Chapter 2: Desperate chase
19:15 PM (Japan Time), Friday October the 15th…
"…Homework's over… Night is approaching. It'll be a slightly colder night than other years…"
"Subaru!"
"Harp! What's wrong?"
"Misora! She's gone!"
"Gone!?"
"We're in trouble!"
"Calm down! Explain what happened!"
Subaru had been looking out into Kodama Town from his bedroom's window when Harp showed up with the news-
"She left her room in Okudama Studios to go for a walk of 10 minutes while I went to search for news. But when I returned, she wasn't there, and I couldn't find her anymore. She'd locked the room using her ID card so it's proof enough that she hadn't returned! I requested Urakata to check the security footage from the Wave Station!"
"And…?" Subaru asked.
"Two figures assaulted her! She fought them back with ease, yet they shot her with something which drugged her or something! They dragged her aboard a car with a weird symbol painted on it and fled. Those two talked in another idiom which I couldn't identify and Urakata couldn't either!"
"Did you tell the Satella Police?"
"Naturally!"
"OK! Let's go to the HQ and coordinate with Mr. Akatsuki!"
"Of course!"
"Let's move it!"
19:24 PM (Japan Time)…
"… OK! Let's coordinate with Mr. Akatsuki, and…"
"Find the elixir of love made by the mighty Fleming?"
"Sheesh! War Rock! Dunno where you're pulling those from!"
"We're not in the mood for that!"
Subaru and Harp were running across the main yard when War Rock showed up to joke.
"What's with the rush?"
"Misora – chan has been abducted and we have to rescue her!"
"The classic "hero rescues princess" scenario happened and not the other way around which was back in summer, 2204?"
"Shut up or I'll tell Boss!" Subaru snapped at him.
"You really have no sense of humor!"
They rushed inside and past the empty reception counter.
They climbed up the stairs next and turned left into the Satella Police HQ.
They found Akatsuki Shidou yelling at someone over the Hunter VG while Acid silently looked on.
Other officers were coordinating an operation.
"Sheesh! I don't know why you keep on ringing this number repeatedly, but let's settle this already! I AIN'T THE LOCAL BUTCHER'S! I AIN'T! I AIN'T! GOTCHA?"
"Mr. Butcher! You must be stressed with all these requests of meat for Christmas and all…" An elderly man was arguing.
"Christmas? We're in October! Don't you have a calendar, and don't you read the newspapers or what?"
"October? I could've sworn it was December. One's memory…"
"I AIN'T THE LOCAL BUTCHER! IT'S NOT LIKE I SPEAK IN SOME UNDECIPHERABLE DIALECT, IS IT? I SPEAK STANDARD DIALECT, AND YA DO AS WELL! DO YA HEAR ME, MISTER?" Akatsuki yelled at him.
"My niece tells me people nowadays are stressed by work..."
"By all the…!"
"I believe he must be mistaken in his perceptions and would need attention from the social services..." Acid deduced.
"Alright, mister! Have a cold shower! It's good for the head! And now good evening and good luck!"
"Wait, Mr. Butcher! What about…?"
Akatsuki cut the call and grumbled something.
He drew a corn snack from his pocket and began to chew at it.
"Acid! Block this number!"
"Roger. We have visits, by the way..."
"I see that you've come…"
"How's the tracking going like?"
"We're on it. Given how it was a green card with an odd drawing, then it can't be that hard to locate!"
"I have a feeling like I've seen it somewhere before, time ago!"
"Hi. Ms. Queen Tia…"
Queen Tia walked in, carrying a Hunter VG which displayed data.
"Really? Then again… Why bother to make that? It stands out!"
"Maybe it's bait for a trap?" She suggested.
"Now that you bring it up… Maybe it's old perv Hyde!" He grumbled.
"Or maybe it's King… The man doesn't feel like he'll give up on his vanity anytime soon…" Subaru offered.
"Or maybe it's the ghoul of Slytherin!"
"Dunno who or what that is, and I couldn't care less…"
"This is Patrol 09, reporting from 45 km SSE of Kodama Town's eastern periphery where Okudama Studios are at… We're checking all recordings and one such car drove past this point 8 minutes ago. We've forwarded the message to the next control 15 km further on and to the one 30 km from here! Given the average 2km per minute speed in this expressway then they can't have covered more than 16~18 km since it was seen. Besides, if what they want is a discrete spot then heading over to the coast is the logical course of action and they won't deviate from this current itinerary!" A report came in.
"Good! We're already making progress!"
