District 42-Chapter 241: Photo
The Aesirs were catching up with Casper quickly as the latter also crossed the streets as fast as the wind.
Rat swiftly went through the buildings, which had a lot of obstacles, letting them flabbergasted with how he could deal with them so easily.
If it was a normal person, they would have already captured them. Casper himself experienced how harsh was to run long distances on top of buildings, and it was very exhaustive for him.
However, that Rat was peculiar. His way to move and his unusual speed was far beyond the technologies supporting him; it was intensive training and, more alone, he knew exactly the paths he took, where he should go, and what kind of things he would find.
’I can guess just one thing...’ Canute reasoned, getting to the same conclusion as the other two. ’This person is more than some months on this Castle, only. We are talking about a year or more. It’s someone naturally used to walk through the city!’
That conclusion wasn’t something that let a good taste on his mouth. On the contrary, the more he thought about the situation, the more exasperated the Aesir became.
However, Ari was one step further than Canute. His power needed that his sense of strategy regarding the battlefield and the perimeter that he acted on was perfect.
He noticed on Rat’s movements that he wasn’t just escaping from them, he was rather leading them.
’Now, the question is, what kind of thing does this guy is plotting against us? What’s his strategy? Does he have weapons previously settled in different parts of the city? Maybe more troops? There are plenty of options to be explored and we are the ones unaware of the situation. That’s bad.’
Casper also was moving around the city aware that the Rat wouldn’t just escape from him when he displayed such amazing movements when running.
He was someone that easily could match Casper in a close combat fight and long-range as well.
’This guy knows about what I am capable of. He is aware that there is a chance that I can win. His identity is more precious than his pride and ego, enough to make him do such a retreat. It just reaffirms that he is an important piece on this big chess game!’
The three noticed that they were running to the part of the city where the citizens were gathered.
It was obvious what were Rat’s intentions after all that. His malice was something well-known by Canute. The White warrior could feel it as well.
After the events in the mansion, Casper had the certainty that those people would do whatever they could to accomplish their goals and seek their beliefs.
They had a mission to complete. In their case, the ends justify the means.
That said, the only thing that the Rat was possibly going to do there was made all of the hostages.
Canute raised the level of his exoskeleton, going forward with inhuman speed while typing on the bracelet on his forearm.
"Ari! You know what to do! White warrior, don’t lose track on Rat!"
Casper didn’t have time to get pissed off by the Aesir’s sudden attempt to be the leader, he just focused on his chase.
Ari nodded his head to Canute, also raising his speed. He took his phone out of the pocket entering into an application.
It showed a screen where that whole place was mapped and squared.
He did some calculations there quickly.
"I am ready, Canute! Just say to me where you will be doing this!" He shouted back.
At this moment, Canute activated the staff while running. The portal, however, wasn’t created in front of him, but some meters away from the crowd of people trying to leave the place.
It was a huge one, that used all the energy that the device had, disabling it.
In the next moment, Ari took his weapon, a grenade launcher, and reloaded it.
He aimed to the skies, stopping to run for some seconds. His calculations were already done, he knew exactly what to do.
Ari pulled the trigger and the grenade flew, drawing a bow in the air and falling near the portal. It exploded in a massive light that drew the attention of all the citizens, and once they realized what was going on, they ran towards the portal.
Casper, on the side, continued to run after Rat.
He activated his boots again, going up to the buildings with a wide jump to not lose time. It was a bit tricky to land there.
His legs were trembling hard because of the pressure that the exoskeleton exerted on them. He was running out of breath as well, as he was running for so long.
Nonetheless, he was so close to catching him, that he couldn’t afford to slack for not even a second.
He had resolute eyes. He felt that he was very close to his goals. The soldier could even imagine again that scene that passed in his mind back in the prison.
The day when the masks would fall.
’I will get you. For sure, I will!’
He forced his legs to work, sharpening his mind to focus on the obstacles in the way and avoid all of them, even at a high speed.
He couldn’t even stop breathing to not lose concentration. For various times he came very close to break his face somewhere, but his instincts also helped him to remain unscathed.
Just in the final moments, his legs stopped working properly and he began to stumble, hitting his shoulder, arms, and sometimes his leg on something on the way.
When he was some meters far away from his target, he tripped on a pipe popping from the roof of a random building.
Casper flew forward, colliding with Rat in middle-air.
Both of them fell to another construction, breaking its huge windows and smashing all the chairs and desks inside that place.
It seemed to be an office. Their fall made a huge mess inside there.
Casper took a while to finally stand up. He felt a strong pain in his hip that made him stay for some more time on the ground.
He couldn’t find strength on his legs either, needing to support himself on a desk.
’Damn... The exoskeleton is destroyed. I lost the only strength that was supporting my bones and muscles. Now I am nearly done.’
He needed to take some deep breathes, trying to assimilate the pain and ignore that feeling. If he couldn’t do it, he would stay immobile there forever.
’Shall I wear off this exoskeleton already? It’s just extra weight for my body now, anyway.’
Before he could do it, though, he spotted Rat in the other extreme of the office.
Casper drew his gun, prepared to pull the trigger.
Suddenly, from the window they just broke, Ari and Canute arrived, blocking that exit that the criminal could take and aiming at him.
Leonel and Susie arrived at the other side, breaking that windowpane as well. The stolen Drakkar that brought them there was floating next to the building.
A laser was running through Rat’s body as well. It was Eva, kilometers away from there, aiming her sniper at him. It made the criminal raise his hands, giggling sarcastically.
Finally, someone broke through behind him just like a demolition ball. Ivar slid on the ground due to the speed, taking with him a lot of other desks on the way and bumping on Rat, throwing him to the center of that siege.
A silence befell on the place.
Everyone was still absorbing what just happened. Their hearts were racing, blood pressure at its peak. Hands were trembling due to the anxiety and adrenaline.
Now that they stopped moving for a bit, their bodies started to feel pain in different parts.
Just their breaths could be heard for a while, but then the laugh of Rat reached their ears.
"What’s so funny about the situation, you scum?" Leonel asked.
"I think I am about to rip his head off, to be honest..." Ivar commented.
"Stop where you are, Ivar." Warned Canute.
"Hahahahaha! You all are so funny!" The modified voice echoed, in a crazy hysterical laugh.
"That was funny, I need to admit. You all got nerves and guts!" He was gesturing just like a mad man would do. Its exaggerated way made it seem forced and abrupt.
"Hehe, anyway, you don’t expect to get me that easily, right? I think you all need to play the game better. After all, the match doesn’t happen just inside the board in the real-life..." His malicious voice got them all doubting if they won or not.
Rat moved his hand slowly to his pocket, showing clearly that he had no weapons.
What he took there was a câmera.
He zoomed in, towards one of the windows, taking a photo quickly, and then throwing it to Casper.
The White warrior checked the last photo it took. The zoom was incredibly high, and the image’s resolution very good, so he couldn’t mistake the person there, on the street.
"V-Vick!?"
