"Watch your back. Shoot straight. Conserve ammo. And never, ever, cut a deal with a dragon." - Street proverb
"When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. And when life takes away your lemonade stand because you were operating without a proper business license or you didn't bribe the right people, you take it all back by robbing life at gunpoint." - Second Maxim of the Streets, according to Nico 'Smiley' Yazawa
"Corner!" shouted Nico.
That was all the time Maki had to prepare before she was suddenly swept off her feet and sent flying.
The van's tires squealed loudly in protest at the strain of Nico's ill-advised swerve, the metal box on wheels swinging out wide as two of its tires left the ground momentarily before crashing back to pavement. Within, Maki grunted as she was hurled against the wall, her fingers scrambling to cling to the interior webbing to avoid the next inevitable mishap of their escape. She looked up at Rin, the orange-head remaining unperturbed as she held the stolen experimental device in check on its pedestal. Maki felt a small seed of envy blossom with her, not for the first time wishing that she too possessed the benefits and advantages afforded by hundreds of thousands of nuyen worth of cyberware implanted throughout her body, but the thought was fleeting.
After all, Maki excelled in areas where Rin simply couldn't.
The van suddenly gained air as it soared off the on-ramp and onto the highway, once more doing its best to hurl Maki around the cramped interior of the rear compartment.
"Smiley!" shouted Maki, "Can't you drive a little smoother?!"
"Oh I'm sorry princess, am I offending your delicate sensibilities?" snapped the ravenette. "Maybe we can stop and talk things over with CyTech security like the law-abiding citizens we are!" she added sarcastically.
Maki was about to make her own witty retort when their private radio line crackled to life. "CyTech aerial security drones incoming!" called Hanayo. "A full half-dozen closing in from your six!"
Crimson eyes flashed to the rearview mirror, taking note of the bulbous metal pods. "Iriomote, light 'em up!" she ordered.
"Nya!" cried Rin excitedly. Bashing open the van's back doors, the cybered-up catgirl raised her minigun and unleashed a torrent of hot lead into the night sky. "Say hello to Kayo-chin!" she laughed maniacally as the drones began taking hits. The lead drone exploded under her sustained assault, the others scattering to avoid the same fate.
Lucky shots caught another two of the mechanical sentries and they were sent spiraling to the ground below, impacting in a blaze. The other three attempted to coordinate an appropriate tactical response, but their intelligence subroutines quickly determined the ideal course of action to be retreat.
From their vantage point, Maki and Rin could see the other cars on the motorway behind them doing their best to avoid the firefight, swerving and coming to a halt as Nico's rampant driving brought more and more unfortunate bystanders into the danger zone. Unfortunately for them, the squadron of CyTech security bikes racing after them in pursuit were equally apathetic to their plight, as evidenced when one of the officers let fly a rocket towards the van that veered off course and smashed into a car next to them.
"Smiley, we need to get off the highway!" shouted Maki over the sound of wind. She shot a glare at Rin. "And quit shooting already! The drones are already out of range, and bullets cost nuyen!"
Another bump rocked the van, and Maki's stomach sank as she began to see the telltale signs of elevated roadwork architecture. But on the bright side, a low electric whine sounded out as Rin reluctantly powered down her minigun.
"No can do on that detour," responded Nico as she haphazardly plowed across several lanes of traffic, "We're crossing the Rainbow Bridge!"
Another explosion rocked the van as more rockets impacted around them, the security bikes gaining ground. "Well we have to do something!"
"I know! Shut up and let me think!"
The radio once more flared to life. "I might have an idea," said Hanayo, "But you're not going to like it."
"Do it!" said Nico, "Whatever it is, just do it!"
"...Copy that. Standby."
A roar suddenly sounded out behind them as a security bike flew over a trail of cars, landing directly behind them with guns pointed up. "Now can I shoot?" wondered Rin as the minigun once more spooled up.
"Yes!" chorused Nico and Maki.
A smirk crossed Rin's face as she stepped up, savoring the moment when her cybernetically enhanced eyes picked up the minute movements in the CyTech security officers' body language as they realized how screwed they were. She pressed the trigger.
