Chapter 23: The Untouchable Rockstar
"Hasta la vista, suckers!", the bike thief cackled as she rode away on her newly acquired vehicle.
IF shook her head, completely disoriented. "What… what just happened?", she muttered.
"Get up, IF! Someone's stolen your bike! ...Again!", Nisa shouted.
IF sighed. "You've gotta be freaking kidding me.
Nisa looked towards Rockstar as she was quickly getting away. Without thinking, Nisa ran over to a nearby bike rack and pulled out a notepad. She quickly scribbled "Sorry, had to borrow it!" and stuck it onto the rack before breaking one of the locks and grabbing a bike. She rode the bike over to IF. "Hop on!"
IF looked at Nisa as if she were crazy. "This isn't even a motorbike! How are we supposed to catch up on this piece of crap?"
"Hurry up, we don't have time to talk about those details!", Nisa replied quickly. IF rolled her eyes and hopped onto the bike pegs. In the next instant, Nisa began to peddle rapidly. "Don't worry! I won't let her get away!"
Rockstar began cruising, believing she had gotten away. "Heh. Too easy", she smirked. With her guard down, it was easy for Nisa and IF to catch up to her. The pair closed in on Rockstar until they were finally within reach. IF stretched out her arm to try to yank Rockstar off of her bike. The brunette managed to grab hold of the thief.
"What the hell?!", Rockstar blurted out. She turned to look at Nisa and IF, finally acknowledging their presence. She sucked her teeth in annoyance before performing a wheelie and speeding up away from them, leaving IF no choice but to let go.
"Nisa, we need to go faster!", IF called out.
"Already on it!", Nisa replied. She began to pedal even faster, to the point where it was hard to keep up with how fast the pedals were spinning. The bike seemed to soar through the air at astonishing speed. Nisa looked down, surprised by how fast they were going. She realized that the bike was, in fact, literally soaring through the air.
"Keep it up! We're catching up to her!", IF shouted.
"This isn't me! We're flying!", Nisa blurted out.
"What?", IF replied. She took a moment to look around, now realizing that Nisa's words weren't an exaggeration. "How is this happening?!"
"Look!", Nisa shouted. A girl dashed through the air above them, followed random pieces of debris. She moved effortlessly as if diving through water, completely uninhibited. Upon closer inspection, it was almost as if she were falling.
"I have an idea", IF said to Nisa. She placed both of her hands on top of Nisa's shoulders then pushed herself up. Just as she suspected, she began "falling" in the same direction as the girl who had flown past them. Now moving faster than Nisa, IF looked back at her partner as she flew ahead. "Keep tailing us!", she shouted.
Nisa looked up towards IF as she floated away, then back down at the bike she was riding. She decided to jump up into the air herself and completely abandon the "borrowed" bike. Now in mid-air, she decided to try something to gain more speed. She curled into a ball and spun around a few times before stretching out. "Justice Kick!", she shouted. Her powerful attack propelled her forward, easily passing IF and quickly catching up with the flying girl from earlier.
"Got the hang of it, huh?", the girl called out to Nisa.
"You're the one doing this, aren't you?", Nisa replied. "Who are you?"
"I'm Gravity Rush! Just 'Rush' is fine, too", the girl replied. Her hair was blonde with red highlights and her outfit was a sleeveless getup and matching boots. "I'm after that criminal, Rockstar!"
"Sounds like we're on the same side then!", Nisa grinned. A moment later, IF caught up to them.
"That's great! If we work together, this should be easy!", Gravity Rush smiled back. She looked forward towards Rockstar, who was still riding on the ground. "I'll speed us up. Stay close, I'll carry you!"
Gravity Rush dashed through the air, with Nisa and IF following closely within her gravitational field. In no time, they caught up to Rockstar.
"Just a little closer!", Nisa shouted.
"If I threw you, do you think you'll be able to get her off?", Gravity Rush asked.
"I'll go! It's my bike, after all", IF replied.
"Alright then, get ready!", Gravity Rush nodded. She raised her right hand up and swiped it forward, sending IF flying towards their target. IF rapidly approached Rockstar and stretched her arms out. When she was finally within range, IF grabbed onto the thief's neck and tackled her off the bike. The bike lost balance and sped off for a bit before toppling over onto the ground. IF and Rockstar hit the ground rolling as Gravity Rush and Nisa began to catch up to them.
