Gee, three chapters down, two more to go.
Like I said in the end notes last chapter, Akane and her AI daughter - Angela will be facing both the natural and man made roadblocks in this one.
I had even added a cute little family scene in this chapter to fit with the family genre. I do hope you like it.
Read and enjoy this chapter entitled...
Chapter 2 – Storm Runners
Texas Highway One near Hillsboro, Texas– 5: 30 PM, April 2, 2044 Tuesday
The Stiletto was cruising thorough the concrete highway on its way to Bartlesville, Oklahoma and the Twoeagles ranch that lied some a few kilometers beyond it at a steady rate of seventy five miles per hour.
Along the way, Akane had to admire the wildflowers that have lined up on the asphalted highway's sides as they have obediently bent to the will of the wind.
Her gloved hands had gone idle for the meantime since she had let her A.I. daughter- Angela take over the wheel, leaving her some time to relax and enjoy the scenery.
Since the road was flat for a few miles or so, the duelist was able to see the line of beautiful flowers all the way to the darkening northern horizon.
The blue haired woman then made a mental note on picking up some of the said flowers and taking them back to her home in New Hampshire when she gets a chance to do so.
In her mind's eye, adding a few more flowers would not hurt the little greenhouse she had built in the last few years with some help from her husband and a few neighbors.
"Approaching, Hillsboro. I would suggest that we don't take the detour, Mom, " Angela said as she had showed the digital road map on the said town on the bullet proof windshield's heads up display for her mother to study.
"The stretch of Highway 1 bypassing the town is so bad; my active suspensions will need a complete overhaul if we drive through there."
"Alright, dear. I also think that you still have enough juice to make it to the next town anyway," Akane answered as she had takena quick peek at the charge indicator on the dashboard after examining the projected road map.
As the Stiletto was approaching the small town itself, a flat aluminum sign that was surrounded by flashing red lights to car's left had caught Akane's and Angela's attention. On it were the words:
"Stop Ahead"
Beyond the flashing sign were steel barricades and beyond the barricades were several black and white police cars with its flashing lights.
One of the said patrol cars was a Texas Ranger black and white cruiser. To their right were parked duel cars with their armored owners sitting on the roofs or hoods as they had watched something beyond Akane's sight.
"I don't think it's a trap, mom. Although why the heck are they even blocking the road?" The female AI said as she had fumed at the further delay to their cross country trip as the Stilletto had rolled to a complete stop just in front of the barricade.
"I'll ask them, dear. Don't get your circuits crossed just yet," Akane replied soothingly as she had taken deep breaths to calm her own rising anger.
After picking up her long range Citizen Band radio microphone, the blue haired duelist had asked the policemen in a polite but slightly irritated tone on what the heck was going on.
The answer was as quick as it was short.
"Sorry for the trouble, ma'am but the highway's closed until 7:30 in the evenin'. This is because of the ongoing Hillsboro April Fool Marathon that is held this time every year."
"But today is April second, not-" Akane had exclaimed in her confusion.
"April Fools!" a chorus of drunken voices had responded in the airwaves.
"Real funny fellows we 'ave here, Mom." Angela said through her mom's headset by means of another frequency so as not to be heard by the policemen over the airwaves. "Dad would be pretty much at home with those smashed losers."
"Angela! Your father may act funny when he's drunk but at least he knows all about it," Akane had scolded her daughter both for her sarcastic tone as well as her rude comments about her own "father" as soon as she had released the talk button on the black microphone.
"Oops. Sorry, Mom." the A.I.'s voice had clearly showed its fear. "Just don't tell Dad about it, pretty please with sugar on top. I'll even be a good girl and drive you to the market on Sundays."
"Alright, you're forgiven but don't even try of doing it again especially in front of your little brother. I'll jus' ask the one in charge if we can get exempted from the rules, just this once." The duelist replied as she had opened the door and walked to the assembled police men and Texas Ranger, all of them standing ten feet away from the Stiletto's composite front bumper.
"Can I ask ya kind gentlemen on what the April Fool marathon actually is?" Akane had asked the slightly drunk law enforcers.
"Well Ma'am, it's like this. The marathon is an annual event in this town where we give each of the 100 contestants, of any gender above legal age, a few beer bottles to drink before the five kilometer run itself starts." The brown haired Texas Ranger had told Akane as he slowly set down his green beer bottle on his car's hood where he was currently sitting on. "The winner's still the one who crosses the finish line first."
