Evaluation

by New November

A new Enemy shows himself to the New November

/AN:As Written on The Edge Forum/

James was on his first patrol in a long time. He had spend much time training his combat, after getting beat up by the mysterious girl in kimono. He didn't know much about her. Hadn't seen her before. Isaac had recognized her. Runner? James didn't remember seeing tattoos on her. But she could be. Or?.. Isaac seemed to be surprised to see her. Would he if he was her tracker?
James had talked to other PK's about her. No-one knew of her. Anyhow, James couldn't accept being beaten up by a runner, and even less if she was a civilian.

Chia had finally finished her program TauCodeX. Using a mix of Isaacs tech and the data she had downloaded from city security severs. Isaacs program had 3d models of every building, made from blueprints, or by mind. Some buildings had only their exterior modeled, and appeared as simple blocks in the landscape. Others had multiple or all their rooms in the molded. This applied mostly to places that had interest to the runners, as it took up much more space than the simple blocks. on the negative side cameras weren't marked and buildings had no textures. These where filled in by her own field work.
Also she could access any camera for a live feed, making her able to see live who was on the streets. Accessing many cameras at the same time would give a suspicious data-transfer from the security servers, that was why she had taken so much time getting the data needed for the software. But she could somewhat safe select a small area to see people in.
As she finished her work, she evaluated the adventure with Isaac. Especially the end of it confused her. She had chosen to save him, even though that ment she got involved with the runner's business, at least seen from CPF and PK's point of view. James had seen, and maybe even worse heard her, before she resisted an arrest, protected a runner and attacked a cop in uniform. Getting that much attention was a bad thing. In return Isaac had gotten away. He was a powerful ally. Chia knew she would have won some respect from him. Also she had feared to see a ghost drawing of her in the news, but it never came. Chia suspected PK didn't want to appear weak, and had thus chosen not to tell the news about one of their top officers getting beaten by someone they don't even know who is. Anyways it was probably a good idea to just lay low for a while.

Isaac had just finished an angry cellphone discussion with Jeffi when he reached Benji's apartment. Only a few days remained until the rent was due, and It was due from Benji, who was missing. Most likely dead.

The sun bloomed the sky into an impenetrable white today. the buildings were black shards, piercing the "wild blue yonder" as some called it. Fatigued from life, Isaac sat down.

The streets were crowded with pedestrians, faceless sheep sliding by one after another. None stood out, nothing but business casual and the occasional teenager skipping school. Soon his senses interrupted his rest. Throughout his life, Isaac had always felt as though he could see the aura of anyone who could potentially cause him harm. There were no auras visible through the thick crowd, but sometimes he just knew that there was danger afoot. He remained seated.

James saw Isaac from a rooftop, diagonally behind the bench he was sitting on. James could see the tattoos, and had no doubt. He called over the radio for backupt. He would take as much advantage of his element of surprise as possible. CPF and PK needed a victory, and where easy to get to send a lot of reinforcement. PK deployed a bunch of runner-cops, CPF added cops both in uniform and in civil, making sure to cover a large area arround Isaac, making sure theyd be able to follow him if he went running. PK even added a sniper team to the operation.

Routing all these people made radio-traffic go way up, but unluckely for Isaac, Chia was not near the keyboard. Unaware of what was going on she was sitting in her appartment meditating. Even though her computer tried to tell a lot of things was happening diffrent from normal, her focus was on her breath. She was sitting with her back turned to the computer, and even though her eyes where open, she didn't think about the wall she was starring into. Only her breath and inner peace.

James lay down, to make him harder to spot if Isaac would look arround. 'The longer he stayed on that bench, the easier he would be to catch' James thought, as the first troops started replying they where in position.

Sensing more and more danger in the air, Isaac, as casually as possible, left his post at the bench and walked non-chalantly into an alley. It wasn't 60 seconds later that he was pulling up on the ledge to the roof, 10 stories above.

he began a brisk jog to the north, planning to head back to street level sit down again once he felt safer. perhaps this time at a restaurant or a public place.

The thoughts of the insane are often hard to fathom. Not for the Raven. He had heard the whispers and seen the stares of those who glimpsed him when he passed them in the corridors of the Shard, they called him mad and deluded yet it didn't matter to him. It was understandable from his appearance and his reputation that some might think him out of the ordinary yet unfortunately they were wrong. He preferred to think of it as in sane, he had gone into sanity. It was that which gave him his traditional eloquence but as the radio crackled to life all he thought was:

'Fuc* Batman'?

