Sparks ignited under Liliana’s feet as she suddenly bolted forward. The shift in speed was dramatic, leaving Dante stunned for a moment as he watched her reach the end of the alleyway in no more than two seconds. For some reason, he was confident that she wouldn’t leave him behind and run away, but what he saw next made him wish she had done exactly that.
Two bikers slid into the alleyway and were met with the figure of a leaping girl. Her right leg stretched out and connected with the head of the first. His hands slipped off his ride’s handles, leaving it to continue forward as he was sent flying.
The second one hit the brakes and drifted to a stop while following the girl with a stunned expression, but that was a really bad choice on his part, seeing as he kept the distance between them short. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Liliana lunged at the second biker and punched the side of his head, the force traversing through his helmet and rattling his brain.
Dante had barely crossed half the distance between them by the time she was done. He tried to keep the scene from shocking him, but then he saw the rich girl grab the second bike. As if he had received a vision from the future, he knew exactly what she was about to do, which is why he put more force into his legs hoping to increase his speed despite knowing he was sprinting as fast as he could.
His eyes met the girl’s, but before he could yell at her she took a firm step in his direction and flung the entire bike. Dante ducked his head on instinct and felt the thing pass right above him, somehow maintaining his balance and speed.
He didn’t get to look behind him and see what happened to the flying bike, but if he did he would have seen it get impaled on the blades extending from the monstrosity chasing after him before being split apart and tossed aside.
Surprise had warped Liliana’s expression as she watched the scene happen, but what startled her more was the glare Dante directed at her the moment he raised his head. With her fear returning, she turned around to run again to run but was stopped by the arrival of five more bikers, rifles pointed at her.
Dante clicked his tongue. The path ahead was blocked, and more bikers were coming from behind. Liliana was preparing to lunge at the ones ahead, but even if she was bulletproof, what would happen to him if they started to fire?
’Volcan!’ he yelled internally. ’Do something about the large bastard!’
It felt like the order was a little late with the pursuers right on his tail, but just as the heavily armored bike entered the five-meter range from him, its rider suddenly jerked back as if he was stabbed from behind. The blades at the front of his bike retracted and an instant later, the front wheel halted, causing the entire thing to flip on its nose.
Though the sharp screech of the tire startled him, Dante didn’t stop running. On his OAM, a red line washed over the five bikers blocking their way. On each of their head, a red spot remained, and a second later each spot blinked. One by one, the bikers shuddered then reached for their heads, their screams loud enough to drown the noise from their motorcycles.
[As we are on the move, I elected for a quicker solution.] Volcan said. [This might not be enough to eliminate them entirely, however.]
Fortunately, they all dropped their rifles without firing a single bullet. The scene was so harrowing that Liliana was frozen in her place. Only when Dante smacked her on the head did she come back to her senses.
The large bike crashing behind them had blocked the way for the rest and the ones at the front were incapacitated. That was their chance to get away.
After a long sprint, Dante and Liliana found a place where they could catch their breath. Ms. Hero seemed reluctant to break into another building, but what choice did she have?
The swarm of drones hadn’t returned yet, or maybe it went to follow the tracks from Satori’s warehouse. If it was the latter, all they needed to was hide for some time and they would lose Caligo’s henchmen.
"This is... this is getting a little out of hand..."
Dante sat on the floor of what appeared to be an old office, leaning his back against the wall while panting for air. Same as when they ran through White Hill’s maze, Liliana was in a far better shape, making it feel as if they hadn’t just run the same distance.
’Fucking... Genomes...’
As his breathing began to settle, Dante turned to look at the EI in question only to find her looking at him with scorn, her arms crossed. Staring at her for a second, he allowed the corners of his mouth to drop and asked
The girl didn’t answer right away, continuing to stare at him.
"You had a gun." She said after some time.
Things didn’t get any less confusing.
"Didn’t you ask me that earlier?" Dante raised an eyebrow. "What’s so strange about a gun?"
"Do you have a carry permit?"
"A carry permit!" Liliana repeated. "You need one to carry around a weapon!"
Dante stared at her some more. To her, it might have sounded like she was making sense, but to him, she might as well be speaking gibberish.
"Are you saying you don’t even know what a carry permit is?" Liliana asked.
Staring at her for a moment, Dante closed his eyes and shook his head.
"No, I’m just confused as to why the fuck do you think I would get one?"
A carry permit? In Neo-Vatra? Who the hell would bother with something like that?