Six barrels of hell let loose on full auto.
In the driver's seat, Nico was the first to notice as the digital traffic signs overhead flashed into danger messages as alarm lights went off. A second later, the warning klaxons began blaring as yellow lights spun ominously. The atmosphere, already tense with so much security in hot pursuit, managed to ramp up to a level Nico didn't know existed.
"RiceRig! Status report!" she ordered.
"Standby," reported Hanayo distractedly.
Momentarily muting the connection, Nico swore and silently vowed to cut off that girl's supply of rice. Just what were they supposed to be standing by for?
The answer came as a low mechanical hum that began droning out across the Rainbow Bridge, and it wasn't long before all three thieves knew what was about to happen.
Crimson eyes shot open wide in realization. "You're raising the goddamn bridge?!"
Indeed she was. All across the iconic roadway, the shudder of movement was felt by every passenger in every vehicle. Slowly, the road rose up without rhyme or reason as panic gripped the people, their cars struggling to stop or turn around while avoiding collision. In the van, the trio didn't have that luxury and Nico kept her foot down, dodging the makeshift roadblocks as best she could.
In the rear, Rin had put away her beloved Kayo-chin and clamped one arm around their stolen device and the other to the van. Maki was doing her best to hold on with both hands as the angle of ascent got steeper and steeper.
Then the first vehicle began to fall.
The laws of physics soon enforced their rule on reality as gravity took hold of a sizeable truck carrying a heavy load. The truck started rolling backwards down the bridge as its brakes failed it, smashing aside all in its path, including one of the trio's pursuers. Then vans and cars and even a limousine began the plummet, causing a cacophony of destruction as a hail of metal assaulted those unfortunate enough to be at the bottom.
With the van's rear doors swinging open freely, Maki and Rin had a picturesque view of the mayhem.
Nico did her best to avoid the carnage with a minimum of swerving without arresting their speed, but there was only so much she could as their momentum stalled. Fortunately for the three, it seemed as though their luck was about to turn around as they closed the last stretch of the bridge. Then, impossibly, there was naught but air beneath their wheels.
Eyes wide in terror, the ravenette gripped the steering wheel for dear life as her hands turned bone white. All became silent as her life flashed before her eyes, the slow pounding of her heartbeat the only sound she could register. Their vehicle closed the gap of nothingness, as everything flashed to white for an instant, Nico thought she might have passed out. Gradually though, she became aware of the wind rushing past, the unfocused spots of light confusing her vision returning to the magnificent view of the Tokyo night skyline.
Then they were falling. Her gaze dropped lower to the other half of the bridge they were supposed to be leaping to, rising tauntingly as if challenging them with one last hurdle. In the air, there was nothing Nico could do, but it seemed like the team just might survive the night's ordeal after all.
Then awareness flooded back as Hanayo's voice burst into their ears. "Attack chopper incoming!"
"Shit!" swore Nico. Crimson eyes snapped around to survey her options. There was nothing in front or off to the sides, and a quick glance to the rearview mirror confirmed the chopper was right behind them. She could see the barrel of the chopper's main cannon begin to glow in preparation of their destruction.
There was nothing Nico could. Nothing Rin could do. Nothing Hanayo could do. But...
"MAKI!"
Nico's desperate call shook Maki back to life, a quick blink of violet eyes returning the woman to action. "On it!" she responded. One hand let go of the webbing she was clinging onto, and the redhead fell back as mystical energies began gathering in the palm of her hand. Several tense moments passed as both redhead and cannon charged their power, a deadly race to see which would reach critical capacity first. It was a race Maki won.
Holding a pressurized inferno in her hand, Maki yelled as she thrust out her palm, launching a ball of fire from the back of the van.
The attack chopper pilot broke off as the projectile whizzed towards him, but there was nothing he could do as the magical fireball smashed into the cabin with overwhelming destructive force.
The team of three yelped as their van hit the other side of the bridge and they began their harrowing descent. Behind them, the charred remnants of half a helicopter disappeared beneath the waters, forever claimed by the dark depths of Tokyo Bay.
