funny?"

Lao Che, a sinister grin spread wide across his face, answered, "Where is she, Doctor Jones? Where is your daughter now?"

Indiana ran a finger through his collar. Was it just the nerves, or did his stomach feel upset? "Are you trying to develop a sense of humor, or am I going deaf?"

Lao Che shook his head, reaching into his pocket and procuring a vial of blue liquid, "Doctor Jones, we make a new deal. Your 'daughter' would make a... most excellent addition to my collection. So, you tell us where you told her to hide, and you get this antidote."

"Antidote?" a bead of sweat began to run down Indiana's forehead as his heart raced again.

"To the poison-" Lao Che snickered as his two sons laughed, "To the poison you just drank, Doctor Jones. The poison works fast."

Thinking fast, Indiana took the fork from the table and pulled Willie over to his side once again, pressing the fork against her side. At the same time, both Indiana and Willie shouted, "Lao!"

Lao Che, suppressing his laughter to talk, leaned forward on the table, "You keep the girl, Doctor Jones. I will find another!"

A betrayed look flashed over Willie's face as she watched Lao laugh. Suddenly, the click of a revolver's hammer came over the music once again. This time, though, it was far more comforting, even as his stomach burned with malicious fluid. It was on his side of the table. Standing next to Indiana, Wu Han wielded a revolver beneath his serving tray (currently topped with the remains of the poisoned drink), the barrel pointed directly at Lao Che. Their laughter died instantly.

"That's not a waiter!" Willie pointed out, subtly attempting to squirm away from the offending edge of the fork.

"Wu Han's an old friend of mine. Hell freezes over before I give over my daughter to you, Lao," Indiana growled, dropping the fork and extending his hand, "Antidote!"

Suddenly, the sounds of celebrations filled the room. Champagne bottles popped, going off like gunshots all around... until the sound of an actual gunshot caught Indiana's attention in particular. First, he looked over to Wu Han's weapon, not seeing any smoke. Then, he looked over to Lao Che. The smoking gun was instead with them, as Lao Che's nine fingered son slowly lowered his own piece.

In an instant, Wu Han collapsed into Indiana's arms. Blood pooled across his chest from where the bullet had hit him. The revolver fell onto the table, where Lao's son grabbed it away before any of the club-goers could see it or Indiana could grab it. Supporting Wu Han's weight, Indiana felt weakness coursing through his bones as a subtle ringing began in his ears.

The man, one of his longer lasting friends he'd met on his adventures, choked slightly as he spasmed in his grip. Leaning over towards him, he whispered, "Indiana, your daughter..."

"We're gonna-" Indiana took his napkin, pressing it against the wound in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding, "We're gonna get you out of here, Wu Han, just hang in there..."

"Not this time. Take her home..." he choked out, "Show her... you really love her. I go... I go find out the greatest mystery of mankind... first.."

Chills ran down Indiana's spine, counteracting the shivers and quakes he felt as his stomach and organs burned. Wu Han had breathed his last, and lifelessly fell out of Indiana's grip to the floor, blood trailing from his mouth and spilling through the stained napkin on his chest.

"Do not worry, Doctor Jones. You will soon be joining him," Lao Che grinned from the other side of the table, "I will renegotiate my previous offer. Tell us where she is, and she will get a private stable, away from the other horses," he sneered, "Don't worry. We will find her no matter what. She stands out, Doctor Jones. What will she ever do without you around to protect her?"

The constant feeling of losing his balance overtook him as his insides burned, sweat dripping down his forehead as if he had just run a marathon. Indiana Jones stumbled slightly as the mobsters laughed at their victory over him. In the corner of his eyes, a flaming skewer of meat rattled on a meal cart behind him, and he took his chance, grabbing the handle and throwing it at the first mobster his spinning vision locked onto.

The sharp end of the skewer landed true, and the flaming pidgeon on it ignited the man's shirt as he screamed out in pain. In his right hand, a revolver went off as he squeezed off the trigger from the shock, the gunshot ringing loud and true throughout the club without any champagne bottles popping to disguise its sound. Someone screamed, and soon enough the sounds of panic filled the club as tables were abandoned and the common spaces filled with fleeing civilians.

Willie Scott, noticing the diamond that Indiana had, at some point, dropped, picked it up to admire it in one of her gloved hands. At the same time, Indiana Jones launched himself over the table, hand outstretched for the antidote, only to fumble and knock it off the table onto the floor, where the vial fortunately survived.

