R. A. T. H

Eight vol.2

"You best hug me tightly, this bike has none of the safety features you'll find in others," The girl said as the motorcycle began its climb of the skyscraper.

It rode effortlessly above the glass windows of the building. The wind tousled Rose's long hair and she clung to the body before her, arms wrapped around the person's waist. In her mind, she thought this was an inverse of what had occurred with Elsa in the slums.

"Stop your vehicle and surrender!" A loud voice boomed behind them.

Rose glanced back.

Three boxed contraptions, smooth and sleek as metal, floated after them. Their speed rivaled the bike though they made no noise for they didn't need it. Her eyes perceived turrets on their figures, however.

"That's the basic policing drones. They can shoot concussive shots and blasts and a net of mana that some find hard to break through," The person before her said.

Rose reached out a hand to her side and summoned her sword.

"Eh. . .what are you doing?" The figure before her asked, taking a quick peek at her hand.

"Creating a barrier of flames?" She replied.

"Don't do that you fool!" The girl bawled, "They are mainly capture-drones. Equipped for that task. I know I said you can't destroy them, but show enough resistance too and the automatic process will be thrown into the hands of an actual person. They see us running, and guess what? We'll get the big stuff more quickly."

Rose raised a brow.

". . .you sound rather experienced with this."

The individual chuckled.

"It's my hobby. When you're rich, sometimes, extreme sports are the only things that grip your heart."

That sounded almost ridiculous to Rose. Then again, she was neither rich nor did she have the time for sports. Hers was an existence that was always fighting.

"Final warning: Stop your vehicle and surrender!"

The unifying voices of the drones behind them boomed once more.

The girl laughed. "Hehe, hold on, we're about to-"

The vehicle leaped parallel to nothing but air. The foot of the figure moved quickly to tap the side of the mechanical contraption. In return, the nose of the bike came down and a vroom resounded then, they were floating upon the roof of the skyscraper and gliding forward.

Rose blinked her eyes at the speed of it all. It had taken mere moments. The bike swerved and dodged a doorway. Yet, at that instance, she felt the spike of swirling mana and glanced back to see the turrets of the three drones shining.

The girl scoffed.

"Black. Shield."

[Activating shield]

A familiar shield of mana washed over the bike and the two. Then, the pulses came and tore through the stone roof of the skyscraper, blitzing forward before slamming into their persons and bursting apart into pure mana.

"A highest-grade mana shield." The sound of the revving motorcycle matched the words of the girl. "It can survive a Mana Eruptor and even a Drop Pulse. . .though only once."

What was a Mana Eruptor? What was a Drop Pulse? Rose had no idea. By the meaning of the girl's words, however, she inferred they were likely weapons of mass destruction.

The edge of the roof came and they drove off of it.

"Hold on tight."

A click resounded.