"Yeah, but those who threw up, urinated, or jus' plain fainted are immediately taken off the race. Thus the winner has ta have a really strong belly for alcohol," added a local policeman before taking a swig at his own brown bottle.
"Lastly, this marathon is actually made on the second day of April thus the inside joke in its name," A third policeman had added quickly before he left his post to fetch a drunken man who had tripped on a rock, his improved armor clanking the whole way.
"Ok then, can I ask fer a favor from you guys?" Akane said in honeyed tone.
"Uh… sure, Ma'am. What can we do fer ya?" The second ranger had asked quietly as he was wary of the other travelers listening in to the conversation from their own cars parked nearby.
"Can you allow me ta pass by and be on my way, even for a few seconds? I'm really late fer a very important meeting in Oklahoma City tomorrow and I still have to make a reservation at a hotel in Dallas for tonight."
"I'm sorry, Ma'am. You could stick aroun' here and repair your car if ya like but we can only open the highway on 7:30 PM." The Texas Ranger then replied with a crossed expression. "We don't make the rules here, Ma'am. Only enforce 'em."
"Oh, alright. Thank you for your time," Akane said as she had waved at the kind officers on her way back to her idling car. She knew that being stubborn would only land her in hot water.
"So what's the scoop, Mom? Would they let us pass even fer just a moment?"Angela asked eagerly as her mother had pulled the Stilletto's driver side door upward before entering.
"Nope, they won't even let us pass at all. Let's jus' rest up for a bit," Akane replied as she had powered down the car's systems. She then took as little nap while her daughter had shifted to sleep mode as the ATAD was set to passive surveillance.
-oOo-
More than a hundred miles away to the north of Hillsboro, the security surveillance in the Twoeagle's estate was anything but passive.
The silver haired head honcho had ordered that the trike patrols' schedules be increased from one hour to three and that they should patrol a perimeter of five miles from the estate.
The men in the security room were to be put in double shifts to ensure that no one could sneak in through their defenses. The four guard posts that were placed on each of the house's concrete walls' corners were also put in full alert until late the next morning to prevent surprise attacks from the wilderness outside.
Even the heavily armed guards in the luxurious state rooms where President Nonoka and his daughter were kept had also been doubled from four to eight in total.
"I'm too far in my unstoppable plan just to let a bunch of old fogies and two snot nosed brats to trump me yet again," John Twoeagles was telling himself as he had taken a sip of the Le Chambertin burgundy wine that he had bought in his recent trip to Paris, France and stared at the dark sky beyond his office's window. "I'll show 'em. I'll show 'em all that no one puts a good Twoeagles down, no one."
"Hm, I may have to visit Paris again this coming weekend." John said to himself as he had noticed the dwindling supply of burgundy bottles in his aluminum wine rack.
A slight knock on the door behind him did a very good job in derailing the renegade oil baron's remaining thoughts. The fuming forty something had turned angrily at the door. "Come in, dammit."
"Sir, we've heard rumors that the Omega Force is stationed somewhere past the barren hills to the east of us." The oil baron's chief of security said as he had closed the rosewood door behind him. "We may have ta strengthen our forces if we 'ave to engage them as well."
"You fool! I've already spent a fortune on providing you and your men the best dueling machines and weapons the Free Oil States have to offer." John said as he abruptly stood up. "And here you are cowering like a sniveling child just because of an unsubstantial rumor?"
"Suh, some of our own agents had seen the Road Runner, the Arbalest, the Black Beauty, and the Altron cruising in the highways to the east of here. " The auburn haired man said as he was silently wishing that his boss would listen to his advice that it was the men who could be counted in a battle, not the machines they use. "I would advise extreme caution in dealing with them."
"So what, they're only four customized duel cars and with enough numbers on our side, they will fall on the wayside just like all the others." Twoeagles said as he had enough bad news on the eve of his wedding. "Get out and don't come back until you bring me good news for once!"
After the man had left the room, slamming the door in doing so, Twoeagles had twirled his chair until his green eyes had found the stars winkling out as grayish storm clouds had approached from the southeast.