Meanwhile, on a nearby rooftop, Anna sighed as she waited. She knew from passing conversation that her father was meant to meet with Lao Che on the top floor of the club, but unfortunately for her the windows on the top floor were made of stained glass, and were too foggy for her to observe anything through. So, she was simply left with her thoughts as she sat on top of a rooftop ventilation system, fans spinning and humming below her.

"Was this the big old adventure I thought I was going on?" Anna said to herself, looking up towards the night sky, "...Naw, not really. And now I'll probably never see Short Round again. No way I'm doing this twice... no way Dad's even letting me do this twice."

So that meant back to the regular status quo, she guessed. Back to America, back to Bedford. Back to Indiana never being around. Back to studying foreign places from textbooks and marking places on maps. All things considered, her experience on their expedition wasn't all that bad. She'd gotten to see quite a lot of China. Even if the beds were rough, the streets stinky, and the customs weird... she'd actually found herself enjoying it. Even if there hadn't been any ancient temples or hidden realms, at least she got to poke around a shipwreck.

The sounds of popping perked her ears as she looked back towards the top story windows of the club. Her more sensitive ears could recognize the sounds of champagne bottles... but she most definitely heard a gunshot mixed in with the sounds. She picked herself up to her hooves, quickly glancing around her, particularly towards the access door on the other side of the roof. Still, nobody was trying to intrude.

"You hear gunshots, people walking near you, anything, you fly as fast as you can to the airport and look for Art Weber," Indiana had said, and she looked out East towards the place where she knew the airport was.

She looked back at the club window. Her ears perked as another gunshot rang from the club, unaccompanied by any other sounds. Soon afterwards, screams echoed through the walls as shapes moved back and forth in the glass.

Anna rocked back and forth on her hooves as she looked over towards the airport again. The previous day flashed across her mind. This was precisely the thing she had been warned against doing. She had nearly gotten everyone killed last time, or at least so had Indy said in his anger.

She looked down. Her whip dangled from her cross-belt, and her revolver had been returned to her after her father had used it at the smuggler's hideout. But, there was one more object that caught her eye. A small, gold-plated pocket watch, ticking softly despite the sounds coming from inside the club.

She remembered her reflection in it. Something stirred within her. The same power rushed across her hide, even if there weren't any glowing lights to accompany it this time.

Anna was very, very scared, but she knew exactly what she needed to do.

Without giving herself a chance to think it over better in case she changed her mind, she reached for a nearby brick. Then, taking flight she crossed the gap between the buildings, setting her jaw and squinting her eyes to protect from glass shards as she threw the brick through the window, shattering it on impact.

Flying through the opening, Anna drew her revolver, aiming at the ceiling as she surveyed the scene. A woman screamed at the sight of her as people rushed to and fro, heading for the exits. If it weren't for her power of flight keeping her safely aloft above their heads, she would've surely been trampled beneath their feet.

Several men in black suits and white ties were spilling from the staff areas, some of them armed. The sight of Indiana's white suit caught her eye, and her heart rate increased as she saw him stumble around, a drunken and flushed look on his face as he fought off a few of the black-suited men. However, through the chaos, her eyes landed on the table in the center of the room.

There was a man on fire attempting to put himself out as he beat at the flames, a flaming skewer of some sort of meat stuck into his stomach. Lying dead on the floor on the other side of the table, though, was a more familiar body. Wu Han, dressed as a waiter, with an empty, lifeless look in his eyes, stared straight for Anna as she hovered there in midair.

Indiana's voice cut through the crowd, directed to her, "ANNA!" he shouted, attracting her attention to him as he pointed in her general direction, "The men in black suits! Keep away from them! Get out of here!"

One of the men in the crowd of black suits pointed towards her, "GET HER! GRAB HER! HURT HER AND I KILL YOU!"

Anna's eyes shot wide open as several of the men began to ran towards her, weaving between the fleeing civilians and the tables. Wielding her revolver, she aimed in their general direction before squeezing the trigger in panic, reflexively shutting her eyes as the revolver boomed. She did it once more, before opening her eyes to realize in a rush of fear that she had sent two of her shots directly over the charging mobster's heads.

Instead choosing to evade, she angled herself, flapping her wings as one of the men reached for her, escaping their range as they stumbled over each other. Holstering her revolver, she went for her whip instead as another man leapt from a table for her and failed.