'How can somebody be up all night fighting injustice yet spring out of bed every morning?' His
nightly flights had yielded up adequate prey but his wings were aching with fatigue. Stumbling towards his watering hole his mind still remains murky 'How much longer can I do this' keeps playing in his head yet the cold, crisp water snaps him to attention. Bending upwards his keen eyes sights his reflection in the mirror. A twisted and deformed face screams back at him. 'Perfect'.

But what had disturbed his hibernation? He had left specific orders not to be disturbed unless...unless it was of the gravest importance. And that meant his chosen quarry. The Runners. As the radio stated the prey's location, the Raven's cloak of sleep was replace by another. The cloak of fear. As he issues forth from his nest, his mask is swept onto his face as the hunt begins. And the Runners can flee to the ends of the Earth if necessary but nobody can escape the grip of fear for long. Especially now it is incarnate. And ready to consume the hearts of all those in its way.

Isaac wasn't wuite sure why he was so nervous. he had gone the better part of a mile without eye or ear of any CPF, PK, NCO, or Family member. He had been slowly descending as the roofs got lower. He was getting closer to the old-town the last shred of humanity that hadn't been wiped away from the city or coated in white gleaming polish.

'let's just have a seat and relax'

There were plenty of places to sit at the open-air Saladbarn outside the building he was near. It was clearly not any safer here, but with all of the people around, any possible attacker would be easy to pick out in a crowd of sheeple on lunch-break.

It has always been typical of terrorists to use their targets as their protection, it has always been ironic that they have come to depend on those they despise. Although it may serve to protect them from the conventional forces of justice, the Raven was never one for orthodoxy. Watching the Runner scanning his surroundings at 'The Grass is always Greener' salad bar filled him with contempt, how dare he flaunt his allegiance and yet expect no retaliation-retaliation he rightfully deserves!

But whereas a lesser man atop the Raven's perch may simply have shot the Runner from whence he stalks him, this wise predator knows other wise how to proceed. Even if he were to use a silencer to muffle the shot, there would be no way of preventing a public panic as to be fair to them, a randomly dead body normally does indicate something is very wrong indeed. The commotion caused by one shot would have massive repercussions, people would no longer feel safe and as such the terrorist aims would be achieved. It would embolden the criminal cells seeking power for themselves which could lead to more terrorism and shit. So this business must therefore be conducted in a more clandestine manner. Therefore the distinctive cape would have to be stashed in an air vent for now. Drawing up his hood to disguise his mask, Raven descends into an alley way next to the square containing said salad bar and said runner. Making sure to keep his head down he moves through the crowd towards his still oblivious target. As he draws up to where the Runner is sitting he sits down opposite him, with his hand on a gun under the table.

When his eyes met with the man, Isaac recognized him immediately, an attacker from mere days before.

"I knew I smelled shit" he muttered, barely loud enough to be heard across the table, just as a waitress arrived to take the two's orders. Waitresses usually won't approach a customer who looks like they're waiting for someone.

"I'll have your Teriyaki Chicken Salad." he said before the waitress could introduce herself. "and whatever he wants." he gesticulated at his... guest.

Despite having made eye contact with a threat, There was still some doubt. That little bit of headache. Apparently there was more than one source of danger. Time was passing too slowly. People eating came and went, but Isaac and Raven sat there frozen. The occasional car or bus slipped by the patio, but there were mostly pedestrians hurrying back to their menial lives. The tables were turned on Isaac, as people slowly filtered off of the porch. Eventually the waitress left, to "give some more time to decide".

"Get your hand off of your gun," Isaac said, his eyes aimed at the man's shoulder. "You're making it too obvious."

It was a brave thing to say, based on how ruthlessly he fought last night, there was no reason that he wouldn't just shoot now and run off. Isaac put the thought out of his head. He hoped it wouldn't be the case.

'So what? I could stand up right now and shoot you right in the face and walk away. Hell, I would be commended for it. And why shouldn't I? Because of what your ilk did to me I have to wear this mask to conceal myself. So I now want you to look me right in the eyes and tell me why I shouldn't shoot you right here, right now'.