Rockstar groaned as she started to get back up on her feet. "Freaking A… Who goes this hard over a damn bike?!", she shouted.
IF pushed herself up and wiped some blood off of her cheek. "Do you really think… That you could just steal something… With no consequences?!"
Nisa and Gravity Rush walked up and stood in front of IF. "Just come quietly. This has gone on long enough", Gravity Rush muttered.
"Like hell I'm gonna surrender!", Rockstar barked. She reached behind her back and pulled out two guns, immediately firing them upon her pursuers. At this point, IF rolled her way to safety now that Nisa and Gravity Rush caught Rockstar's attention. Gravity Rush reacted just in time to use her powers to pull a car over in front of them to block the bullets. She took a few steps forward with the car acting as their shield before launching it towards their assailant.
Rockstar dove out of the way, avoiding the massive projectile entirely. When she looked up, she saw Nisa dashing towards her. Before she could react, Nisa had already kicked her square in the chest. The wind was completely knocked out of her, and she landed flat on her back. Nisa raised her foot up and planted it right on Rockstar's chest, causing the thug to choke as she tried to inhale.
"You and I have something personal to talk about", Nisa talked down to her.
Rockstar glared up at Nisa. "I've never even seen you before!", she barked.
"Think about it! Several years ago, a warehouse bust!", Nisa shouted. "The whole place exploded!"
There was a confused look on the face of the thief. "...You know what, I do remember. What about it?"
"The person you were fighting… where are they?", Nisa pressed with not just her question, but with her heel.
Rockstar paused for a moment before answering. "How would I know that?! I got the hell out of there when I had the chance!"
"No, that can't be… you HAVE to know something!", Nisa replied.
Rockstar grit her teeth. "I ain't takin' the fall for some other scrub! I dunno where your buddy is, you freaking weirdo! Now let me go! This is police brutality!"
"We're not even cops", IF shrugged as she approached the scene with her reobtained bike.
"That may be true, but she's wanted by the Lastation guild anyway", Gravity Rush crossed her arms. "Which is why I've been following her."
"What's she wanted for?", IF asked.
"...Grand theft auto", Gravity Rush replied.
IF crossed her arms. "I see."
"Come on, let's take her in", Gravity Rush suggested. She raised her hand up and lifted Rockstar up into the air with her powers. "Thanks for helping me nab her. Pass by the guild later, I'll split the reward with you two!"
"That works out for us. We were headed there anyway!", IF smiled.
Rockstar tried to get away, but was simply stuck in midair. "Damn it! Let me go!", she grumbled.
"I'll meet you there, then. Thanks again!", Rockstar waved before flying off with Rockstar in tow.
IF turned to Nisa before hopping onto her bike. "Come on, let's go." Nisa was unresponsive, and seemed to be in a daze. "Nisa? Hey, are you listening?"
"Huh?", the blue haired girl was deep in thought, and finally snapped out of it. "Oh, sorry about that."
"I didn't expect you to zone out like that. Kind of out of character, if you ask me", IF replied. "What's on your mind?"
Nisa hesitated before answering. "I'll tell your about it later. You… you go on ahead. I have to return the bike we took earlier."
"Well, if you insist. Don't keep us waiting!", IF said before revving up her bike and riding off.
Nisa began to walk over to the "borrowed" bike, lost in thought.
"She has to know something. There's no way Spike could have just vanished into thin air…"
After returning the bike, Nisa made her way over to the Lastation guild on foot. Expecting to be greeted by her friends, she was shocked to see who was actually there to greet her.
"How's it hanging?", Rockstar grinned, surrounded by a completely smug aura.
Nisa was stunned with shock. "You?! But how? You should be under arrest right now!"
"Paid a fee, got out free!", Rockstar chuckled as she walked over to Nisa. "I'm untouchable here. I can do whatever the hell I want, as long as I can afford it!" She got close to Nisa and whispered into her ear. "And trust me, I can always afford it."
"There's no way it could be that easy to evade justice!", Nisa replied.
