’Volcan, ask your friends to look for the little shit.’
Since they couldn’t track him directly, looking for him through the city’s surveillance system was the next best thing.
Anger boiled through Dante’s mind, and though he didn’t recognize it himself, there was a shadow of concern hiding behind the flames of his rage.
The brat hadn’t learned his lesson. Despite getting his ass kicked more than once, his arrogance refused to wane, continuing to push him into doing increasingly more idiotic things.
Somehow, Dante was convinced that the brat had gone to the Daggers intending to execute the plan he had in mind all along. What made him think that would be easier than stealing back his father’s gun was unclear, but trying to see the logic in stupidity was a fool’s errand.
[I found him.] Said Volcan. [As you have predicted, Finn Ward is currently in New City. He had been spotted entering a back alley in a deeper part of the district. According to our previous investigation, there is a nightclub run by the Daggers nearby.]
’God fucking damn it!!!’
Gritting his teeth, Dante accelerated even more. There were no old highways that led to New City, so he was forced to ride through normal roads, weaving between every opening he could find and almost getting into an accident more than once.
His reckless driving didn’t go unnoticed, of course. The blaring sirens of police cars and bikes echoed from behind, alerting him to the patrol he had passed without noticing. The traffic wasn’t easing up even a little, and the gaps he could slip through grew fewer each time, forcing him to slow down.
’Take them out.’ He instructed. ’Make it look like their vehicles malfunctioned.’
Soon enough, the sound of the sirens grew weak and distant before disappearing entirely. There were a few crashes as well, but non loud enough to signal a major accident.
Dante knew he couldn’t keep going like that. He was heading toward one of the more affluent parts of the city so police presence was bound to increase as well. A thought arose in his mind, and he tried to shake it. Eventually, he found himself unable to resist it and he pulled into the next alleyway he came across.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t as desolate as he would have liked. The few street rats loitering around turned their eyes in his direction the moment they heard the Raven roar as it came to a stop. Before their slow minds could form any ideas, however, Dante gave his resident AI more orders.
’Blind them.’ He said. ’And activate Ghost Mode.’
The next instant, every street rat in the vicinity squeezed their eyes shut and began rubbing them furiously, some screaming in pain and confusion. Making his way to a secluded corner, Dante got off his bike and unequipped it. He was about to do the same with his helmet, but thought otherwise. Even if it seemed like no one was watching, he still wanted to be careful.
’Yes. Just give it to me already.’
The next second, threads of light erupted from his chest and enveloped his body, and soon after, he found himself in a peculiar costume made from skin-tight black fabric, dark gray armor plating, and an angular helmet with an ominous red glow behind its V-shaped helmet.
’I’m definitely kicking his ass for this, too!’
Not wasting a single moment, Dante crouched down and activated Instant acceleration, leaping a few dozen meters in the air. The sonic boom he caused added to the confusion of the street rats, leaving them crying as they struggled to open their eyes, but Dante didn’t care.
With another Instant Acceleration, Dante reached the roof of one of the buildings flanking the alley. The effects of G-force felt much more severe when moving vertically, seeing as his blood gets pulled down and away from his brain. Dante took a moment to regain his composure and, at the same time, he checked the map Volcan had summoned for him.
Ignoring the yellow line drawing a path through the streets of Neo-Vatra, he drew a straight line between him and the brat’s location. Leaning down, he placed his hands on the floor and took a starting position.
’Alright...’ Taking a deep breath, he braced himself and put strength into his legs. ’Let’s do this!’
[Jake: Hey, Finn, I have a really bad feeling about this.]
Reading the yellow text, Finn said nothing and returned his focus to the task at hand. Currently, he was inside a dark storage room hiding behind a stack of crates and plastic bins, trying to make no sounds while watching the screens on his OAM.
Though night had yet to fall, the floors below were already filled with movement. The staff were alert, but no one seemed to have noticed anything out of place. And why would they? There were few places an intruder could enter from, and all of those were constantly guarded.
No one in their right mind would bother guarding a normal air vent, however. Those were too small for anyone to sneak through, but that’s only if the potential intruder was an adult. A fourteen year old who lost the gene lottery, though? He could crawl through it with ease and enter the building unnoticed. The difficulty increases drastically from there, however.
[Jake: Finn, it’s still not too late. Let’s go back and-]
"Shut up." The boy whispered. "I’ve already made up my mind."
He switched between the security feeds a few times before stopping at the one overlooking the large entrance at the front of the building. Not long after, a black limo pulled up along with several other cars, and from each one, a number of men in black suits descended. Though most looked normal, others were larger and more imposing, showing clear signs of bionic enhancements.
Finn watched them line up in front of the black limo. One of them moved to open its door, and a second later, another large man came out. Unlike the others, he wore knee-length shorts and an unbuttoned tropical shirt, leaving his chest and arms exposed despite the cold weather. However, the most noticeable thing about him was the large mask covering the lower half of his face, only it wasn’t a mask.
Watching it split apart, a comically jagged line on both the lower and upper half, Finn was suddenly covered in cold sweat.