When the team had finally gotten off the highway and back into the twisted network of local roads, the van had clearly had it. The hunk of junk had only barely managed to get them to Hanayo's location, battery acid and motor oil leaking a trail the whole way, before giving out in front of nondescript warehouse in a quieter part of the district. From there, the quartet had hiked on foot through six different prefectures before reaching their destination, a traditional Shinto temple just off the side of the great electric mega-district of Akihabara.
Despite the neon sign in the window bearing the word 'Open' in glowing green, the interior of the Kanda-Myojin Bar & Shrine was completely vacant of the usual patrons one might expect to find at any 24-hour watering hole. The only life to be found within its walls was the immaculately dressed bartender-miko, wiping down a glass while a TV played the breaking news of the hour.
Perhaps it was superstition, or perhaps it was the spiritual presence of the enshrined kami bound to the location, but casual visitors never appeared without the eye of the sun glaring down from overhead. But these four were not casual visitors.
"Well, well, well," drawled Nozomi as the team stalked onto the floor. "If it isn't my favorite runners in the city." She turned to address Nico. "How are you, Smiley?"
"Cut the crap, Nozomi," huffed Nico. "We got your package."
At a gesture, Rin stepped up and dropped the device on the bar's counter, a crooked smile never leaving her face. Eyes flashing to the device in curiosity, Nozomi reached out and gave it an experimental flick, giving no reaction at the dull ting of metal. She gave it a cursory inspection, mainly for the theatricality of it all, before shrugging an acceptance.
"Seems like a job well done to me," she said. Reaching into her bra, the miko pulled out a series of credsticks and placed them before Nico with a smile. "As promised, 30,000 nuyen divided evenly among the four of you. Don't spend it all in one place." Her smile suddenly dropped. "If you get the chance."
One of Nico's eyebrows twitched. "What's that supposed to mean?" she growled.
Nozomi gestured to the TV just above the bar, the newscaster providing a horrific and dramatized rendition of what had happened with the Rainbow Bridge. Nico stared at the image, stoically taking it in. Maki's eyes had widened at the big picture of what they'd caused. Rin was unaffected, wondering just what the big deal was. Hanayo had turned away in shame.
Hitting the mute button, Nozomi began to speak.
"You've pissed off quite a lot of people with your little stunt, Nicocchi; CyTech Incorporated for stealing their hardware, Yoshimoto Construction for disproving their claim that the Rainbow Bridge is unhackable, Amazon Express Global for stopping deliveries, Kurosawa Fisheries for polluting Tokyo Bay, various corporate interests for all the worker drones they now need to replace. Oh, and all the little people who lost friends and loved ones in the incident. We shouldn't forget about them."
Nico spent several seconds grinding her teeth. "...Yeah," she eventually agreed, "We made a mess." She narrowed her eyes as they glared daggers at Nozomi. "And I suppose you have a way to clean this up? Possibly by doing another little favor for you?"
"Oh Nicocchi," said Nozomi, pity lacing her words, "There aren't enough favors in the world for me to clean this up."
"Then I guess we'll just have to take our chances in the streets."
"Now, now, don't be hasty. Every problem has two solutions. You just need to be willing to look."
"I thought I told you to cut the crap," growled the ravenette.
"You're going to need to get out of the city," said Nozomi as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
"And go where?!" cried Nico.
The purple-headed spiritualist hummed in consideration. "Fortunately for you, what happens in Tokyo tends to stay in Tokyo. As long as you're out of the city, it shouldn't matter. That said, I think I know a place. Tell me. How do you feel about Neo Numazu?"
AN: So this is quite a change of pace from my usual fare, but I think it turned out decently. Cyberpunk dystopia with urban fantasy is always fun, especially since I get to give the girls their own monikers. Maki's never came up, but I originally planned hers to be TomatoLine Bling for two reasons. First, because it's ridiculous and funny. Second, because in this world, it's edgy enough to work. It's also the name of another LL fanfic, so there's that too, lol.