Isaac didn't even need to think.

"Without the New November this city would be nothing." Isaac spat, "All that is needed is one dissenter for a utopia to become a dystopia. You know as well as I that this city doesn't deserve to be called a utopia, at least not in the way it's being forced to become one."

James was confused. He had followed Isaac at a good distance, and constantly reported his location, so that his forces could reposition to the new area. But then in the salad bar a hooded man had met him. James could not see who the man was, and due to the distance he couldn't realy see Isaac's expression. The sniper reported in position, but he would never be able to take a shot with this many people arround. The risk of hitting more than the target was too large, and the panic from the shot would definetly be a problem. No they had to wait and see what happened.

Chia was still meditating as the radio noice began to slowly decent; Most of James' forces was in position and waited for an order. Waiting in silence. Then shortly after the sniper calling himself in position, Chia began 'wakeing up', exited the lotus pose, and stretched herself. Then she turned to the computer. Radio traffic was now so low, her programs had stopped warning her, and she didn't pay attention to what was going on there.

'So here's whats going to happen. We are going to stand up and walk to the alley directly behind you. We will then go up the fire escape there to the roof. I will then call in backup and have you taken away to be thrown in a jail cell for the rest of your life. Try to fight me or run away and I will blow your brains out. Now get up and walk.'

"What about our food on the way?" asked Isaac, smugly.

(pistol whip) 'Haul ass'

Isaac dragged his hand across the table, dropping some change as he went, and picking a few things up to knock about. It was useless. No one noticed. He exited in front, his heartbeat louder than his footsteps.

"They are moving" The sniper had reported in, but James could see it from his position across the street from the salad bar. They where going directly towards the ally between the building the sniper was on, and the building James was on. As soon as they exited the crowd and walked into the ally James called over the radio, ordering the sniper to move to the edge so he could see it, 2 other PKs to stay on the buildings, and that he himself would jump into the ally. He pulled his gun; tazer would not be usefull against two targets, then jumped over the edge. He had jumped down behind the men, blocking their way back to the crowd. "Freeze!, both of you! Put your hands above your heads!" James didn't know who the other guy was, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Till now, Chia had not payed attention to TauCodeX, thus not noticed the high density of blues in the area around Isaac. As she heard James voice ordering his men in position for the attack on Isaac, and some person she had no tracking of. She looked at her new TauCodeX, and noticed James and Isaac in the ally. There where no cameras, so she could not get an actural view on them, nor did she have any idea of where the unknown person was. She could however see there where 3 PKs on the adjacent buildings, and many more in the area. Isaac would have a hard time getting away

Making sure his gun was still pressed into the back of his captured prey, the Raven swung around to face whomever dared to apprehend him. Noticing the shock and apprehension on his would-be capturer's face as well as his police uniform, he decided that shooting him in the face would be too harsh. The mask clearly was intimidating the officer so he decided to address that first. 'Calm yourself officer'. Producing an ID card he carried on. 'I'm one of the government's unconventional employees. And this runner here is a terrorist who better not think about running'. He jabs Isacc in the back with his gun. 'So your concern is well noted, but I think I am going to be taking him out of here now. That OK with you?'

Isaac's ears perked at the Raven's words. His head wriggled about to look at his capturer, and he inquired: "you're NCO?"

'Unofficially, they give me the tools I need to bring order and peace to this city. By serving them, I have everything I need with which to do so. I have the authority to do what I want and now you and your brood can see why I am the most deadly individual in this city. By joining them I assure atrocities like the one at the Old Eden mall never happen again. By joining them, I become the savior and smiter at the same time, I do what I must.'

James was not happy to let NCO get his victory, but the masked guy clearly had the situation under control. He would have enjoyed being the capturer of Isaac, but taking him from NCO would only break the cooperation NCO and PK had. No it was better to let NCO get the credits. It was still a victory to have Isaac under control, and the other runners would be less of a problem with their leader gone. 'Ok, I see you have the situation under control.' James put the safety on his gun and holstered it again. 'I do hope you get him locked in though, he can be very troublesome.' Then in his radio he broadcastet to his troops "Our objective has changed,; NCO has taken over. All CPF forces return to normal patrols, but stay alert. We don't want any runners to interfere with the operation. PK troops, return to base, our job here is done."