"Hmm, maybe it is best to recall my men since the coming storms would be more than enough to keep those pestering barons and their new allies away until the first stage of my plan is complete." The Oil Baron had mused for a moment before picking up his glass that he had placed on the desk before receiving his underling's report.
With an evil smile on his face, he had continued his star gazing through the night and took another sip of the high quality red French wine.
-oOo-
By 7:15 PM, Angela had woken her mother up and they continued their way thorough the town itself. The car had briefly stopped at a combination AADA center and garage in the town's main thoroughfare for a top up charge and a quick inquiry from its driver about road and bandit conditions.
It was 7:30 PM when the Stiletto had actually left the small town and returned to the highway. None of the stars was seen in the night sky and the normally bright moon was actually smothered by thick gray clouds. Some clouds had even brought some rain with them as they had passed the car by.
As soon as Akane's hand had pushed the power button of the radio to the on position, the opening notes of "Be Somewhere" by Buzy was blaring through the rear and side speakers. Both mother and daughter had agreed that the song was actually appropriate for their present situation and was quite catchy too.
Most of the bad weather that they had passed though was just little rain showers that only washed the dirt and grime out of the outer armors of the Stiletto and the road's other occupants.
By 7:40 PM or ten minutes after the Reventon had left Hillsboro, it had arrived at the interstate. Almost immediately, the car had arrived at a fork in the road. The aluminum sign (holed in a few places) had showed that Dallas is in the east while Fort Worth is in the west.
"Well, Angel. Where do ya want to pass through?"
"Hmm, tough choice since it would be nice ta visit either of them. Then again, the highway links up north of 'em, anyway."Angela was silent for a few minutes. "Let's go to Dallas, Mom. That place would be more suiting fer a sleek sports car like yours truly."
"Ha ha ha. You're getting ta be like your father everyday, honey." Akane had to let one of her hands let go of the steering wheel just to cover her mouth as she had laughed out loud. "Alright, Dallas it is. Besides, we can get some food and some more equipment there."
The Stiletto had turned right as it chose the eastern fork. Another brief rainstorm had soaked the black car as it was nearing the fortress city ahead.
Passing through a city checkpoint, the car had driven through a green parkland where the old suburbs were being bulldozed to make way for a new city park.
-oOo-
By 8:30 PM, the white city towers of Dallas were clearly visible in the night sky, as they stood out from the city's lichen covered concrete walls. The soaked Lamborghini had joined a line of duel cars that were also entering the city.
The said line had quickly shortened due to the above average efficiency of the Dallas Police - Traffic division.
After entering the city gates, Akane had parked the Stiletto in a nearby charging station. She then ate a quick dinner of home-made chicken curry and iced tea while the car was again given a top up charge.
After finishing her late dinner, the duelist quickly headed for the Uncle Albert's showroom some blocks further in the city before the said establishment would close.
Like the one in Austin and Boston, this particular showroom is huge. When Akane had first entered the showroom, the first thing that had greeted her was the various duel cars on display.
Further in were the various departments where the ammunition, car weapons, hand weapons, and gadgets are seen and bought. All of which were professionally displayed for the customers to buy.
The duelist had walked past all of them as she was looking for a certain section near the left end of the store – the body armor section.
Akane had bought a set of improved body armor just in case she would need a spare armor as well as some extra ammunition for the Stiletto's weapons and some more extra ammunition for her hand guns.
When the blue haired duelist had finished buying the needed items, she then exited the store (the said items were placed in a shopping cart) before heading for the AADA center in the center.
The digits on the car's on-board dashboard clock were showing 9:30 PM as the black Reventòn had neared the said center. The AADA center itself has occupied the whole floor of a downtown high rise building.
Since it was already closed for the night, Akane had to go to its 24/7 drive through window. The black Reventón then rolled up to the said window and the duelist had asked for road and bandit conditions on the route ahead as she had handed her Autobank card.
The twenty-something operator had nodded as she made a few keystrokes on her console and took the payment for her services when she had slashed the card on its specially made reader. She then gave the duelist the following print out:
"Very severe winds and thunderstorms along planned route for the next two hundred miles. There were reports of cycle gang activity to the north and east of Dallas, just slightly off the said route. The Red River has overflowed and there were reports of flood in its banks. Both Texas One and Sherman-Dennison bridges are closed as of thirty minutes ago."
