A/N: I found the perfect song and just had to get to work. This song is the greatest quote ever for this fic. I adore it. Perfect. Kevin's POV.

Disclaimer: I own Melody, Mandy, and Carson. Everything else, not so much.

'This ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race
I'm not a shoulder to cry on but I digress
I'm a leading man
And the lies I weave are oh so intricate, oh so intricate
I'm a leading man
And the lies I weave are oh so intricate, oh so intricate'

~'This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race', Fall Out Boy

Into the Battlefield

My car isn't a hard one to pick out in a crowd. It's obvious. It's out there. It's a statement. That's why I loved it. Because it was all those things. It had the stripes and the personality and the pure awesome of the thing. It's just perfect. It's mine. It's why I love the thing.

Sadly, I had forgotten how recognizable it was in the world of New York's crowded streets. And for us, New York wasn't exactly like home. It was more of a war zone that we were put out to defend.

"Guys," said Carson after checking over his shoulder and looking in the rearviews multiple times through out the ride down the streets towards the subways that we had camped out in what felt like forever ago to me. "They're following us." He kept checking back multiple times in rapid succession. "Knights on our tail, Kev."

Mandy and Melody were ducking in the backseats so Carson and I could get better views. They both silently unbuckled and slid to the floor of the car, curling up there for safety purposes. Carson and I could hold our own for multiple reasons. His Vulpimancer half gave him tougher skin for some reason and the Anodite part of him had shields if totally necessary. And I didn't need to worry for anything except for my car. Bullet-proof glass is hard to find, but alien tech proof glass is nearly impossible to track down.

I kept working to check the rearviews to see Carson's massive navy blue SUV creeping up on us from behind. The wheels were spinning hard over the rough ground as only two or three cars separated us now. It was getting tight and we were going to be dead meat soon if we didn't lose them.

"Got a plan?" I asked Carson. He had one hand rubbing his temple and his glittering ocean blue eyes watched the rearview off the side of the car as the SUV crept in on us like a predator closing in on the prey that was cornered between a rock and a hard place. "You're the lead, I'm just drivin'."

His gaze flitted back over his shoulder one more time and he was muttering under his breath some quick calculations. "Got it. Take a right here and keep taking rights around these next few blocks for a while then take a left when we know they won't be able to make the light."

"Check." I pulled into the far right lane and started pressing the edges of the speed limit of the streets. Not surprisingly, the SUV followed, one car still separating us. "You sure about this? They close in and we're sitting ducks."

"We've got Mel," said Carson, kicking his feet up on the dashboard and leaning back into his seat. "Nothing beats Mel."

I checked over the seat to see Mandy and Melody still curled up on the floor of the car. Melody was looking up at me with scared eyes and I just gave her my best half-hearted smile before looking back to the blacktopped streets and tugging the car harshly around a tight corner.

And it was on.

"High gear," breathed Carson, eyes shut and his nose pointing up towards the ceiling. His breathing was methodic whereas I could feel my own heart pounding in my chest as adrenaline sank in. The chase was good. "Speed limits are screwin' with us," he continued as if all this were just some idle chat in a high-speed car chase.

"Mandy," I said quietly while pulling another turn around the corner, the tail of the car spinning out just a little bit, but I had full control over it, "can you see any weapons on 'em? Are they loaded?"

I checked the rearview, but all I could see were dark shapes before I had to look back to the road to turn again without going onto the sidewalk or going into the left lane. Mandy's head poked up from her hiding place. "Locked and loaded Octurian Plazer in the back, guys. It looks like it's modified to be smaller for the case at hand, being in a car and all, but that's definitely an Octurian Plazer."

She sank back down as I tugged the car around another hard corner. Because Octurian Plazers are not toys. They're not for little boys to be playing with. To be brutally honest, Mandy wouldn't even let me or Carson touch the one she used to have. Of course, Carson and I were always prone to breaking things, but really, we weren't that bad…

"Start watching for the lights," Carson said, still calm in the passenger seat. A little smile was plastered across his face like he knew this would work no matter what. But that was Carson. He could be cocky whenever he wanted to be. "Gotta lose 'em there and gotta keep this car between us because they can't run a light without losing my SUV's credentials to the feds. It's bound to be one of the few cars they got without goin' totally illegal."

"No worries," I told him, already seeing a light nearing the end of it's term as a green glow. "This one'll get those suckers." I began to move towards the left hand lanes towards where we were going to pull a different turn. "Hang onto somethin'."

It flashed yellow and I gunned the engine. The car went flying and I held it strong until we were rounding the corner and the light behind us was just flickering to red, making Carson's SUV stop, the Knights unable to tail us without getting themselves pulled over or caught. Either way, we would've had a couple more of those gangbangers off our hands.

"Done," I said and Carson was already kicking his feet off the dashboard and checking on the girls in the back as they rose from their positions on the floor of the backseat. "They're lost." I checked the rearviews just to confirm. I didn't want anyone after us now that we could safely head back to the subway.

"Now we just gotta keep 'em out of our hair 'til we get back to the hideout." Carson's eyes flitted from street sign to street sign. "Alright, can I safely assume that you know where you're going?"

I eyed him with a thin smile. "You don't forget New York, Carson."

Mandy reached forward from her position in the back and flicked the back of my head, sending a little sting through my skull. "I have to say, your driving got worse."

And Carson just laughed at me like it was any other day.

A/N: Ah, the glory of researching. I had to find some sort of weapons… Octurian Plazer was the best I could do and I have no clue on the spelling. I did my best. So anyways, review or die!

~Sky