Author's note: Sorry I didn't leave one last time! This chapter's a little short, but more is coming for sure. Alix, Austen, Hector and Mik all belong to me. Errol belongs to Naughty Dog. Just barrowing him for awhile. Ashelin, Torn and Praxis will appear later on, and they aren't mine, either… Happy reading!! :D
Alix and Austen could only watch in awe as their friend disappeared around the corner, still underneath the overpass. A Krimzon Guard screamed furiously after him as he went. Alix grabbed a fistful of his hair, shaking his head. Austen jumped as high as he could, fueled by pure excitement. He whooped, punching the air with his fist.
"Aw, Miky's done it now," he cackled.
"Yeah," Alix said, "And it's our fault! What happens when they find him?!"
The boy shrugged. "Ah, they'll take it easy on him. We're kids, remember, nimrod? It'll be a slap on the wrist at the most!"
"Really? Something tells me I shouldn't listen to you," Alix huffed.
Before his brother could say anything in reply, he was cut off by a loud shout. They turned sharply to face the KG, who was stomping up to them. They weren't aware of it, but both of their faces had turned instantly pale.
"S-Sergeant Errol?" Austen choked.
He didn't respond at first, waiting until he was towering over him to finally say something. His eyes blazed with anger and his face was turning red. He held out his hands and snapped,
"Give me your JET-Board, kid."
Alix hugged it close to him, remembering only then that he'd been holding it in his arms numbly for the whole ordeal. Errol raised his eyebrows expectantly, clearly antsy to go after Mik as soon as possible. But Alix scowled.
"No! Why would I give it to you?"
Errol growled. "Because I am a Krimzon Guard and you are a child- I have the authority here!"
"I'm not a child!" Alix yelled defiantly. He tried to hold back a grin, realizing Errol didn't know they had seen everything. Now he knew what he could do.
"I don't care how old you are," Errol roared, "Give me the damn JET-Board!"
"No!" Alix repeated firmly, "Where's your stupid car?"
Austen almost laughed, nearly giving them away, but he bit his knuckles and managed to muffle a giggle. Errol growled again, pulling on his hair.
"A brat like you just stole it!!" he screamed.
"Well, that's not my problem," Alix told him, still hugging his board protectively.
Errol realized he couldn't stay here and argue- that would waste valuable time. He growled a final time, turning on his heel.
"If I see you two ever again, I can promise it won't be pleasant for any of us."
Alix and Austen gulped, but their faces remained indifferent. They watched as the Krimzon Guard sprinted away from them, disappearing around the corner just as their friend had. Alix hoped they'd given him enough time for a good head start.
The busy intersections of Haven Coast had now blurred around him, bright lights leaving behind colorful streaks as he passed them. Mik turned another corner, nearly falling off the zoomer as he did so. Ahead of him, people began shouting and he yelped, searching in a panic to switch hover zones. His hand closed on the rounded handle of a letter and he yanked it up. The zoomer lurched into the air and he came close to falling off of it again. His knuckles were white on the steering bars as he threw another glance over his shoulder, the wind forcing his hair back.
He shot out of the busy sector of the suburbs nestled in the corner of the Coast, knowing he had to get out of the side streets; there was certainly a greater risk of running into something in the alleyways. The smell of Eco fuel was strong in his nostrils; his heart roared in his ears as pulled the zoomer to the right, almost shocked at how different the air suddenly felt. He understood then that he was now out in the open, flying over the still ocean. His terrified and strangely excited reflection met him on the glossy surface as he gazed down below. The Palace lights showed above him in straight lines, as if lighting his path; the moon had risen and showed brilliantly amidst a navy blue sky. He would never forget that image.
Mik straightened up, the cool wind making him shiver, his clothes snapping loudly behind him. His eyes refocused ahead and he felt a gaps escape him as he recognized the familiar outlines of a KG cruiser and another zoomer. They noticed him, too.
"For the love of Mar!" he screeched.