Most of the civilians had fled the room and the nightclub floor was clear of obstructions. Through her peripheral vision, Anna saw a bunch of the mobsters throwing axes at Indiana, which he dodged as they struck a statue behind him. Unfurling her own whip, Anna mustered her strength as she did a standard crack at the men approaching her. The whipping cord and the sound of the supersonic crack caused them to flinch backwards, but not for long as a few reached up to shield their eyes and charge ever closer.

A strange energy built in her hoof near the handle of the whip, and gave into it with spur of the moment abandon. The whip cracked once again, but this time sent a rippling tide of wind in the direction of the men. In one strike, three of them fell to the ground, their suits ripped as a hot, red gash formed along their arms and chests.

A bowl spilled and tiny ice cubes went everywhere, sliding past underneath Anna as she blinked at her handiwork. A woman screamed in frustration somewhere.

"What- What the hell are you still doing here, Anna?" Indiana screamed from behind her.

Anna gritted her teeth and sent her energy into her whip again as a new crowd of mobsters approached, her wind once again smashing over them as they stumbled, "I'm saving you!" she shouted.

"Saving..." he stuttered, before looking over towards a woman in a red dress nearby, holding a vial of blue liquid, "Hey! You! Stay right there!"

"Huh?" Anna paused for a moment, looking at the woman, "What's that?"

"Antidote..." Indiana stumbled over the ice cubes as he chased her and Anna broke her hover to fly after him, dodging more of the men as they slowly surrounded the room.

The sound of a charging handle being pulled back filled the room, and Anna looked over her shoulder as one of the suited men wielded an SMG aimed in her father's direction. Thinking quickly, she dived in front of Indiana as he grabbed the woman's arm, spreading out her legs to cover the most surface area in front of him as possible.

Rage filled the SMG-wielder's face as he held his fire, aiming the barrel around as Indiana stumbled, trying to get an opening. Finally, grabbing her father's arm, Anna shouted, "The exit! Come on! They're gonna seal it off!"

Indiana didn't argue as he kept his grip on both the woman with the vial and Anna, letting her lead them towards the exit.

"I DON'T WANNA DIEEEEEEEE!" the woman screamed as she half-ran, half stumbled across the club floor, cringing away from the sight of the gunner.

One of the mobsters moved to block the entrance, but Anna brought her whip around again, striking at the man directly. Without his hands raised to protect his face, the whip's cord slashed directly across his ear and cheek, the same wind tide rippling down its length and tossing balloons into the air.

The party pushed by as the mobster languished in pain on the floor. A door with a painted "EXIT" sign bore dead ahead, and Anna pushed through it as a spray of bullets hit the neighboring stairwell from the frustrated SMG mobster. On the other side of the door, the Joneses and their plus one paused only for a moment as they looked down the hallways that stretched both left and right around the building. The clear place to proceed was an unglamorous utility elevator on the other side of the hall.

"Hold the elevator!" Indiana shouted as he barreled towards it, hardly remaining upright as his eyes unfocused and his arms flailed to try and keep steady.

A teenaged Chinese boy in a boiler suit, operating the elevator, bugged his eyes as he quickly reached for the handle for the door. The folding bars began to slide closed, but Anna reached the doorway first with her superior speed as the exit door burst open with pursuing mobsters behind them. Jamming her hoof in the way of the bars, she bit her tongue at the crushing pain as she forced it back open, swinging through the gap and planting her back hooves into the operator's stomach, knocking him into the back wall where he crumpled unceremoniously. Indiana and the red-dressed woman clambered in behind him.

"Hit the button!" Indiana screamed as he hit the deck, a spray of gunfire barely missing him as Anna flew back from the back of the elevator, pulling a lever on the control console into a down facing position.

A bell rang in the elevator as it began to descend. Through the gap between the floor and the doorway of the elevator, Anna saw several of the mobsters begin to descend a stairwell nearby, the SMG-wielding maniac watching them with fury as he threw his gun to the floor.

"Sir! Sir we just met! I'm not that kinda girl!" the woman in red screamed, attracting Anna's attention as she watched her father pin the woman to the wall. Indiana reached his left fingers into the dress's breast pocket, and both of the females in the elevator cringed.

Before Anna could open her mouth to protest, Indiana's hand resurfaced with the blue vial of liquid, which he began to unscrew with shaky hands. A loud "THUD" sounded from the elevator ceiling, causing Anna and the woman to look upwards. Suddenly, a small square hatch on the ceiling was kicked open as the SMG-wielding man fell onto the floor nearby. Getting up from his fall, the mobster looked at Anna, and she recognized him instantly.