Chia heard the radio conversation. She didn't know much about NCO, though she had heard it mentioned before. She kept an eye on Isaac's dot in TauCodeX, but didn't do any more than that. She had already saved Isaac once, he had to learn to look for himself. Or at least let his co-runners know what is going on.

Once he finished bundling the Runner up the fire escape to the roof, the helicopter he had called in for transportation of the 'cargo' was already making its descent. Once it landed in went both Raven and the runner who both instinctively took seats. The flight to the top security holding prison went by in silence and naturally the Runner was blinded so as not to see his location. From behind his mask Raven studied his prize capture and noted how socially he handled things. Whereas some may be impressed by his toughness, this was one man who was not. In the end it was inconsequential, where he was going there would be all the time in the world to break him down.

Once they arrived at the maximum security prison, Raven roughly hauled the now ex-Runner out of the helicopter and to the nearest interrogation room. Posting a security detail outside the room with orders to shoot to kill if necessary, he uncovered the prisoner's eyes and threw him face first to the floor of the room as the door was locked behind them. Now it was to begin. Using his foot to roll the prisoner onto his back, he begun the interrogation. 'I'm going to cut right to the chase here. You are going to tell me everything I want to know or I will kill you. Rest assured there is no way out here unless you co-operate so I suggest you do. So tell me. Who are you working for?'

"Fuqk you" was Isaac's retort. "I AM the boss"

'Wrong answer . I looked up all the files we have on you and it seems you can't fight for shit. I may not be the toughest guy but I can still promise you a world of pain if you don't tell me who you are working for. I will leave this room and come back with a hammer and break your kneecaps. So tell me, who are you working for?'

"They work for ME" shouted Isaac

'So that would make you their tracker then. So now that I know what you look like, I can go to the security cameras and retrace your steps. I can find the vague area you came from and have a security team sweep the area until I find all your equipment. I can find out everything I want on you, your Runners, your contacts, sympathizers-everything. I wouldn't even need you any more. Are you sure they work for you?'

"For all you know I could be the manager of the Sushi-Land"

'Stall all you want, I have the rest of your life to wait. Shall I go and look at the cameras now? You don't appear to be of any use to me so why should I keep you around?'

Isaac knew that the only chance he had of escape was if they got him out of this room, so he would eventually have to give the man what he wanted, but he decided to chat for awhile

"I have a feeling you'll have to wait an awfully long time" said Isaac, smugly.

Smirking, Raven withdrew a pistol from it's holster 'Or I only have 10 seconds to wait. And if I am still waiting then I shall shoot you and go to the security cameras right now. Choose'.

"You don't know nearly enough to kill me. You can't kill me" Isaac spat.

'And why not? At the very least then I get one and apparantly high profile Runner out of the way. I know that much. So it might not be what I had in mind, but I think it will have been a good days work. You sure I can't?'.

"Kill me and expect to never come close to killing another runner again. All you'll do by ending it here is incite some more anger and civil disobedience." Isaac muttered. "we're all over the internet, they want us to be a political party. we have support, the people who just won't let go of the old city. We embody the old city... We will be free, and bring back life to what has become a lifeless, controlled, cold, machine."

Isaac paused

"So no, killing me would be the worst mistake you would ever make."

'Better that than having you blow up more innocent people. You may not have been old enough to remember, but when the Runners blew up the Old Eden Mall many years ago, hundreds of people died. Tell me how can you justify that? You pretend that I am some kind of monster as it is the only thing keeping you from realising that about yourself. LOOK AT ME! You made me like this, do you care that a child was scarred for life by that explosion. Of course not! You run around claiming to do things for the 'greater good', but good is not always right. If you had not aided the terrorist factions in this city then all this extra security would not have been put in place. You still embody the city today as a result and as long as you are around, there can never be freedom.'

"People change" Isaac replied "All my time as a runner, there hasn't been a terrorist attack by runners or their clients"

he paused again

"As a runner, all I do is deliver messages. It's just what I represent that's so much more. Runners aren't responsible for terrorism, it's their clientel. As a firm believer in information going unmonitored, I will go to the ends of the earth to assure that prying eyes like yours can't further squelch the freedoms of the good citizens."

'Are you mad! You just said to me that your clientele- those you willingly work for are terrorists who are responsible for numerous atrocities! So why am I the bad guy for stopping you? Because of me people are kept safe. I don't care about the information now, I will ask you again, why should I not kill you right here, rught now?'

