As the vice principal's words registered and the students saw the train doors opening, many had thoughts similar to Rowayne's.
But only a few were craz—sane enough to act on them immediately.
With time running out, the rest snapped out of their reverie and began jumping.
The city's architecture could only be described as hotchpotch of buildings from completely different regions and eras stacked beside, atop, and through one another without any logic.
Landing on a rooftop, Rowayne looked out.
He was currently in his male form and had two options. Technically three, if one counted turning into a bird and ignoring the need to run around dodging chaos altogether.
But where was the fun in that? So the other two options were:
rooftop to rooftop… or go down.
He chose rooftops.
There are no rules against getting rid of competition, he reasoned. Being on the streets is basically asking to get jumped on.
Three buildings were connected to his rooftop. Two led in the direction he needed.
'Up or down? …Down'
He sprinted, leapt onto the adjacent roof, then tiptoed onto a cable stretching across the street.
He was fast, even while walking on a cable, like an incarnation of a wild cat
Good thing I avoided the streets. It's a fuckfest down there. And it was.
People running, screaming, beating each other senseless. Vehicles plowing through crowds. Someone dodged a car, only to get flattened by a truck, which then crashed into a pole while swerving to avoid another truck.
'Where the fuck did the truck come from?'
Then he saw someone yanking open a parked car.
Of course. Vehicles are unlocked. Keys inside. Why not?
At the far end, the cable wasn't connected to a rooftop but embedded into a wall. Rowayne jumped, grabbed a window ledge, and began scaling sideways from window to window. When windows ran out, he balanced on AC units, laundry rods, anything that could hold his weight. At the end, a rope was tied to a pole. He untied it, swung
Crash.
Glass shattered as he burst through a window.
"Oh, please," Rowayne said, straightening up. "Continue whatever you were doing. Don't let me interrupt your good time."
Then he bolted in the direction where he assumed the stairs were.
"GET HIM," one boy said calmly.
They chased after him.
'Left. Right. Left. Left. Why the fuck are there so many turns and inside a building, no less?'
The corridor opened into a multi-level atrium, its curved floors slanting downward like ramps. He jumped from one tier to the next, descending rapidly.
'All this hopping like a rabbit is going to bite me in the ass tonight.'
They were still close.
"Don't you guys have honor?" Rowayne shouted. "Ganging up on a helpless teen like me?"
"SHUT UP AND STOP RUNNING!"
"Why the hell is he so fast?"
"Should we give up?"
"Nope I won't. And if your mom knew she raised cowards, she'd kill herself," Rowayne shot back.
"Like hell you're any better than us, running like a rat!"
"My mom gave birth to no hero, and she knows it," Rowayne replied, never slowing.
The exit came into view.
Beep beep beep—
Honk—
Vroom—
It was loud,Very loud.
Rowayne burst onto the street and grabbed the safety rails of a moving double-decker bus.
He looked back at the boys, grinned, and flipped them off.
"TOODALOO, MOTHERFUCKERS—"
Crash
A firetruck slammed into the bus.
Rowayne was flung off, thrown across the street, and smashed into a moving car—which promptly crashed as well.
'Yep. Definitely broke a rib or two'
[FORM SHIFT]
One thing Rowayne had learned during training albiet accidentally was that injuries didn't transfer between forms.
His female form could lose an arm or a leg, and his male form would remain untouched.
The injuries didn't disappear; they were simply contained within the form that took them.
So that meant, he had two health bars. Switchable,so long as he wasn't taken out in one hit. That was his trump card. And he'd used it barely a kilometer into the race.
Four kilometers to go.
'Ah. Much better'
Rowayne turned toward the biggest tower in the area and entered. Now in female form, she was greeted by a circular staircase spiraling endlessly upward.
"…Great."
Fifteen minutes remained.
Finally! no more stairs.She emerged onto a high platform.
The city was a disaster.
Alignment, layout and logic has been thrown out of the window. She spotted a tower crane about 500 meters away.
'That'll do'
From up there, the chaos became clear: castles beside chemical plants, factories stacked atop skyscrapers, warehouses wedged between modern spires.
'This looks like an architectural wet dream.
You could call it modern art and I wouldn't argue.'
She jumped again, this time onto a slanted roof, slid, then crashed onto a glass ceiling of what looked like a museum.
Good. Didn't crack.
Cracks spread.
Still holding,just need to st-
Shatter
"FUCK IT."
[Form Shift]
She became a bird, dodged falling glass, and flew to the viewing platform.
[Form Shift]
Back on foot, she followed the emergency exit signs. After more running, climbing, and sliding, she reached the crane.
She climbed into the cabin, swung the arm, and let inertia carry the cable toward a nearby building.
Rowayne climbed out, used a steel plate like a surfboard, and slid down the angled cable.
The plate slipped.
She fell.
"FUC-"
[Form Shift]
She glided down and landed on the roof of a speeding car.
[Form Shift]
The car was accelerating straight toward a student.
Inside, the driver was screaming.
"IT'S NOT MY FAULT! THEY STEPPED IN FRONT OF ME!
AHAHAHAHA!
PEDESTRIANS SHOULDN'T WALK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD!
I'M INNOCENT!"
'Looks like someone got their first kill today.'
So Rowayne did what any sane person would do. She crawled silently toward the driver's window.
The girl was too busy screaming to notice until,
"HELLO MISS. WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO REACH YOU ABOUT YOUR CAR'S EXTENDED WARRANTY."
"AAAAAAAAAA—!"
Screech.
Crash.