“Ya can’t catch me, coppers!”
Under the dimly lit streets of Atlas, a young girl flitted through the shadows of the night. Not far behind, a scattering of searchlights panned the area in pursuit, followed by the collective footsteps of a squad of law enforcers. The metallic streets might be stylized and furnished to the brim with technology, but clever delinquents who knew the limits of that technology could easily use the contrasts to evade… say, an irritated, paint-spattered group of policemen?
The street echoed faintly, “ya can’t catch me, coppers!”
The girl swept to and fro, agilely deflecting off walls and other obstacles to sustain her momentum around corners, nooks and crannies. The policemen behind shouted obscenities as they struggled to keep up. One sturdy individual, however, managed to keep pace, tracking her with the light attached to his gun.
The girl tried to shake off the light. Even though the rifles could fire nonlethal rounds, she was not going to consider taking that chance. Besides, the nonlethal pellets still hurt like a Deathstalker’s sting.
Even as the chase continued down an alleyway, across an avenue, and down through a street leading into a second alleyway, the light began to wobble less and focus in on the perpetrator as the lead policeman began to read her movements.
A building suddenly loomed ahead of the alleyway: a dead end.
The girl groaned in annoyance as she turns to face her pursuers; multiple lights began to pan and focus in on her.
“Freeze!” screamed the lead policeman. “Drop your weapon and put your hands in the air!” he followed.
The lights revealed a green-shirted, denim-wearing youth, perhaps no older than fifteen. Her black hair shimmered in reflection; her teal-green eyes glowed with anticipation, a half-eaten jelly doughnut still stuck between her teeth. And in one hand… was a Thompson submachine gun.
“Banzai!” the girl hollered.
An uneven torrent of bullets streamed from her gun, causing the officers to flinch and recoil in response. The pastry fell from her battlecry, but with a deft free hand she snatched it from the air. Reds, blues, greens, yellows and more left their mark on the policemen as the paintball rounds left their messy calling card. The alleyway, of concrete and steel greys, likewise took on a violent change in hue.
But before the officers could regain their balance, the girl suddenly leapt above them, jumping between walls and fire escapes to the high rooftops, far away from her pursuers.
“It was nice to chat,” taunted the green-eyed girl, “but I’ve gotta run!”
Puckering the pastry in her hand, she turned away and ran. She forged a path through the roofs, cutting through streets while the policemen below had to follow the rectangular layout of the land. It was not long before the lights recede from her last location, and from her vision entirely.
Presuming herself to be sufficiently safe, she hopped back onto the ground, holstering her gunblade onto her back. She took one more look behind her, before remarking, “those jerks think they can make fun of me with their donuts like they own the place? What fools! It is an insult to me to not offer me a delicious jelly pastry, me, the great and powerful Lily Valkyr—“
Wham!
Her egotistical monologue abruptly ended at a wall at the end of an alley; Lily dropped stone cold unconscious where she struck, the jelly doughnut a splattered purple mess next to her.
And the night fell silent under the fractured moon once more.
…
Dawn came with its slow, yawning breath. The cold air was barely ready to receive the coming warmth rising over the horizon.
A new set of footsteps neared the alley where Lily fell. A broad woman clad in blue Edo-mail armor approached the fallen figure, the scales of her armor flapping slightly against the wind. She seemed to take on a look of confusion at the scene ahead.
Lily Valkyrie, still sprawled on the ground from last night, let out a loud snore.
So this is Lily Valkyrie.
The woman sighed in irritable frustration and resignation as she picked up the unconscious girl with a slight grunt, and began the long walk back.