As the black car was returning to the streets, Akane had let out a dissatisfied groan as she read the print out's contents while Angela took the wheel.
"What's the matter, mom?" The A.I. asked as she noted the seldom heard groan from her parent.
"It seems that the bridges ta the north were closed due to flooding," Akane answered before turning to the classy motel to their left. "I guess I'll take that nap now."
"But, mom. It's still a quarter to ten."
"Time enough fer me to rest and recharge my batteries. We'll leave at two-thirty in the mornin', dear."
Akane did not tell Angela that she was also worried about the Security Six and its three passengers. She had hoped that they would have passed the overflowed river or at least stayed at a local hotel nearby.
The Omega Force second in command had shaken such thoughts away as she parked the Reventón in the only open garage below her rented room.
-oOo-
At a luxurious royal suite situated in the fifth floor of a five star hotel in New Tulsa, Oklahoma, an orange haired woman was watching the late night news on TV with dismay.
Like her superior who was checking in the motel in Dallas, Karin Karakuchi was also worried about Takuya and the others in the Security Six who were supposed to be in Texas One interstate nearest the bridges if they did not hurry up.
She had tried to act unconcerned but her fidgeting in her sofa seat had already alerted the other three occupants of the said suite to her distress.
"What's the matter, Karin?" a soft voice from her right had said in worry.
"Oh, it's actually nothing, Arika. I'm just a little worried about Takuya and the others since they were scheduled to leave Dallas a good three hours before Miss Akane did."
"So you're worried that they might be swept away by the flooding of the Red River, am I right?" The brown haired sportswriter and wife of Ikki Tenryou had surmised with a blink of her brown eyelashes.
"Yes, I wish that General Tendou had not ordered us to maintain radio silence until Miss Nonoka is already with us." The orange haired housewife and guest of the Twoeagle's wedding party said without thinking.
"Karin dear, we had to do it so that Twoeagles would not eavesdrop on us along the way." Koji Karakuchi said as he had poured some brandy in a wine glass before offering it to his wife and sitting at her left side. "Believe me, I'm worried for the three of them too y'know."
"So do I, but we'll also have to believe that they're alright and they may even have passed the bridge before the river even overflowed." Ikki had also added his two cents to the conversation as he sat beside his wife, a half-filled wine glass held in his left hand.
"Alright, let's go to sleep since we have to prepare for the last leg of our journey right, guys?" Karin said as she had wiped away her tears with her right hand.
Her husband had even offered his handkerchief for her to use instead. "The sooner we finish this, the sooner we could return to our children."
"Yup," Ikki said with a hint of a relieved smile as he had scooted his wife to their own room across the hall. "Good night, you guys. See ya in the mornin'."
-oOo-
By two in the morning the following day, Akane was awakened by her daughter through her wrist communication link. She had made a quick break to the bathroom to freshen up.
After buying a BLT sandwich and a cup of coffee in one of the motel's two vending machines, Akane immediately headed for her waiting car, paying her bill along the way.
Twenty minutes later, the Stiletto was already on its way to the city gates. Angela had again taken over the driving chores temporarily so that her mother could have her early morning snack.
Even in the wee hours in the morning, the weather was still too dark and blustery. Akane had to rely on the car's digital instruments and her daughter's directions in front of her to keep her from hitting any road hazards in the highway (Texas One West).
The Stiletto's LID headlights were of little use at this point thus they were turned off while Angela had used infrared and Doppler radar to provide the needed driving information.
While the car was cresting a low and muddy hill, five separate headlights had come to life on both sides of the road ahead, nearly blinding the duelist if not for the car's polarizing windshield being activated by her quick thinking daughter.
"Mom, some nut job's telling us to stop and surrender." Angela pointed out as she had received a rude transmission from one of the cycles around them. "Are we going ta kick their butts instead?"
"Yes, Angel. Ready all yer weapons since we're gonna bust through their flimsy trap," Akane replied with a sinister grin as she had switched the heads up display to combat mode.
"You got it, Mom." Angela replied as she had again activated all her weaponry while the Reventon had neared the gap between the bikers, just ten meters away.
They had gotten through the gap while taking some damage from the bikes' machine guns as the Reventòn exchanged fire with them thorough its own machine guns.