"Unlike you, I don't look at the messages I'm meant to deliver. Maybe if people like you were more competent in doing your job, and not trying to kill the messengers, this wouldn't have happened, because you would have removed the threat! If you'd stop being so eager for blood you'd learn a thing or two!"

'My job is to keep people safe from your clientele. And if removing you reduces their effectiveness then I will gladly do so. I don't want to have to do this. You have no idea what it is like to be me, to feel what I feel every second of my life. Did you know it was my parents who blew up the Old Eden Mall? They killed themselves in the process and took me along to watch them 'liberate the people as they put it'. The damage they caused me is why I wear this mask and I swear to you that I will find every single Runner and terrorist in this city and I will kill them. You know nothing other than the lies you have been brainwashed with.'

Isaac shot back
"Hundreds of innocent people brutalized and killed at a peaceful protest is not brainwashing!" Isaac shot back. "Where is the peaceful town that existed before then? All these changes have done is create more and more political tension, and Increase the chances of some psychotic terrorist making a move!"

'Your right about that at least. You may be happy to know then that those responsible have been dealt with already. Now the new order is in place. The order which will sweep you and all of your ilk away and we shall rise as a city of peace, freedom and equality for all. Certain elements must unfortunately be purged though before they spread like a virus, I am merely an antibody protecting the innocent from the guilty'.

"I share your goal for peace, but the way you go about it, is, to me, all wrong"

'Really? Tell me how is it you plan to topple the government? How will you fill the power vaccum the destablisation of the city would cause? The terrorists and gangs would tear the city apart and law and order would collapse. Peace can only be acheived once all threats to stability are removed. Can't you see that you are propagating an unwinnable conflict?'

"I've evaded hundreds of pursuers, traversed obstacles thought to be physically impossible, and become the most iconic figure of the city's underworld, and the most notorious of the city's surface in no time. I don't know the definition of unwinnable."

'And yet here you are. I walked up to you in the street and took you prisoner in front of hundreds of people in broad daylight so clearly if you are the most notorious figure in the underworld, I don't have much to lose sleep over. You are also far from winning this war. Heaven forbid, but lets say if ten officers died right now for arguments sake, what would change? Nothing. Yet if I kill or capture just one Runner then you are severley hampered. And rest assured that even if you were free and knew I was coming, I could still catch you.'

Isaac shook his head defiantly. "Is that a challenge?" he asked provokingly, looking for any excuse to escape the clutches of his captor. Isaac knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could outrun anyone who ever lived.

just give me fifty feet' he thought to himself

"The runners have more power than you'll ever know. fluctuation is a natural part of it. you caught my today via means of pure luck and coincedence."

The Raven laughed quietly from behind his mask. 'Please do not insult my intelligence. I am hardly going to give you the opportunity to escape as I am not arrogant enough to do such a stupid deed. And fluctuation? What the hell are you talking about? I caught you today as you were spotted, I was alerted and headed over to pick you up. You are a fool if you trust in luck.'

Isaac chuckled. "You're a fool if you think you're going to get anywhere by talking to me."

'I beg to differ'. Walking over to the door, Raven banged on it twice. A guard instantly appeared awaiting instruction. 'Please take here down to the lab. I shall join you shortly'. Turning back to Isacc he continues. 'Fortunately for us we have some truth serum ready for your partaking. So yes, I do think I will get somewhere by talking to you'. Returning to the guard at the door he gave the order for Isacc to be taken down who was propmptly taken from the room and marched down the corridor.

The hall was stark white, and more modern-ish than Isaac had expected. It was obvious he was in the shard, and not very high up either. The cuffs on his wrists were a thick ziptie. Not so thin you could tear it and free your hands, but not so thick that it couldn't be cut. The line turned the corner. the entire side of the hallway was a window, hopefully breakable, because Isaac had to excecute his plan quickly before he reached the elevator, or it was all over.

He began inching closer to the guard ahead, speeding his gait by a few more inches a second. The keys on his beltloop were perfect, almost too much so. He grabbed the sharpest one, and as loudly and rigorously as he could, he began speedily wearing down his cuffs. Within seconds, the first guard turned around, and as he did, the rear guard was raising his gun to fire, but it was too late. Isaac had broken free. He crouched as he pushed the front guards gun to the left, making the rear guard shoot the front guard as the front guard made several cracks in the glass as he spun around, falling down. The rear guard had nearly regained his composure, but Isaac was bursting through the thick glass separating him from the outside world.