"You!" He growled.

"Oh god," Anna's eyes bugged open as the man lunged for her.

Just before he could reach her, Indiana's arm wrapped around his neck, pulling back away and towards the other wall of the elevator. Indiana looked at his daughter with refocusing eyes as the empty vial plinked off the floor at their feet, "Kick him! Kick him!"

The mobster drew a knife and began to raise it to stab his attacker. However, Anna reacted in the nick of time, throwing her weight into a punch straight into the highest thing in reach of the small pony - his crotch. The mobster's scream reached a soprano, and the knife dropped to the floor. Indiana, taking advantage of the mobster's stunned status, swung his body around, smashing the mobster's head into the metal supports on the walls until blood trailed from his skull and he dropped to the floor, out cold.

"Who are you people!?" the woman demanded as she pressed herself into a corner of the elevator.

Indiana turned, as if to answer, but his eyes widened as the elevator reached the next floor. Three mobsters logjammed themselves against the door, wrenching the bars opened as the elevator continued to descend. One of them made it through the gap, leaping onto the elevator switch and putting it back into reverse, the elevator responding in kind as it ascended.

Anna spread her wings and went to throw a punch, but the mobster met it with a block throwing her up towards the ceiling. Pieces of the elevator cabin's roof fell as she hit the floor, her body roaring with pain. Sparks fell as the lamp that had been illuminating the lift fell to the ground next to her with a crash.

Indiana Jones followed up on the mobster's attack with a swift kick to his side, the mobster still being in a vulnerable position after throwing Anna. Then, reaching into a nearby box of frozen seafood, he launched an ice cold fish chunk at the next man attempting to squeeze through the half-opened elevator door, the seafood making a resounding "CLOUNK" as it bounced off of the man's skull.

The last of the three interloping mobsters drew a pistol, aiming it for Indiana Jones, his body not blocked by Anna anymore. Thinking fast, Anna refocused her vision and grabbed for the lightbulb rolling around on the floor next to her. Throwing it as if she was pitching back in a neighborhood game of baseball, she threw it between the bars at the pistol wielder. The incandescent glass smashed onto his face, the tiny shards embedding into his skin as blood began to pour, causing his shot to go wide.

Indiana leaned all of his weight onto the door, slamming it back shut before the stunned mobster could recover. Anna leapt for the elevator switch, jamming it into the downwards position once more as the elevator stopped its ascent and travelled downwards again.

For a moment, the elevator ride grew quiet, and Indiana finally turned back around and answered the woman's question, "...I'm Indiana Jones. This is my daughter, Anna Jones."

The woman panted heavily as she looked between the miniature horse occupying the elevator and the man who had been threatening to take her life a moment ago, "...What kind of archaeologist are you? And what kind of dog is that!?"

Anna, clutching at her bruised midsection and breathing heavily, simple replied with, "Woof."

Indiana didn't answer, noticing the ground floor of the club approaching, where a kitchen connected directly to the utility elevator. Wrenching the elevator doors open, he took the woman's hand and ran through before the floor passed and squeezed them off. Anna ran after them, blinking a few of the stars out of her eyes as she slipped through the gap.

The staff working the kitchen panicked as they blundered through, shouting in Chinese at them. A few mobsters blasted through the door separating the eating area from the kitchen, chasing them. Indiana grabbed a pot, throwing it with all his might over Anna's head, smashing the lead mobster in the face. He topped backwards, logjamming the rest behind him in the narrow aisle of the kitchen.

One final door was thrown open, leaving them outside in the cool night air. As soon as Anna was through, Indiana put his back into rolling a large, heavy dumpster that was sitting next to the exit in front of the door. No sooner was the dumpster in front of the door did the door begin to thump with people trying to kick it down.

"Holy shit..." Anna breathed as she watched the door vibrate with the angry people on the other side.

Indiana jumped back to the street corner, waving an arm as a familiar white automobile completed a circuit and came to a stop nearby, "In the car! In the car now, all of you!"

Anna ran in front of the woman, ripping open the back door and jumping inside, the red dressed woman following her quickly. Indiana Jones dived in soon after, closing the door as mobsters began to appear at the main entrance of the club. From the front seat, Short Round peeked his head to look back at his passengers, "Holy smokes. Hot escape!"

