Somewhere, up in the hills. Dark. Barely any moonlight.

He thumped his powerful legs against the dirt, snorting. Raven had not come again.

This was the third night she had been absent. Where could she be?

The creature lurking in the shadows began to pant hard. Panic was building inside.

"Rrrr...Rrrr.." So lonely.

The creature hopped through the fields to the top of a sloped hill. There, he got a clear view of the city lights.

Eyes of pool white scanned the cityscape, searching. Where was Raven?

The beast knew the scientists were still looking for him. And he knew that those other humans in uniform who rode around in the vehicles with the loud sirens were looking for him too. It was dangerous to move about in the city too much. But he wanted to find his friend...

With another loud snort, and a pissy grunt, he took off through the night. The dirt kicked up behind him as his powerful legs flew him through the crisp air. Head low, front paws tucked in to his belly, he darted through the open grass and then through some brush of trees and bushes.

He would start searching the places he first seen her. Then, he would work from there.

...

"It's been so long, I've been out of my body with you~"

Raven's eyes flutter slightly, but did not fully open. She still felt tired.

"I feel alone~ Feel at home~ Feel like nothing is true~"

She could hear the chuckling of a certain rodent as he jammed to his tunes. She began to get a sense of where she was again. She hated that feeling of emerging out of the dream world and forgetting where she had fallen asleep.

"…Mau5?" She asked, her voice groggy.

"Oh Raven~" She heard Dead Mau5 reply. "You're awake. You didn't sleep very long.."

"How long?"

"Only two hours."

She grumbled, her face pressed against his leg. No wonder she still felt exhausted.

"You can stay there and try to sleep longer if you want~"

Raven thought about it. She lay still, seeing if her body was still tired enough to go back into unconsciousness. Nope...

Placing her hand down on the table in front of them, she slowly sat up and blinked heavily to the sunlight now hitting her square in the face. As soon as her eyes adjusted to the light, she peered out the window. The trailer car was quickly rolling along the road of the countryside somewhere. The sun was barely above the horizon, pouring rays of yellow over the grassy fields. How nice… Raven thought, feeling a mix of calm and grumpy.

"What song is this, Raven?" Mau5 asked, quizzing her.

"Ummmm… wot is this song… wait. Ghosts n' … whatever."

Mau5 giggle squeaked. This was what Raven thought of as his giggle snort, since he was a mouse and he squeaked instead of snorted. That's what it sounded like, anyway.

"Close. I think you're getting the titles of my songs mixed around."

"I'll get them right eventually. I mean, it's not like I have to say them aloud at the performances, right?"

Mau5 only shook his head, grinning his idiotic grin. "You won't have to talk at all. Just dance and be pretty~"

Raven rolled her eyes slightly and nodded.

"Been trying to think of a new opening statement while you slept."

"Mhm?" Raven said, only partly interested.

"I want the announcer to say 'the mouse from Canada who is, well, dead: Deadmau5!'"

Raven's eyebrows firmed as she thought about that. "Canada?" She did remember the night she first saw him back in Essex, there were rumors saying he was supposedly from North America. "But… aren't you from France? With Thomas and Guy?"

"Technically…yes." Mau5 said, his smile becoming sinister and clever. "But they aren't really from France, are they?"

"No, I suppose not…" Raven said, looking back out the window.

"It's another government thing. I need to pretend to be from a place other than Europe just so no one can associate me with Daft Punk. You know, just to make it look normal.."

"Does anyone really know of Daft Punk? They really don't seem like the type to get around much."

"They've been around for a while. But they stay low. We both have to stay as underground musicians; otherwise the media might learn too much about us."

Raven thought about that. Made sense… but still, if their objective here on Earth is to spread their music and positive messages to people, you would think they would be more successful with a little bit more fame.

Suddenly the small door dividing the driver's section and the rest of the trailer opened, and a small looking guy in a spiffy suit poked his head in from his passenger seat. Raven stared at him, remembering that they actually had company. She looked upon this small man, thinking. Strange that such a small person would be the bodyguard. Shouldn't it be someone big and muscular?

The man gave a huge, friendly grin up at Dead Mau5. "How you doin' Mau5? Long time no see!"

Mau5 returned a large, crazy smile with his hears perking up with glee. "Oh Jaaaames~! Hiya!"

The man, James reached out his hand into a tight fist, and Mau5 bumped it with his own. Raven guessed these two had toured together at some point.

"Raven, this is James. He's a good friend of ours."

"Been working with these freaks since I was eighteen." James said, nodding to Raven.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Eighteen?"

"Yeah I know, sounds crazy. My entire family has tight ties in the government, especially with social foreign affairs, so they got me hooked up in working with top secret affairs."

"Sooo… you're from America?" Raven asked, guessing by his slang accent.

"Sure am. And this here is partner, Daniel." James said, motioning to the driver next to him on the right.

Raven stood up to look around the wall that divided them. There, in the driver seat, sat a very huge man. Huge didn't quite define it enough. This man, from head to toe, seemed to be leaking giant pulsing pounds of solid muscle. She could see the muscles bulging from his thick neck, his arms, and his legs…. This man was like a boulder.