In retaliation, Akane had let loose the two heavy rockets from their respective places in the car's rear when the Reventón passed by the gap between the ambushing bikers. The armor piercing 50mm diameter projectiles had taken out three of the bikers and their soaked two wheeled machines including their self styled leader.
The remaining two bikers then began chasing the car in their anger. Both had scored some hits on the car's rear armor as well as the titanium pylons as the protective hatches were being recalled.
Other high density bullets had made short work of the car's rear lights as the protective hatch of the rear weapons had latched into place.
This time, Angela had made two quick shots at the pursuing bikers with the Gauss gun, hitting them where it really hurts – right at the cycles' power plants.
Two bright explosions had briefly lit up the barren and wet landscape along with the speeding black car before the latter had disappeared in the darkness beyond.
-oOo-
After the Stiletto had passed by a small town named Sanger, yet another vehicle was picked up by the Stiletto's radar. This car, if you could actually call it that, was armed with three 50mm heavy rockets at its hood and two machine guns at its rusted sides.
The said vehicle's make could not be ascertained since it was made up of different parts from different duel cars and even some pick-ups.
"Mom, we've got one junk heap bangin' on our tail." Angela reported as the first heavy rocket had fallen a bit short of the Reventón's composite rear bumper, making a small geyser of asphalt, dirt, and water that nearly splashed the chasing car.
The enemy car had closed the distance between itself and the Stiletto even further to compensate for his earlier miscalculation.
Akane then armed the Gauss gun and shot the nearing car's headlights and front grille in an effort to knock out the remaining heavy rockets placed in between the busted head lamps. Still, it was just too late as the second heavy rocket was launched and hit home. The Lamborghini was actually pushed forward by the force of the direct hit.
Fortunately for them, the rear part of the car was heavily armored behind the taillights thus their power plant was saved from harm.
Moreover, metallic and plastic jagged pieces had separated from the lead car's chassis and fell into the waiting cold and damp asphalt.
Angela had taken over the firing of the car's main gun as it had zeroed in on the now exposed power plant of its target.
A single soundless burst of supersonic needles was enough to fully penetrate the power plant and triggered an explosion that destroyed the out of control junk heap completely.
Once again, its explosion had briefly illuminated the damp and glistening road and the other car before the latter disappeared completely.
-oOo-
Olympia, Washington – Tuesday, April 2, 2044, 2:30 AM
A five (nearly six) year old boy with brown hair had lain on a bed, his gray eyes were still wide open. He had tried to catch the Sand Man's precious magical item but something had prevented him from doing so.
He was looking at his temporary room's ceiling and walls, both them barely visible in their light blue paint.
Beside his bed was a small drawer where he had temporarily kept his little Aescopolis Matchbox duel car. His dad had given it to him as a gift on his last birthday.
When the boy had asked his glasses wearing father about it, the older man had only replied that it was given to him as a sort of reminder of his old duel car when he and his mom were still new to Mithril.
The room's white oak door was slowly opened letting in some light from the hallway. The five foot six inch silhouette that came along with the light had spoken in low tones yet it was enough for the child to hear it perfectly.
"Syaoran, are you ok?" The silhouette said as it had neared the startled child.
The said figure had disappeared in the darkness when the maple door was closed shut but after a click and a sudden flood of light from the overhead fluorescent lamp, the figure turned out to be the boy's harried aunt – Hiromi Kinomiya-Tachibana.
"I'm sorry, Auntie Hiromi but I'm really worried about Mom and Dad." Syaoran Kazama said as he sat up in his bed.
"You're not the only one, kiddo. Your Uncle Takao and I are worried 'bout them too."
"Really, Auntie?" The child said in surprise. "But Uncle Takao looked like he wasn't even worried all day."
"Believe me, I know." The twenty nine year old brown haired housewife and mother of one replied with a small grin. "It's obvious when you've lived with him for a good eight years or so. More than that, Makoto is worried about them too. He's just trying to keep you occupied at the moment. "
"Alright, I'll have to believe you on that one." Syaoran said followed by a yawn. "Good night, Auntie."
As soon as Hiromi saw that her nephew's gray eyes were slowly closing, she had pulled up the green bed covers and brushed away the stray dark brown curls that were splayed on the boy's pale forehead before kissing it and saying
"Sweet dreams, kiddo."
She then turned off the light and quietly left the room.