"Shorty!" Indiana pulled out his revolver, "Step on it!"

"Okie Dokie Doctah Jones, hold onto your potatoes!" Short Round pulled his cap down, before turning around and putting his hands on the wheel.

"Oh for crying out loud now there's a kid driving the car!" the woman shouted, her hands in her hair as she tried in vain to fix the mess it had become.

The accelerator was slammed just as gunshots were fired from the entrance to the club, pinging off of the road and the frame of the car as it zoomed away. Anna spared one look back through the rear window, seeing a black roadster pulling up to pick up some of the mobsters. Reaching for her gun holster again, she shouted, "We got company!"

"Shit," Indiana swore as he took his revolver from below the rear seat, smashing out the back window with the handle as Short Round drifted around a corner.

The car ploughed through a row of lanterns. Sparks flew as electrical wires were torn from the impact, and soon a trail of flaming lanterns followed them as their lines caught in the car's chassis. At the far end of the road, the black roadster made the turn, roaring towards them. Two mobsters hanging onto the sides began to shoot, not aiming for the car's occupants, but for the tires of the car instead.

Indiana aimed his gun, firing it several times before clicking onto an empty chamber. Turning around, he shouted, "Why we slowing down, Shorty!?"

Anna pressed herself into her seat, heart thundering with fear and adrenaline as she tried in vain to slow her breathing. In front of the car, a rickshaw was slowing down the chase, Short Round thundering on the horn to try and get the puller to get out of the way. As the chase continued, her mind tried to claw for the logic behind the entire situation she had just went through. Images of Wu Han's dead body staring at her flashed through her mind, the carnage spilling from the lightbulb cuts, the blood streaming from her two-time attacker's head...

Indiana took his revolver, the chamber opened, and shoved it into the woman's hands, "Here, hold this!" he shouted as he reached back down into his bag for a fresh reload

The woman screamed as she juggled the revolver between two hands, eventually launching the it out of Anna's side window to the street outside. Indiana, now with a handful of new bullets, looked at the woman, "Where's my gun!?"

"I burned my fingers and I cracked a nail!" the woman screeched as she nursed her fingers.

"Anna!" Indiana demanded, "You still have your gun?"

Anna could only wordlessly nod.

"Then use it!" Indiana demanded as he ducked away from the window as more shots rang out, "Short Round! This isn't a sunday drive! Step on it already!"

Anna swallowed her fear, reaching into her holster as she peeked back up over the seat headrest. The car was growing ever closer, and she could see the faces of the driver and passengers, their faces grim and determined past the glare of their headlights. Flattening her ears against her skull, she aimed down her sights, her hooves quaking so mightily that the fore and rear sights passed over each other only for split seconds.

She squeezed off a shot, but it went completely wide, sparking off the frame of the car. Before she could even re-aim, Indiana snatched the gun from her, "I'll do it!"

Much more confidently, her father fired the remaining three rounds in the chamber towards the enemy as Anna shrunk back down into her seat. Indiana swung out the chamber and knocking the empty cartridges loose with the ejector rod. Behind them, Short Round finished blasting the horn, shouting, "Okay! You ask for it!"

The car accelerated again, the front bumper slamming into the rickshaw as it was accelerated with the automobile. The rickshaw driver windmilled his legs in the air as the car roared forward down the street.

"Bullets! Bullets Anna!" Indiana shouted as he held out a hand towards her.

Anna, heart still thundering, reached for her bag, to the pocket where a box of bullets sat. Removing it, several of the cartridges inside rattled to the floor of the car as Indiana snatched it from her, inserting six of the bullets. The rattle of submachinegun fire from behind them caused Anna to press herself even harder into the seat of her chair, reaching up to cover her ears as something pinged off of the chassis of the car beneath them.

Aiming his daughter's revolver out the back window, Indiana squeezed off three more shots. She couldn't see what the results of his shots were, but the sounds of brakes screeching and a car crashing behind them, followed by the sudden cessation of gunfire told her all she needed to know. Short Round slammed on the brakes, forcing them all forward in their seats and launching the rickshaw off of their hood, before he slammed the accelerator once again and made a turn down a side road.

Indiana sighed, lowering himself from the back window and holding Anna's revolver out to her, "We lost them."

Anna nervously took the revolver back, putting it in her holster and buttoning the top as she placed her shivering hooves over her eyes. The feeling of her father's hand against her shoulder brought her hooves down from her eyes for a moment to look at him. His face was still wild-eyed and grim, but his words were a bit more comforting.