Mik yanked the rounded lever once again and the vehicle lurched to the lowest hover zone, nearly bucking him over the dash. A spray of water splashed at his face but he shook the bangs from his eyes and pressed on.
'Suspect is short in stature, fair-haired and wearing dark clothing. Currently in pursuit; stolen vehicle number reads 21772. He is now heading toward the Slums.'
Hector couldn't help chuckling to himself as he sat in his cruiser listening to the KG scanner. He knew that was Errol's car and it made him laugh to know some punk had stolen it. Hector had just come back from scrounging for food and was presently munching on his toasted chicken and black olives sub as he listened. He started the car back up and pulled into traffic with ease, still scarffing down the sub as he drove. When he'd finished, he let out a small sigh, rubbing the crumbs from his shirt. One moderately entertaining patrol would have suited him just fine…
The neon glare of the Krimzon Guard recruiting station signaled to Mik that he was roughly halfway through the Slums sector. By now, he'd come to the conclusion that he was clearly being followed, and remained on ground level below the traffic. He realized how dangerous this was, but the citizens in his path recognized the car and all moved quickly to get out of his way. His fingers were numb from the cold and his clothes were damp from the ocean water; when he licked his lips he could taste salt.
The zoomer bounced absurdly over the uneven streets and Mik shrieked, clinging for dear life to the handle bars as he went flying into the air. He came back down with a thud, hitting his butt hard on the seat, yelping with pain. His fist struck something on one of the glowing screens and as he struggled to right himself, he became aware he could hear voices.
'Currently lost sight of suspect; still continuing our sweep and will split up into the other sectors.'
Mik's stomach lurched. "Suspect?!" he cried, "I'm not a suspect!!"
He became aware of the fact that he needed to get the hell out of the Slums, knowing that it was a definite trap; if he could get to the Bazaar or even the farming sector, he might be able to lose them.
But what I if I can't?!
His panicked brain was already thinking of several punishments waiting for him once he was caught. And Torn- what would he think of all this? Mik tried to force the thoughts away, and found it was difficult. All he could imagine was Torn getting so mad that he'd let them throw Mik's sorry butt in prison.
"Stop the vehicle!" a voice bellowed.
Mik snapped out of his weary daze and screamed. A line of KGs had appeared in front of him, each one with a rifle or tasers aimed right at him. The thought of those weapons hurting him in any way chilled him to the bones. In his desperate attempt to reach for the hover zone lever, he hit several other buttons that threw the zoomer into battle mode. Turrets snapped to attention and the engines kicked into over-drive. Mik wrenched the lever up and the vehicle complied; the Guards below watched on somewhat incredulously. He was going too fast, and struggled with the controls. The engines had been geared for battle and were propelling him higher than he could manage. The zoomer hit a pocket of turbulence and flew higher into the air, launching clean over a building. Briefly Mik could see over the entire sector of the Slums before the back end scraped along the roof and a small shower of sparks burst into sight. Mik felt something tug on his leg and a sharp pain followed. He cried out as the zoomer dove nose-first off the roof and back on to the streets. His stomach was doing somersaults, but he still managed to keep driving. The KGs were gone and he shot out of the Slums into the Industrial section. Laughter suddenly took over him as he threw glances over his shoulder.
Now it felt like a race.
'Damn! We've lost sight of the suspect again! He did some kind of weird move- went over the rooftops- we think he's heading toward the Power Station. Back-up requested!!'
Hector frowned. All this attention for some punk-ass car thief? He reached for radio and pulled out his comlink with a sigh.
"Cruiser 3091 here. What the hell's goin' on?"
"I don't now," was the reply, "This guy just can't seem to be caught. It's getting ridiculous- we think he's headed through the Industrial sector now; send a few squads out for interception."
"Will do. Out," Hector answered.
He turned into another lane, heading to corner the thief in the sector a few minutes away. Typing in another frequency, he smirked to himself, shaking his head. Maybe he'd get that exciting patrol after all…