13 meters below on a ledge, Isaac landed in a perfect roll, and got to sprinting. He couldn't afford a mistake so he kept counting. looking back only suprised him at how much far he had already run. They were firing wildly out the windows at him, but the rounds only traced a loose circle of where he was 5 seconds before.

'just keep going' he thought.

The ringing alarm bells in the prison snapped the Raven out of his thoughts almost immediately. Calling up the security camera feed around the area where the disturbance was sourced he was ill pleased to find one dead body lying on the floor in front of a shattered window. Rewinding the tape back he confirmed his suspicions that the Runner had escaped. 'Then there is no time to lose' he muttered to himself and discarding his cloak he took four shots at the nearest window to weaken it. Taking a running start he hurled himself through it to begin freefall for several seconds. As he fell he prepared his grappling hook and once done he broke his fall by swinging off in the direction of his escaped prey. In just a few minutes he was barely fifty metres from the Runner who lacked his technological capabilities which alas had now been expended. Now it was a test of endurance, could Isacc outrun his pursuers?

Isaac glanced behind him when he heard the thud and sped up. There was no real direction where he was going, so finding a more complicated route to nowhere was the best bet. He started with something that, to him, was simple, a wallscale. The building to his left had several outcroppings, and the closest was the top one, the next level, the highest on the building, was 20 feet above. Isaac flew through the air to the next building, and prepared himself for a climb. He ran until he was about 8 feet from the wall, dug his heel in, leaned back, and took the next step, this one was about 7 feet up the wall. the one after that was 12 feet, and then 15 feet, Isaac was in cat position on the ledge a full 6 meters above, and he quickly hoisted himself up to continue running. There were other ways up to his position, but none were as direct or as quick.

was right, he certainly was a very skilled Runner. Following him across a gap between buildings, Raven was able to observe him make a near impossible vertical climb. As he went to follow him up however his only handholds within reach broke off, thwarting his climb. Yet his luck changed almost immediately as his initial grappling hook count appeared to be mistaken, he still had one shot left. Taking aim at the ledge which Isacc had just disappeared across he fired his hook which embedded itself into place. Pressing down on the second trigger he shot upwards and landed right on the very edge of the ledge. Seeing Isacc's expression on the rooftop across was a fair trade for his definetly last grappling hook and the chase was now even closer than before.

'As long as he's got those grappling hooks, he's my equal' Isaac told himself. he was unaware that that was his last one. That thought hatched a quick plan. The nearest main road was very wide, and any grappling hook would have a hard time finding a close object to swing across it. getting across that street at a high point would hopefully give just enough distance for a clean escape. Isaac proceeded little by little throughout the coming minutes of the chase to reach buildings a little taller, and a little closer to the main street. there was no question that the pursuer was a formidable traceur, but he just lacked what it took to keep up with some of the larger jumps and climbs, so Isaac planned to make a very large jump indeed.

The nearest large street was four lanes, with a curb on each side. with an aunting jutting off of the roof he would hit the jump at, it made the distance about 12 meters, nearly his maximum. at his highest speed, Isaac could clear it, he had before. picking up speed, he was quickly gaining distance on The Raven. The last step of the run was on the the aunting. Isaac dug his heel in deep for a correcting step and pushed off, he kicked wildly as if running on air, and flailed his arms, all the while gradually recovering from how far he had leaned back on takeoff. The very corner of the next roof was his target, and to get some extra distance, he coiled his legs as far as he could, and threw his hands ahead. the gravelly roof surface crumbled under him as he slid, but as quickly as ever he recovered, and was running at full speed again.

It was at times like this that being so deeply into-sanity helped the Raven. Wheras some would have been limited by fear and trepidation, he was not. Without breaking or lessening his stride he made the same jump as Isacc, leaping across the chasm below him. Although making it was never really a possibility, he didn't need to. Curling himself into a ball in mid-air he dove straight through the glass window below and dashed himself into the floor, ripping off one side of his mask. Despite the protests of his body he willed himself to rise again and continued his pursuit below the Runner and bided his time as unbeknownst to Isacc, they were heading straight for a construction site, where he could surprise his foe from underneath.