"That was real stupid," Indiana initially said, before blinking, looking her up and down for a moment, and muttering, "...But thanks. This time you might've really saved us."

Anna nodded, reaching up and wiping sweat from her brow as she leaned back into her seat, "What happened in there, anyway?"

Indiana shook his head, "Deal went sour. We-" a realization dawned on his face, "...Damnit. Lady, did you get the diamond back?"

The woman ran fingers through her hair, letting out a terrified, ragged breath, "No! I was too busy being dragged into an elevator by a maniac and his talking rat-pony!"

"My name's Anna," Anna said between breaths, finally building the courage to sit up in her seat, "Who the hell are you, anyway?"

"Willie Scott," she said, "Are you some sort of Chinese horse-spirit or something?"

"Not as far as I know," Anna shrugged, "As far as I know, I'm just his daughter," she indicated towards Indiana.

"Damnit," Indiana ran a hand through his hair, "We lost the diamond. This entire thing was a bust."

"Who'd you go to bed with to get her?" Willie asked, a twisted look of disgust on her face as she looked between Indiana and Anna.

"Don't talk about her like that, doll," Indiana growled, only to be interrupted by Short Round's voice as the car finally slowed.

"We here!" Short Round said as he released the accelerator, the engine sputtering as if it was just as exhausted as its occupants.

"Grab the luggage, Anna, Shorty," Indiana said, reaching for the door handle, "Willie here can take Wu Han's slot on that flight you arranged for us," he paused as the car slowed to park, "...Unless you'd rather stay here. Lao Che made it pretty clear he doesn't care if you're alive or dead. I'm guessing he's wanting the latter now that you've been mixed up in his underground business."

Willie Scott tossed her head indignantly, "America?"

Short Round shook his head as he hopped out of the driver's seat, "India! But then to America!"

Anna breathed a sigh of relief as she tumbled out of her side of the car, "Thank God," she checked the straps on her backpack as her and Short Round rushed to the boot of the car.

The airport was familiar to Anna. It was only a week or so now that they had arrived here on Jock's plane. The passenger checkpoint was much less busy, but still guarded by a token force of a few police officers. A trimotor plane sat on the runway, its engines humming as it workers loaded several cages aboard through a cargo hatch. Anna grabbed two of the heavy suitcases in the trunk, using her quadrupedal stance to support them on her back as Short Round carried the two lighter pieces of luggage.

"Ah, Doctor Jones!" an English-accented voice called as a man ran over to Indiana, "My name's Art Weber. Your assistant called me to arrange the first flight out of Shanghai?"

"Yeah," Indiana gestured for the group to move faster as he looked down the street from the airport, a car with a single headlight blazing down the street towards them.

"There might be a slight problem with your arrangements, as you may be sharing the cargo compartment with a few specimens of live poultry..." Art Weber continued, rushing to keep up with the group as they rushed through the checkpoint, just as the car screeched to a halt on the curb.

"Are you kidding me!?" Willie Scott complained as they were escorted over to the plane.

"It was the best I could do on such short notice!" Art Weber defended, before peering at Willie Scott's dress and face, "...Say, aren't you Willie Scott? The famous American female vocalist?"

Anna used her wings to jump up to into the open hatch of the airplane, turning around and looking out at the car as Short Round and Willie piled into the plane. Two of the black suited men exited the car, walking up to and stopping at the guarded checkpoint. Even at this distance, chills ran down her spine as she saw the anger in their eyes. She even recognized one of the men as the one giving the orders to capture her when she first broke into the club.

Indiana Jones stepped up into the frame of the hatch, smiling cockily towards the men. With a wave, he shouted, "Nice try, Lao Che!"

The hatch closed.

Lao Che chuckled darkly as he stood behind the barrier of the customs checkpoint, "Goodbye, Doctor Jones..."

The wheel chocks were removed and the plane began to taxi. Engines roaring, the trimotor took to the skies just as the sun began to rise in the distance.

Author's Note

The end of the beginning.

Lao and his sons speak Shanghainese, the dialect appropriate to their area. Due to a lack of translation resources, their dialogue has been reverted to simplified chinese, along with all other Chinese dialogue in this story.

answer in the comments: on a scale of 1-10 how much do you like Willie Scott? (1 being she's the scum of the earth, with 10 being the best woman character in the series). I'm honestly very curious.