-oOo-
Texas One Intersection – Tuesday, same date, 2:50 AM
The two parts of Texas One has rejoined in the sleepy town of Denton. Outside, the rain had worsened and there were some sheet lightnings spotted in the northern horizon.
The sleek black car slowly went over a concrete bridge as they had entered town, the muddy creek below them was swollen and turbulent with storm reinforced water.
As the said vehicle had returned to the highway, the storm just got even worse. Lighting had flashed around the car and one time, the Stiletto was nearly blown off the road by a passing crosswind. Then the dark and cloudy sky suddenly looked as if it was filled with weird, glowing lights.
Ahead of them, a barely visible whitish gray cloud had lengthened as it dipped toward the earth.
"Mom, it's a damn tornado. Let's find a place to hide for a while before we get sucked in," Angela said in panic as she had recognized the violent weather phenomenon that was happening right there in front of them.
Akane then herded the wet Reventòn on the turnoff to their left as quickly as she could.
The howling of the nearing tornado had competed with the A.I.s voice on the duelist's ears as Angela had led her mother to a nearby underpass where the Reventon would weather the coming storm.
Even the drumming of the rain on the car's roof was making its own noise to compete with the other two sounds. Rainy days would never the same again for this mother-daughter tandem.
The shelter of the concrete underpass that Angela had found along the way had offered little comfort since random eddies of wind still rocked the car as both driver and A.I. had braced themselves for the coming natural disaster. Some random object were also thrown in by the nearing twister to the hiding vehicle.
After what seemed to Akane and Angela to be an eternity, the howling of the winds and the patter of small objects thrown in was followed by silence, pure silence.
With a contented release of breath, Akane had slowly reversed the car out of the battered underpass and returned to the route north.
To save time, the car had passed all the debris littering the road at a flat sixty miles per hour with Akane doing most of the driving and Angela helping along whenever she could.
As soon as they had cleared the debris, the AI had turned on the radio. The debris that they left behind were mostly consisted of uprooted trees, fences, mail boxes and even battered vehicles that were tossed around by the howling 150 miles per hour winds.
It was around that time when they had learned that storms were still raging across northern Texas and most of Oklahoma from what they could gather from the hourly reports that Angela had scanned in the AM band of her Pioneer digital car radio.
The duelist had started to worry about her husband and the other team members in the Omega Force who were either inside the Twoeagles Ranch or within striking distance of it at that very moment.
At the very least, Ryu was in Dallas along with the other children. All of them were with her parents and Mrs. fon Fabre. Only Syaoran was left in Olympia along with his relatives as well as Nanami in Atlanta with her parents.
Adding to her problems was that Akane could not call them yet on the long range radio since they were still too far away to be of sufficient signal range and that they were also told to maintain radio silence until they had successfully rescued the hostages.
"Don't worry, Mom. I'm sure they'll be alright. No storms gonna get 'em out of whack since they're damn tough jus' like us,"The A.I. quipped as it had correctly guessed her mother's thoughts.
"Thanks, hon-whoa."
Akane had to step on the brakes so that the Stiletto would not hit the rear bumper of the semi-trailer with a red and white horizontal cylindrical tank trailer lying on its right side as the Stiletto had rounded out a tight curve.
Angry at the sudden appearance of the possible wreck, the duelist had stepped out of her car. The A.I. had stopped herself from saying anything more or risk being reprimanded, that in itself was a wise move on her part.
Akane had studied the overturned trailer as she power walked to the tank truck's tractor. She also shook away the rainwater dripping from her shoulder length dark blue hair as she stepped closer to the upturned vehicle.
The truck's trailer part had separated from the tractor since the latter part was still upright and was parked three meters away, although the tractor's hazard lights were now flashing periodically.
As she neared the idling tractor, Akane had realized that the slightly blurred red and white two headed eagle insignia on its cab's moist driver side door was that of the Twoeagle's oil empire.
A heavy set man with improved body armor had hopped out of the cab with a small splash as his large feet hit the puddle underneath him, surprising the damp female duelist out of her thoughts.
Thankfully, she was too far away to be further drenched by man's sudden inconsiderate landing on the large puddle beneath his booted feet.
The same insignia as that on the door was also painted on the armor's chest area where some droplets of water that were flowing downward did not blur the image as much as those on the said door.
"Hey, baby. Wanna have some fun?" The man said as he had looked down at the helmet-less duelist appreciatively.