Isaac kept running even when he didn't see his pusuer behind him. he shimmied up to the top of the middle row of support beams and gained his balance quickly, then he performed a line of 12 foot precision jumps from pillar to pillar all the way across the construction site, grabbing the window sill of the next building on the last jump. he had a 10 story free-climb ahead of him.

Proceeding directly behind but underneath Isacc, the Raven balanced his way along a steel girder and began to shimmy his way up another. He was now directly below Isacc who was making his way up yet from here he could see a window cleaner cart just covered by a tarpulin from where Isacc had begun his climb. Making his way over, Raven lifted himself up onto the platform and then paused. The noise the ascending cart would make would alert Isacc so he would have to proceed in a much slower fashion. Gripping one railing on the cart he pistol whipped the moorings on one side until they broke away, the cart was now only held up from one end, the other swung and now faced the ground. Now all he had to do was climb the rope to the top, a much quicker route than Isacc was taking as he did not have to seek a path. Yet Raven had lost his PDA and pistol when the cart had inverted itself, all he had now was himself as he made his way up to recapture the elusive .

Somehow, likely due to superior upper body strength, Isaac still managed to make it to the roof a few seconds before the raven. He took off running. Pipes and wires sped by as Isaac hastily reached a thin ledge on the edge of the next building. he ran along it, daring the raven to follow. it was about 3 feet wide. It went all the way around the building until it came to an outcropping, with a large billboard. Isaac had taken this route before, and the crane was in the right place to do it again. He ran along the billboard to the middle letter, the "p" in the sunbleached "raposa" turned to his right, and leaped to a precarious landing 5m below on the crane, he slid down the rest of the way, and continued his run over a fence, and onto a high section of a lower roof.

Mirroring Isacc's path, the Raven smiled to himself. Everything was proceeding according to plan. Unbeknownst to Isacc every movement he had made had been carefully plotted by the Raven and now he was heading straight into a dead end. If he had wanted to he could have shot him through the head already as he would during his usual pursuits but this target was to valuable to be eliminated. Yet. The chase had to be coming to an end now as Isacc was clearly running out of options. He had reached a dead end now. Smiling to himself with the knowledge of triumph inevitable he pressed on to complete his prey's entrapment.

Isaac couldn't slow himself to climb up the pipe on the other end of the jump he had reached, so he plopped down the the lower outcropping below, and pulled out all of the stops for one last move. he ran straight to the end of the ledge and jumped as high and as far as he possibly could, there was no hope of reaching the next building, it was on the other side of an 8 lane highway. It wasn't even where he was aiming. He whipped uncontrollably along, through the air, 30 feet above the throrougfare, and hoped for the best. It was a few seconds later, he collided with the top-cab of a semi truck, abruptly stopping his downward motion, and transferring it foreward, he slid off of the other side and caught himself on the edge.

Speeding down the road at 70 miles per hour, Isaac was long gone before the Raven ever even reached the outcropping.

Sitting on the edge of the roof from which Isacc had ecaped from, the Raven tapped his fingers in fustration. He was unacustomed to being evaded although the fact that Isacc had escaped down to primrily luck was something to lighten his mood. There was no good sitting around moping about his failure to recapture his prisoner, the pursuit must still go on. Although fatigued he made his way back to his nest to regroup and rearm. Next time he would trust no-one but himself with Isacc's custody. And woe beside Isacc if there was a next time as nobody escapes the Raven twice. Especially when taken to the Nest.

*Hours Later*

"Can I move in tonight?" Isaac asked, the dingy incandescent glare of the hallway was hurting his eyes, so much so that he just wanted to get in to his room.

"6000 per month" replied the man, a kind hearted gentleman who was losing money trying to rent old apartments. Everyone wants new apartments, well, most everyone. "Actually, if you'll stay a while I can do 5000, Just pay up front."

Isaac handed the man cash, and the man handed Isaac a key. A few hours later he headed back to benji's to pack his one suitcase. The city was alive with bright blues that night, very much like the old days, but it was a threat now. A threat of discovery. He hurried.

One thing left layed on the couch at benji's house, "Come to 5412, Historic Brinkheart Avenue, apartment number 2B."