"This Patrol 10! The car ran past our post 2 minutes ago! Patrol 11 will intercept it, because there are no exits in this section of the expressway… It must be 4~6 km from our position by now and 11~9 km from Patrol 11! They will make contact in the next 5~6 minutes at their current speed. We're telling the cars to stop for mandatory inspection! Do we have descriptions of the drivers?"
"Black tunics plus hoods and gloves. You don't see people hiding their faces like that when driving!"
Akatsuki fast-forwarded the Wave Station security footage and stopped when the two of them carried Misora to the car.
"You can sit down there, Subaru…"
Subaru sat down on a chair Akatsuki signaled for.
"French. They speak French. They're from France. And they have come to carry out this job, I'd say. They might have an illegal charter plane to fly out of the country as well… Or maybe not… Hard to say at this stage…"
"Good point. Unless they live in some isolated location where they don't interact much with others…" Queen Tia suggested.
"In the bowels of Slytherin!"
"Again, what's Slytherin?"
"The reeking dungeon of nasty Snapes!"
"Whatever. Tell that to the reflection in the pond…"
"Sure! I'll beat it to a pulp!"
"Hello? Patrol 11? All ready? The car should reach you in another 1~2 minutes! They may be desperate and try to drive through, even. Do you have Wizards with you?" Akatsuki warned.
"Don't worry, Akatsuki! We brought two armored vans! And anyone with enough age to drive knows that it's suicide to crash against something at 120 km/h!" One officer reported.
"Great!"
"A normal car has come! Please halt. Show us the ID and open the trunk! It's a routine control!"
"Roger, officer!"
"Hmmm? I can see it through the binoculars having parked in the emergency lane about 250 meters from us. The lights are blinking, and the drivers are onboard. They have a Hunter VG. Maybe they hadn't thought of this and are discussing what to do with a superior authority!"
"Patrol 10! Is there a team on the other direction side of the expressway?"
"Of course. There's Patrol 20!"
"Call them! Those two could be desperate enough to jump into the other lane and speed back the way they came! We must be ready! There aren't any exits before any of the two patrols' positions so they can't do anything else but head seawards or inwards! 50/50 chance!" Akatsuki commanded.
"Quick thinking, Akatsuki! This is Patrol 11. They've jumped into the other lane and are heading back inwards!"
"Patrol 20! Get ready to stop them! Shoot at their hover engines to disable them or use an EMP device!"
"We happen to have one to catch speed-over people… And it's always loaded as per regulations. Ryuukichi! Take it out!"
"Roger, Commander!"
"Those two should get there in about 3~4 minutes!"
"We will be ready. Ryuukichi has good aim. Aim for the engine and set the EMP to the lowest power to shut down their systems during 300 seconds before the auto-reset kicks in. But 5 minutes is enough of a time to make them come down and rescue the hostage!" The Commander reported.
"Commander! I can see a distant flash, sir!"
"Binoculars… Hmmm… Our clients. They're driving like a tornado was hot on their trail!" The commander sounded slightly amused.
"What's the max distance that thing can shoot?"
"250 meters!"
"It'll be close. If that car can cover 2000 meters in 60 seconds, it covers that distance in 13 seconds!" Akatsuki muttered.
"But once the car is hit, it'll drop into the ground and lose all speed because there will be no hovering. All modern vehicles work like that, after all!" The Commander told them.
"Closing in! About 750 meters from us! All systems green! I only need two seconds to pull the trigger!"
"Get ready, Ryuukichi!"
"Roger, Commander!"
"Come on…!" Subaru anxiously muttered.
"500 meters…! The actual blast only needs 5 seconds to hit the vehicle! They can't react to dodge because it's invisible and unless they're diabolically excellent drivers, it's impossible to maneuver in 5 seconds! Except if you brake the car!" The Command mutters.
"And braking won't help them either. 300 meters. I'm ready to fire!"
"Come a bit closer… 275 meters… Fire!"
"Roger!"
There was a sound over the line followed by the humming of a car's hover engines and a loud THUD as something heavy hit the ground.
"Good shot, Ryuukichi. Squad! Seize them!"
"At once, sir!"
"What fools! Now I will take profit of this dramatic scene I've staged for and use this little girl as bait for Rock Man! I will defeat the gnat and be the most powerful man in the world!" A familiar voice rang out.
"By all the… You're not gonna tell us that's Phantom Black!"
"What do we do, Commander? We're not properly armed to face such an opponent!"
"Someone! Disable the car! Do you copy, Akatsuki? We need your help over here! Can you make it on time?"