"Welcome to Lastation, loser!", Rockstar cackled. She flicked Nisa on the forehead before beginning to walk away.
"Wait!", Nisa called out to her. "Please, just… answer my question!" She didn't know how to react. She knew in her heart that Rockstar was guilty of a crime. But if the law allowed Rockstar to pay her way out of trouble, who was Nisa to argue with the rules set by the leaders of Lastation?
Rockstar stopped in her tracks. "...One question. Better pick your words wisely."
Nisa hesitated before speaking. "Where is-"
"NOT! Bahaha!", Rockstar laughed before spinning around. She approached the street before pointing in several different directions. At the end of this sequence, a car vanished out of thin air and Rockstar got inside. She rolled down the window and stretched her arm out, flipping Nisa the bird before driving off through a red light.
Nisa was dumbstruck and watched as Rockstar as she escaped form view. After a few moments, she finally sighed as she came to terms with the fact that she wasn't going to get any answers. She placed her hands on her hips and psyched herself up into a smile before turning around and walking into the guild. Inside, she found IF and Gravity Rush had already met up with the rest of the party.
"Oh, hey there!", Gravity Rush greeted. "Here's your share of the reward."
"Thank you! I see you've already become acquainted with everybody!", Nisa replied.
"I have to say, this is quite the party you've got here", Gravity Rush smiled.
"A bit too crowded, if you ask me", IF sighed. She turned to look at Nisa. "We haven't spoken to the guild leader yet. We were just waiting for you to get here first."
"Oh, you're here to speak with S? What about?", Gravity Rush asked.
"An investigation. We're looking into a string of leaks sent to PC Continent", Vio explained.
Gravity Rush had a surprised look on her face. "Oh wow, that seems pretty important… I hope you solve the case. I hear it's pretty bad over there."
"It'll only get worse if we can't put a stop to this. Keep an eye out for us, will you?", MAGES. said.
"Here's my number. I'll call you if I find anything fishy!", Gravity Rush nodded. She bowed before turning around and walking outside.
IF crossed her arms. "Alright. Now that everyone's here, let's get this moving." She walked over to the guild receptionist and requested to meet with the leader before returning to where the party was standing. After waiting a few minutes, they were called inside to the guild's head office.
"Welcome. I am S, the leader of the Lastation guild." S was dressed in the exact same getup as her Planeptune and Leanbox counterparts, making all three of them completely indistinguishable from each other. "I believe you're here to discuss an investigation?"
"That is correct. We have reason to believe that there is a traitor leaking information to forces within PC Continent", MAGES. explained.
"I see. Do you have any leads?", S asked.
"We think they're connected to a certain organization, since they were able to leak intel about them to the enemy", Vio replied.
"That certainly helps narrow it down", S nodded. "A moment, please." She brought up a holographic screen that displayed a list of several names belonging to different organizations based in Lastation. "Do any of these look familiar?"
IF skimmed the list, not recognizing anything. "Is it okay if I send this to someone?", she asked.
"This is top secret information", S replied. "...However, for something such as this, I can make an exception." IF nodded and took a picture of the list with her phone, then sent it to Lid.
Nisa did a fistpump and turned to face everyone. "This is good! We should split up and investigate! Everyone, take your pick!"
While everyone was deciding on which organization to investigate, IF waited for a reply from Lid. As if on cue, the reply arrived. It read:
The one K-Sha and I are related to is "FoxPup".
IF nodded and pointed at the screen. "I'll take that one."
"Alright then, that's settled. Remember, everyone. Our mission is to gather information and look for anything or anyone suspicious. Lives are on the line here!", Nisa announced.
A few hours had passed since the party split up. IF had looked up the location of FoxPup and was now scouting the area around their headquarters. Her plan? To infiltrate the building undetected and identify everyone with access to mission operations within PC Continent. She'd then regroup with everyone else and compare their findings before taking further actions.
This task would be a test of IF's abilities. It probably would've helped if Lid and K-Sha were also around to help, but it was too late to have them come over. IF eyed the facility up and down one last time before approaching it.
"Mission start."
CHAPTER 23… THE UNTOUCHABLE ROCKSTAR... END.