The large man had even made a show of drawing his black comb and brushing away some water off his brown hair as he neared the surprised woman.
"Say goodnight, pervert." Akane said as she had readied her weapon of choice behind her back while smiling up sweetly at the six foot seven lecher.
"Goodnight, pervert."
The man was instantly knocked out by the mystical hammer that had collided with his soaked bare head.
He then fell face first to the slightly flooded asphalt below with a loud thump and an even bigger splash that nearly drenched the auto duelist if she had not jumped away in time.
Akane had rolled the big palooka with an audible grunt so that he would lie on the asphalt with his leather covered toes up.
She then took the bearded man's laminated ID clipped to his black jeans' back pocket along with a large wad of cash from his brown leather wallet.
The said item was gotten through an opening in his body armor and his Colt .45 pistol straight from his waist holster.
Akane had also found some Heineken beer cans inside the cab that she poured liberally all over the driver's unconscious face and upper body before throwing the emptied beer cans back in the empty cab.
"Serves ya right," The duelist said haughtily as she had returned to her own vehicle, still ignoring the rain coming down on her.
As she was entering the car, Angela had asked her mother if she would scavenge the truck's various weapons to make it look like the perverted trucker was really robbed.
"Nah, we don't have time fer it. Besides, someone else will do it fer us anyway." The duelist replied as she had started the power plant and overtook the crippled semi-trailer truck as well as its knocked out driver.
The rain had by then settled down to a steady torrent as the Stiletto approached the Texas-Oklahoma border, half an hour later (3:50 AM).
-oOo-
The black car had pulled unto the slightly muddy bridge as it crossed the swollen and raging river. The murky river's surface had turned chocolate brown due to the enormous amount of mud (and some other things like tree branches and stones) that it had carried downstream.
Halfway across the concrete bridge, a painted (now fading) red line went across it from one side to the other. A big sign is also posted above the line's right end. On it, it was written:
"NOW ENTERING REPUBLIC OF OKLAHOMA"
As it had crossed the other side, the Stiletto was waved over by a policeman holding a white flag across to a small compound.
A newly panted sign above the steel gate says:
"OKLAHOMA CUSTOMS AND IMMIGRATION"
A purple haired trooper in green military grade body armor had asked the mother and daughter tandem to stop as soon as they entered the gate. He had also asked politely if Akane would disembark and open all the car doors as well as the front trunk.
While the trooper was looking through every conceivable hiding place for contraband, Akane was taking a look around.
She had noticed that there were a number of similarly armored men and women also doing the same thing as the trooper beside her.
All of them were either glaring at each other or at those whom they have some problems with.
Lightning flashes in the background even helped her visualize some of the silent animosity between the inspectors.
Each inspector was actually differentiated by the colors and insignias on their armor's chest plate or arm plates, Akane later realized.
The duelist had surreptitiously and carefully took out a twenty dollar bill out of her brown purse and casually asked the purple haired trooper what was going on while giving him the paper bill out of everyone's view.
The surprised then pleased trooper had pocketed the soaked bill before mouthing a simple "Thank you."
"I'm not sure, ma'am." he answered quietly amidst the sound of splattering rain on the car's roof.
"A lot of the superior officers from the oil companies' private armies are hanging around here though." The trooper added. "You didn't hear this from me but I think there's a bit of political hassle goin' round. It's probably related to the hush-hush visit of the President Nonoka of Louisiana up north."
As soon as the trooper had finished his cursory inspection, he had waved the duelist off. Some of the inspectors had wanted to hold the Stiletto for some reason or another but were themselves stopped by other inspectors.
This almost led to a fistfight between two specific hot headed male inspectors if cooler heads had not prevailed over the whole situation.
The Stiletto had pulled out of the compound and continued its journey north. Thanks to the still raging storm, the only viable route for it now was through Oklahoma City and New Tulsa.
Even then, the rain still was not stopping but only falling in smaller raindrops.
The last two chapters are up next, so expect some serious explosions and fist fights in the next chapter when the wedding party is definitely going to be crashed in style.
The "say goodnight" joke was borrowed from Rowan and Martin's Laugh In that was shown in the US around the late sixties and early seventeens. I did have the pleasure of watching their re runs though in the early eighties thus the joke here.
See ya next chapter.