Raven's eyes were swollen with surprise. Now there was the perfect kind of bodyguard.

Daniel looked over his shoulder for a few seconds to nod and smile to Raven, "Hello." His voice was an average and deep voice, but pleasantly polite as well.

"Nice to meet you both." Raven said.

"You too, little missy. How old are you?" James said, turning in his seat to get a better look at her.

"I'll be 18 in two months or so..."

"Ohhhh, awfully young." He commented, giving a keen and skeptical eye to Mau5. But then he shrugged it off with a large grin.

James began to go onto a topic with Mau5 about their last tours. Raven pretended to nod and smile as if she was listening… but really, she was panicking inside. She had actually convinced herself that this escape plan would be easy. Then reality hit. She only had to look upon this Daniel for a second and realized that trying to get away from a man like that would be impossible. And judging by his uptight, professional posture, he would be on their asses the whole entire time. Having a chance to be alone and make a run for it probably wasn't going to happen. She continued to occasionally look up at Mau5 or James, who ever was talking, but she kept her attention on the driver. She observed how he held himself up straight, kept both hands tightly squeezed on the top parts of the steering wheel. Everything about him intimidated her. How the bloody hell am I suppose to get away from this bloke?

…

They arrived in Orléans first. Then they would make their way to Bordeaux and then Marseille. After completing their three stops in France, they'd return to Paris, celebrate, and then ride the underground train to get to England. Or so that was the plan Raven had heard….

This city was definitely not as crowded as Paris. But that might make it a good thing. Less people. And less people who will have heard of their show. And even less who will actually show up to see it.

They would be performing in an hour. She was shaking she was so nervous. Bloody hell… She shook her head slowly as she pulled her neon blue tights on. I only can hope Mau5's magically drug will kick in and make this effortless when I start dancing. Raven knew performers were always under a lot of pressure when on stage. But when she had thought to be a dancer, she had not considered that pressure on herself. Now she did. And it scared her. But it was much too late to back out now.

Her fingers kept getting tangled in the laces on her boots as she tried to tie them up. She couldn't hold herself still. Fuckin… hell… She then reached for her skintight mask that lay next to her. She hastily pulled it over her head and adjusted it comfortably.

"Oh Raaaaaven~"

Raven shuddered and turned around to see the delighted mouse DJ waltzing towards her. He was already fully dressed in his spiffy suit and neon red tie which matched his face. His tail had been tucked down in his pants like he had done before when she first saw him.

"Wot?" Raven asked, her voice slightly cracking.

Mau5's eyes blinked heavily as his large grin softened. "You sound nervous."

"No shit.." Raven said. "I've never done this before. For an audience, that is." She began to reach for the neon blue wig on the table next to her, when Mau5's hand gripped her wrist.

"Relax, lil Raven. It's just like when you were dancing for me. Remember?"

Raven looked at him through her mask. She knew he couldn't see her gaze, which made it easier to stare. "Yeah, I remember."

Mau5's grin widened again. But then he added: "If you still feel nervous about this, would you like me to give you another hit of my mixture?"

Raven flinched a little. Sudden panic rose up in her. Not only did she not want to have that feeling of no control, but she also realized that her current situation was too similar to the last time.

She tried to shift her weight away from Mau5 and play it causal. "Uh…. I don't think that's a good idea."

"Oh don't worry, Raven. I'd only give you a drop." He made a motion with his fingers to show a very small amount. "Just enough for my music to kick into your senses. But not enough for other side effects~" Mau5's grin got a little sinister as he explained.

Raven slowly shook her head. "How do you know for certain that'll be the outcome?"

Mau5 thought for a second, his face blank. "Dunno. I'm just making a logical assumption."

"Logical?" Raven spat, almost laughing. But then her gaze looked to the door which lead to the stage, and her stomach began to tighten. She was beginning to consider it. She then looked back at Dead Mau5 who was waiting for her to reply.

"…Alright. But a very small drop," Raven said, mimicking his original gesture with her fingers.

Mau5's tail curled. "One sec…" He moved passed her and went for his bag of personal belongs. He pulled out a vile that was wrapped up in a towel.

"…Why are you carrying that around with you?"

His face expression was a mix between sheepish and guilty. "Ohhhh well~ I thought I might keep it just… in case you need it?"

Raven felt her inner self twitch with irritation and concern. But she quickly tossed that thought aside. It wasn't important right now.

Mau5 looked at her hesitantly. "Eh… you can't drink this. It needs to be put in your blood stream directly." He then revealed a small syringe that was also wrapped in the towel. He opened the vile and the syringe and poured the liquid in.

"You're arm?" Mau5 asked, holding out his hand.

Raven hesitated, but gave him her arm, facing up. He slowly stuck the needle in and punched it down. Raven felt the tingle after a few seconds. Wasn't nearly as bad as getting a full amount.

She waited longer for… something. "I dun feel anything." Raven said softly.

Mau5 smiled. "You won't until you hear the music."

Raven couldn't help but smile back at that comment. Interesting…

She finally grabbed the neon blue wig and placed it down on her head. Hopefully, this wouldn't kill her.

It was time to do what she did best.