Earth and Fire [ Danisnotonfire and AmazingPhil ]

Chapter 16: Stardust on Stage

A loud German over-voice thundered through the building introducing the next performance. Phil was so nervous he was going to throw up. He tried watching the other male performers before, but he doubted he could do anything like them. Phil stood next to the pole with a powdered hand gripping it. He smiled at the crowd cheering in reaction to the announcer. Dan realized Phil was on stage, and literally threw up. Phil may have been just standing there waiting for the music to start, but even just that was too much for poor Dan. He stumbled almost blindly towards the stage, leaving the bartender to clean up and the German comrades laughing. "Phil!" Dan clumsily exclaimed. A security guard stopped him from coming any closer to the stage.

"- Stardust Steven!" was heard over the system, and then music started. He wasn't sure if it was a coincidence or if Charlotte had planned this, but Toxic started playing. Not Britney Spears herself though- it was a cover by A Static Lullaby. Dan began to freak out. He had no coordination, limited eye-sight, his friend is all of a sudden a stripper, he understands no-one around him, and Charlotte was nowhere to be seen. Phil started his performance and for some reason, so did some of the maids.

Charlotte was panicking. After everything was going so well, it all flipped on its head. This had to be some cruel joke! Omar was laughing at Phil from his office, and the vents became unbearably hot. Dan was freaking out and is no longer distracting the people around him, therefore no longer distracting the two women Charlotte was eavesdropping on before. These women that were back up dancers for Phil were highly suspicious. Charlotte finally couldn't take it. She dropped through the vent wearing a bandana over her mouth to keep her face almost anonymous. She landed on the desk with a thud. Omar whipped around and began to laugh harder. "It is one of you." He said in German. "You're with that group... what's it called..." He clicked his fingers and thought for a moment. "Ach- it doesn't matter. You are with two men aren't you? Are you Rachel?" Charlotte slowly got up and stared at the man. She stayed silent. "You're Rachel! I know why you're here, and I know what you want."
"What do I want then?" Charlotte asked in a voice different to her own.
"These plans." Omar said, then held up two documents in his hands (his back was facing the window with the view down to the club). Charlotte wasn't looking for those documents at all, but she played along. "Oh no..." She breathed. Omar laughed.
"You can walk away now and I won't kill you just yet, or I can kill you now." He said. Charlotte didn't know how to react. She didn't know the password was, and she wouldn't have time to find it without help. She had to think of something quickly. "What will it be, Rachel? I can call my people up here right now, or you can leave. The GETA has no tolerance, but I do. I don't like cleaning up afterwards." Omar smirked. Charlotte stood still and thought.

On stage, Phil was dropping and sliding up against the pole acting like he knew was he was doing. He twirled around the pole a number of times but mainly stuck to normal dance moves. The audience who were dancing along with the backup dancers were waiting for Phil to do something extraordinary. Phil thrusted a couple of times out to the crowd who cheered. It was this moment he noticed the back-up dancers were coming very close to him. That wasn't the problem, however. One of these maids was carrying a small syringe. He was sure this was a trap and that they were going to drug him. He knew they were suspicious of him from the start. He ran to the front of the stage, not caring about the 'performance' anymore. He looked out to see the two women Charlotte eaves dropped on earlier were on their phones, hung up with stern expressions, nodded at each other, then briskly left towards the staff staircase Phil had previously used.

Dan was throwing up in the bathroom now. He was escorted there by one of the women near the bar he met. He drank water from the tap before returning to throw up into the toilet. He was in the female restroom, but he didn't know that. He didn't know where he was and he was panicking from it. Dan's phone began to ring. The lady said something in German which he didn't understand, but then he answered his phone. "Hello?" He said in a croaky voice.
"Hello, Dan! It's Charlotte! I need your help right now buddy, okay?" Charlotte said as he stood in the room with the unconscious Omar (which she knocked out with a locker door- it was ripped off from the hinges).
"I didn't..." Dan burped, "I didn't know lion was a stripper!"
"It's okay Dan! Just come to the pink door you find okay? There's only one pink door."
"What is pink?"
"The door. There is a door in the club that is pink. Go to it."
"Okay Char-char and also why is the Phil a stripper?"
"I will talk to you later." Charlotte said before hanging up. She knew Dan was far more drunk than he could handle, but she hoped he could manage that. She wanted him out of danger. She was shuffling through desk drawers and filing cabinets to find the password. It must be here somewhere!

Phil had drinks being thrown at him and the crowd booed at him. Stardust Steven wasn't as great as they hoped. Lester had climbed the pole as high as he could go while the maid with the syringe waited for him down below. Guards were on the stage as well and equipped with batons. They would usually call the police, but the club was meant to be on lockdown. Phil looked below to the crowd that would surely beat the crap out of him if he went back down there. His nerves turned into fear, but all he could do was wait for Charlotte... Where-ever she was.

Dan has made his way to the only pink door in the building without any assistance (surprisingly). Without thinking, he opened it and went inside. He realized that this was an exit to the building. He began to cry. He didn't want to leave Phil behind and he wasn't sure if Charlotte was okay or not. He sat outside against a brick wall and cried into his knees. He felt so sick and he was in pain.

Charlotte had finally found the password and as she was about to exit the room, the two women entered followed by a small gang of security guards and other workers. "Rachel... So it's you. You're the one who has been causing the GETA all this trouble?" The darker haired woman spoke in German. "It's a pity we are always one step in front of you."

"Schade." Charlotte replied (meaning 'what a pity' in English). She then sprinted towards the window and jumped. The window smashed into pieces. The glass fell and sprinkled onto the people below, along with Charlotte falling at a similar speed attempting to grasp onto any chords or wires along the way. She heard gunshots being fired at her, and the crowd below panicked. Charlotte grabbed hold of a chord and she sent herself towards the stranded Phil whom was still clinging onto the top of the pole for dear life. She swung down and ripped him off the pole, then let go of the chord, sending the two screeching through the air and tumbling backstage. Phil landed with a roll, but Charlotte wasn't as fortunate. She moaned in pain and gripped her lower leg.

With all the strength he had left, Lester picked up Charlotte in his arms and ran. Workers and guards and maids and the GETA were all after them in a big hoard. Phil sprinted back to the change rooms where she quickly placed Charlotte down so he could grab his clothes. Before he could wipe down the area, Charlotte snatched Phil's police officer hat and lit it on fire with her lighter from her utility belt. She threw it elsewhere in the room, and then the fire grew. "What the heck, Charlotte? Fire!" Phil panicked.
"Let's go! Let's go!" Charlotte said in pain. Phil picked her up bridal-style once again and pushed his way through the nearest exit. Phil saw Dan on the ground in the alleyway he exited into, and sighed with relief. "Dan!" He called. Dan looked up and tried to get up, but fell over again.

"Hey!" The bouncer said. He was the bouncer whom let them into the building in the first place. He began to charge at them with anger in his eyes. A large bang was heard inside the club and people began pouring out screaming and yelling. Phil clicked into adrenaline mode. He flung Charlotte over his shoulder and Dan over the other shoulder, strained his legs to stand up, then he sprinted away into the night before anyone could reach him.