The thing shot toward Remedy's back at a frantic speed, reckless, like a missile.
His senses screamed in a flash. He twisted instinctively.
A vehicle — an armored, lowered 4x4 — was charging straight at him, its front bumper fitted with three sharp metal teeth, like a gigantic war fork.
Thanks to his superhuman reflexes, Remedy threw himself sideways. The vehicle brushed past him, the displaced air making him stagger, the metal teeth snagging and tearing a strip of his jacket.
On the roof of the vehicle, a man with a gangster look, clinging to a handle, burst into a crude laugh as he watched him fall.
— Hey, you lunatics! How the hell do you drive like that in an alley?! — Remedy shouted as he got back up, his furious gaze locked on the 4x4 already speeding away.
But his irritation froze abruptly. He turned his head toward a deeper shadow to the side. He had felt… something. A cold, fleeting presence at the very last moment, masked by the noise and violence of the vehicle's attack. It wasn't clear, but his instincts were screaming.
Then another detail, caught in a split second during his evasive leap, exploded in his mind. Through the tinted rear window of the 4x4, he had glimpsed a silhouette. A young woman, gagged and bound, her head slumped, unconscious.
And that woman looked like…
— Seraphina? — he realized, his eyes widening in horror.
Without a second of hesitation, he launched himself in pursuit of the vehicle.
In the shadows, the clone became even more still, more cautious. At the last moment, she had intended to strike, to take her target before he had time to react. But that stupid vehicle had ruined everything. Worse — Remedy seemed to have sensed her micro-withdrawal. Just a faint shiver, yet he had felt it.
She reached a cold conclusion: she needed to observe him longer. Learn his reactions, his abilities, before engaging in the final assault. That choice was tactically the safest.
For now.
The 4x4 burst out of the alley, jumped onto the sidewalk with a screech of tires, narrowly missing pedestrians, then ran a red light as it crossed an intersection in a chaos of horns.
Remedy emerged onto the main road. The vehicle was already on the other side, disappearing into a larger avenue.
He could never match its speed on foot.
His gaze swept the surroundings, desperately searching for a solution. He spotted a motorcyclist stopped at the light, sitting on an off-road motocross bike.
Without thinking, mimicking gestures he had seen in movies, he rushed over.
— Sorry! — he called out briefly as he yanked the rider off the seat in one swift motion, pushing him gently aside.
— What the—?! — the biker stammered, disoriented, landing on his feet.
Remedy swung onto the machine and twisted the throttle hard. VROOOOM! The bike roared, its front wheel lifting. He shot into the intersection. A car slammed its brakes, narrowly avoiding a collision as he pulled a perilous feint. The front wheel dropped back down and he accelerated full throttle, vanishing into traffic.
The owner, stunned, was already pulling out his phone to call the police.
The clone, still lurking in the shadows, watched Remedy disappear. She had to follow him.
The "hunt" could begin.
---
On the road, the armored 4x4 weaved through traffic, faster and more aggressive than anything around it.
Remedy, on the stolen motocross, chased it down, slipping between vehicles with deadly agility, taking tight turns at the very edge of traction.
In the rearview mirror, the sharp-eyed driver spotted the determined silhouette on the bike.
— Hey guys, we've got company! — he barked.
The other passengers turned. One of them, nervous, instantly cocked a shotgun.
— Let me take him out!
— No! — his accomplice snapped. — You'll draw the cops and give away our position! That's stupid!
— He's right, — the driver added, a dangerous smile curling his lips. — Let me handle it. It's been way too long since I've had a good toy for a chase.
A sick thrill lit up his eyes. This man clearly had experience.
He slammed the accelerator. The 4x4 howled and surged forward, widening the gap.
— What?! — Remedy muttered, feeling the distance grow. He couldn't let it get away — not with Seraphina inside.
He opened the throttle wide. The motocross engine screamed in protest. The chase turned into a deadly ballet of feints and suicidal overtakes.
They entered a long curve. With chilling control, the 4x4's driver initiated a drift. Tires screeched, leaving behind a cloud of black smoke and the stench of burning rubber.
The cloud swallowed all visibility. But for Remedy's hyper-sharpened senses, it was an obstacle, not a wall. He calculated the trajectory, leaned the bike, and engaged his own countersteer. His knee skimmed the asphalt, a spray of sparks bursting from the fairing scraping the ground. He pierced the smoke like a ghost.
Behind the 4x4, they first saw only sparks in the haze… then Remedy burst out, intact, glued to their rear bumper.
— Oh? The kid's good! — the driver chuckled, impressed despite himself.
He prepared his move. A sudden brake followed by a violent acceleration, rear tires spinning. The 4x4 performed a controlled spin, spewing another curtain of smoke — and this time, a burst of flame shot from the modified exhaust.
Remedy, at full speed, charged straight into the trap of smoke and fire.
Too late, he saw the bump.
The road dipped slightly, hiding a raised hump. The bike left the ground, launched into the air. For an instant, Remedy was flying, separated from his mount.
Fear didn't even have time to form. With an acrobat's reflex, he grabbed the bike's rear rack mid-air, yanking it back beneath him with raw strength. He crashed down onto the seat, the machine bucking violently before he forced it into a precarious balance. A barely controlled landing, worthy of the wildest stunts.
The chase continued until the 4x4 left the main roads and entered a desolate territory — a zone of abandoned garages and warehouses, a gang's presumed territory. Rusted car husks lay scattered, shipping containers forming crude walls.
The vehicle finally turned into a closed yard and stopped in a spray of gravel. One of the men got out, dragging Seraphina's limp body over his shoulder.
The other two — the driver and the armed accomplice — took positions, weapons already trained on the yard's entrance, waiting.
A moment later, Remedy burst in, braking hard. He dismounted, letting the motocross fall. He now stood fully exposed under the harsh glow of flickering mercury lamps.
Three gun barrels locked onto him.
Silence fell — heavy with threat.
Chapter 25 — End.