Angels with Newfound Hope
Act 1 Chapter 10: Flee
Alex rested against the store's windows for a moment to catch his breath and heal. That kind of pain never dulled no matter how many times he received such an injury. At least he didn't waste any ammo that time.
Quick footsteps forced the human to hide where his attacker had. He had to admit, even if they were trying to kill him, they knew how to stay out of sight. The silhouetted figure of an anthro came up to the puddle and crouched by it.
"This is officer Naomi. South 2-1-7, I've got a potential murder here at 1823 Harlott Street, the Kellier Clothiers. Vic's not visible. I need an extra unit code, maybe an ambulance code, but have them stage until the scene's clear." The officer called in. Alex cursed silently, backup would mean less opportunity to escape. Or worse, getting caught and thrown in jail.
"Copy that, Naomi. We've got someone en-route to your location right now." He had to get away now or he was screwed. Maybe there was something he could use to distract her. He checked the ground in front of him with no luck. With no choice left, he shot the street light.
The officer yelped as glass shards rained down on her. Someone ran by in her daze, knocking her over. She got back up and made a beeline for the suspect.
"This is Naomi, suspect's on the run! They're heading towards Onyx Avenue!" She didn't even care what the operator had to say. She just had to get that bastard and quick. The chase continued on for a good minute.
Alex hoped he would be able to hide in the shadows and lose this cop, but she always caught up. There had to be some way to finally lose her and get back to his place. They came up on a construction site that he dashed into. Naomi slammed into someone right before she could give chase.
"Would you watch where you're g- Naomi? What's got you in a rush?" Maverick called out whilst she vaulted over him.
"No time, suspect's on the run!" She called back. The silver dragon was quick to his feet, and even quicker to follow. Only one person was on his mind: Reza.
The brunette ducked behind some palettes of material. There was still an astronomical chance of getting caught if he stayed still, but he had to catch his breath. He sat there for a second before hearing an argument.
"Why did you follow me, Maverick? You're on sick leave." Naomi chastised the larger dragon. Alex poked his head out to find that he was, in fact, present.
"I'm not letting anyone accused of any crime get away. My injuries don't matter when more people could be hurt." Maverick snarled. The human had to admit, that was brave of him.
"You really shouldn't be here. I've got backup on the way, so let them help me." She tried to push her coworker off site to no avail. It was almost funny to watch if the tone weren't already so serious.
"And what makes you think they'll be here before they get away. For all you know, the perp is still fleeing as we speak." Naomi hated to admit it, but he was right. She let herself off him and begrudgingly stepped aside.
"Fine. But you need to leave as soon as backup arrives. I don't want you getting in trouble for butting into this investigation." She grumbled. The larger male nodded his acknowledgement and padded forward.
Alex cursed himself for not leaving whilst they argued, but just accepted the fact. There weren't any other exits from his 'vantage' point anyway. He'd just have to sneak past and get back to safety.
The two dragons fanned out into the site, with Maverick heading his way. He got a bad feeling he'd have to square off against the officer very soon. For now, though, he'd stick with what he knew.
The dragon stalked about the site. If it really was Reza that Naomi chased after, he'd have to exercise more caution this time. The last thing he wanted to go through was another bullet extraction.
Alex crept around the larger officer without his noticing. He looked almost scary in the low moonlight. He couldn't even tell which way he was looking. The brunette took a gentle breath and crawled into a concrete pipe, switching on his shades and praying nobody saw him.
As he crawled through, he could hear more conversation coming from nearby...
"Any luck?" The man heard Naomi speak up.
"Not yet. What did this person look like?" Maverick came within view.
"All I could see was a silhouette. Whoever this is can break street lights without giving away where they are. I'm thinking they have something like a slingshot, since I've seen kids accidentally break windows with them." The mauve female explained to him. At least she didn't suspect a human.
"That rules out Reza and Alex for now. Those weapons of theirs are more than loud enough to attract anyone within earshot." Her silver friend contemplated aloud. And now the man listening allowed himself to release the breath he'd been holding.
The smaller female suddenly honed in on the pipe he was in. She signed to Maverick to go around and flank him. And here he thought he could leave without a fight. The two reptiles took position on each end, with her readying a flashlight. Before she could even flick it on, one of the brunette's bullets rammed it out of her grasp.
Alex heard some sort of liquid being sprayed behind him. Just a few short seconds later, it caught ablaze in a glorious inferno. He forced himself out and into Naomi's awaiting claws. She took the human for but a split second before his gun made a quick introduction to her forehead. The anthro collapsed to the ground in an unceremonious heap.
Rage engulfed Maverick's form as he watched her fall. He didn't even realize he'd blacked out until it was far too late.
A ferocious roar, followed by thundering footsteps advanced on the brunette. He cursed before bolting to the under construction building. He could hear the officer's head bash into a steel girder he'd scrambled up in the last moment. Unfortunately, he had no time to feel bad. He needed to get away before anyone else arrived.
"Maverick?!" Just his luck. The human cloaked himself in shadow and watched Sebastian's arrival. He ran over to the raging dragon. The dragon himself blindly whipped around, catching his coworker with his tail and flinging him into the fence.
"Oh damn. Sebastian!" Maverick's unfortunate act of violence snapped him out of his enraged state at least. He helped the runner up once he checked him for injuries.
"Ugh... What the heck did you do that for?" The tan raptor groaned. It seemed like his forming bruise wouldn't be healing anytime soon. Alex mouthed an apology and checked around for an escape route.
"Sorry. Reza's here, and he just took down Naomi. I guess I blacked out while chasing after him." The silver dragon growled. The brunette hadn't much other escape besides climbing back down and distracting the pair. Not unless he wanted to shred himself on the fence surrounding the site.
"Where'd he get off to, the building?" Sebastian questioned, to which his coworker confirmed. He glowered at the building with intense hatred Alex could feel from his position. The human decided on jumping over the fence instead of risking detection. He'd rather not give anyone any more headaches than necessary. With a running start, he coiled over it with some effort.
Yet he had no clue what he just left the officers to...
"Dammit. He's gone." Maverick punched a sack of concrete out of frustration.
"Just another headache for the pile, eh?" The raptor joked dryly. All his companion did was stare back with a deadpan.
"I don't even have words for how terrible that was." The silver officer returned his attention to the streets whilst Sebastian sheepishly joined up.
"We'll need to alert-" The tan officer didn't get another word out before being knocked unconscious, his body hitting the floor much like Naomi's. Maverick whipped around with newfound rage. Rage that morphed into terror when he spotted the intruder. It was some sort of human-like figure, appearing to be made almost entirely of shadow. Or maybe that was the night playing tricks on him. What was scarier about it was the ominous blue glow surrounding it. Something told him he needed to get away at all costs or kill it ASAP.
It's just too bad he never got a chance. The figure zipped forward at blistering speeds, hammering him with otherwise bone-cracking force that left him out cold as well.
"Good work. We'll still have to take care of them accordingly though." Alex's attacker stepped into the light, Naomi already over their shoulder. The person hauled Sebastian onto their back and made to cart him off.
"What about Maverick?" The predator asked in his own voice. Their companion offered a shrug.
"He's a two-man job. We'll have to come back for him. Let's just hope he doesn't wake up with a vengeance." The attacker joked dryly. Both of them silently pressed on towards the reptiles' unknown fates...