"No need for Acid Disaster! I'll handle things, Hyde Manor Owner!"
"At least someone recognizes my noble lineage!"
"Come on, Hyde… You didn't set any of this up. You just happened to be roaming around at random and picked up the radio exchanges. And I'm sure he made that title up just to troll you…!" Phantom sighed.
"Silence!"
"Fine. But he who warns a traitor is not!"
There was a sudden sound like air being sucked off a room before several gasps came in.
"Boss? We're in trouble!"
"What now, Omega?"
"Someone activated the portal machine and has sucked the whole car inside of it!"
"True! Some kind of purple rift opened and sucked it in. Those two had some kind of backup!" One officer reported.
"But… Who? That technology is Top-Secret, and I don't know anyone else apart from Boss who could use it and even less to suck a whole car and warp it elsewhere!" Subaru gasped.
"The GPS signal from Hibiki's transmitter vanished, too! They warped somewhere underground or jammed the signal! The machine to do that must be huge! Or maybe it warped into an open space!"
"NO! My perfect chance is gone! I will have to take this frustration out into something!" Phantom Black cursed.
"Into your foreign valet?" Omega taunted.
"No! Into you lowlife!"
"It's about to rain Hyde Manors!"
"What?"
A series of blow sounds rang out, followed by groans from the foe.
"Behold my faster-than-light barrage of kicking and punching without any Star Trek technobabble! Be glad I'm in a good humor today!"
"That was silly!" Vadous grumbled.
"Ask the Count of Hyde Manor!" Omega joked.
"Stop with the Hyde Manor jokes!"
"Y-you lowlife… M-my ace in the hole w-will…"
"Your cloak will grow teeth?"
"I didn't mean that!"
"Your cloak will make you feel confident?"
"That's not my point!"
"The invisibility cloak stolen from the clutches of Snape?"
"I dunno who Snape is, and I doubt Hyde owning that…"
"Your valet has to go and sew together what will be left of it after I rip it to pieces with my saber?"
"Why, you…!"
"Hyde… If you DO value your hide, I'd get outta here. Or else the valet will try to play the "threatening letter" tactic to the Prime Minister and that'll end up badly for you and me!"
Phantom whispered advice to Hyde but was loud enough to be detected by the microphone.
"I'll remember this!"
"Too bad. He was missing the Paddington 3:33 PM express!"
"I know that punchline already or whatever you name it. Get back here!"
"Through DHL Express!"
"The situation has turned serious. Who are those two French women and why did they abduct Misora? I hope it isn't something like what happened to Futaba! Devil! Those creeps!" Akatsuki muttered.
"Let's hope so, too!" Vadous sighed.
"The crest… The crest…" Queen Tia muttered.
"Sheesh! What a bunch of cowards!"
"Maybe it's a pawn of that tyrant?"
"Wouldn't surprise me!"
"Sheesh! Those bloody fiends!" Subaru hissed.
"Nevertheless… I still feel like it's a trap…" Queen Tia argued.
"Wouldn't surprise me! Maybe they'll demand money as ransom!"
"Or that Hoshikawa come alone and unarmed to hand it over…"
"Classical!"
"Phantom Black showing up at this timing reeks, too!"
"Because the guy is in league with Snape Napes and…"
"Stop mixing in fictional characters because you'll only make things needlessly confusing for us all!" Subaru sighed.
"I think you need a lesson!" Vadous grumbled.
"Sheesh! Why not chase that freakish thing?"
"Death Shadow? We've been doing that! But the thing could be in another planet that we don't know of, for all we know!"
"Sheesh! I'm eager to have payback on that thing!"
"Don't we all?" Omega grumbled.
"What if the guy is hiding in the forbidden forest next to Hogwarts?"
"Again, don't mix in fictional locations!"
"Sheesh. We're not in the mood for it!" Harp sighed.
"Tell Jackie~ to bring out the kung-fu!"
"Jack doesn't know kung-fu…" Queen Tia sighed, annoyed.
"I think you overestimate what martial arts can do…"
"Who cares? It's time to swing and slash!"
"That won't solve anything!"
"Then I'll go make Snape as bald as Voldy~!"
"Whatever. Go train at the VR room!"
"Puny Hyde will fear the might of the mighty War Rock! 'Cause I'll turn 'em into a guineapig of Snape's potions!"
"Sheesh. Talk about scary. Go use that joke for Halloween!"
"Sheesh! If needed, we'll chase them to France then!"
"Agreed! I'll chase them to the end of the world!"