[ LUCARIOUS — POV ]
People believe velocity is a property of machines.
They're wrong.
Velocity is tied to purpose.
The very instant Vernon's car sounds like an animal ready to get out of the cage, I could sense it - that sharp hunger in his hands, that calm madness in his heart. He didn't run from death in his drive.
He sped as though carrying death along with him.
Lint lay unconscious in the backseat breathing faint and his body full of toxins. I was nearby yet invisible, to everyone observing the city lights stretching into fiery streaks.
Suddenly—
Siren calls.
Five patrol vehicles sped through the night like wolves unleashed from their restraints. The flashing red and blue lights sliced through the darkness while the illumination, from the glass skyscrapers glowed in the way casting a scene of dread over the street.
"Target vehicle in sight!"
"Subject increasing speed—subject increasing speed!"
Vernon smiled broadly.
No, not a broad one.
No, not a boastful one.
Just… sure.
He sped up the vehicle.
The engine howled intensely. For a prolonged time as the driver pushed past his boundaries. The velocity increased rapidly—120… 150… 180—
The city appeared as a smear. Streetlights streamed past like blazing lines. The wind roared against the cars metal frame as it sped through the roads, like a shadow crafted from liquid.
A single police vehicle chose to charge.
Too close.
Vernon spun the wheel rapidly—
DRIFT.
The vehicle's tires squealed while it slid sideways through an intersection with the police car narrowly avoiding a bus by mere inches. The police vehicle attempted to give chase.
It didn't succeed.
Metal to metal.
Glass to pieces.
Embers scattered down the street.
One down.
I observed quietly without uttering a word.
I wasn't impressed.
I wasn't shocked.
I was just aware.
A different police vehicle approached from the left—attempting a PIT maneuver.
Vernon was gently applying the brakes.
Just a tap.
The police vehicle was moving fast that it was unable to halt.
The police vehicle was overly engaged and therefore unable to halt.
Vernon grabbed the steering wheel. Pressed the accelerator.
The patrol vehicle struck the sidewalk edge rotated once twice and afterward vanished accompanied by a loud screeching metal and blazing noise.
Two down.
The radio communication shifted to panic.
"He's not human—!"
"Keep your distance—DON'T ENGAGE—!"
Vernon entertained the idea silently.
He swerved abruptly into a tunnel—dim, tight and inflexible. The reverberation of engines transformed the tunnel into a howling passage.
The other three police vehicles trailed behind.
Mistake.
Vernon maneuvered with millimeter precision drifting through corners sharply that not even the shadows could keep pace. Abruptly he stomped on the brakes—
The police vehicles stacked up.
One struck the other.
The third has no place to flee.
The tunnel was engulfed in flames and smoke with metal ripping and producing a harsh screeching noise.
After that, there was silence.
The city was alive.
Vernon appeared like a phantom emerging from the tunnel the tires still emitting smoke and the headlights, on his vehicle shining calmly. No significant damage was visible.
Five police cars.
Gone.
I was invisible to him but close.
He failed to notice me.
I sensed a presence observing him.
Something ancient.
Something patient.
The vehicle slowed down as we moved away, from the city. The illumination gave way to structures. The iron frames of the buildings stood like tombstones.
He paused beside a built structure. Silent, neglected, flawless.
Vernon removed Lint from the vehicle as if he were baggage. He flung him onto the concrete ground.
He discovered a rusty bucket filled it with water and splashed it over Lints face.
Lint gasped—struggled to breathe—his eyes bulging with fright.
Vernon knelt before him silent and composed as usual.
He grabbed his phone.
Opened it.
Turned the screen toward Lint.
The headline gleamed vividly against the background:
"AKIRA — THE CRIMINAL OF THE NIGHT CLUB MURDERS —
MURDERS FAMOUS DETECTIVE LINT SAITO AND DISAPPEARS."
Lint ceased breathing.
His eyes were trembling.
His true self realized it earlier, than his self.
This isn't just a picture.
This is a coffin.
Vernon gave a smile.
At last I obtained it—
This chase…
This setup…
This lie…
Was only the beginning.
You see Lint was never the objective.
It was Akira.
And when the same bloodline is after the same bloodline…
Even angels learn to be afraid of the result.