Lumen.
One of the few criminals that are Magic-User and also one of the few that the entire population knows about her power.
The power of invisibility.
Her real name is Uchiyama Emi. A 20-year-old dangerous criminal that has claimed the lives of two people.
At the time of the second murder, the witness saw that Lumen, Uchiyama Emi was drenched in the splattered blood of his victim.
Then suddenly, she became invisible but the blood on her would not have completely concealed her presence. She fled the scene of the crime, never to be seen again.
The police put up posters on walls, pictures on newspapers but nothing turned up.
After all, her power was making it impossible to catch her.
Uchiyama Emi blended with the air, as if her existence was non-existent.
But now, somehow, that same criminal has emerged, triggering the alert of the police force and the SMF.
"Yeah, I am approaching the target! Go look for some possible escape route for me!"
"Roger that dipshit."
Yemon spoke with Hoga with an earpiece and drove closer to his destination. As he listened to the radio in his car, which was monitoring the situation of the suspect escaping, he pinpointed where to go.
He turned a right at the next intersection and accelerated for another 5 minutes until he saw the commotion.
On the other side of the sidewalk, a girl was running as fast as she possibly could.
She had conspicuous long red hair that was tied into one bun. Her facial features were the same as when she was last seen.
Her brown eyes were agitated and frantically searching for places to get away from the authority quickly.
She was wearing a dark green hoodie and slim black jeans with white sneakers on.
Right behind her, 3 police cars were speeding and closing in near Uchiyama.
One of the policemen in one of the cars used the radio in his hand which transmitted on the loudspeaker installed on top of the car.
"Lumen! I am telling you for the last time! Stop or we will be obliged to shoot!"
The warning went by but Lumen did not obey.
"Stop right now or we will shoot!"
Still no sign of slowing down. That made the policeman retract the radio on his hand and ordered the others.
"I am giving you all the permission to shoot her legs but be careful to not hit any of the civilians! Wait when she is in an area with fewer people."
"Yes sir!"
They focused on the runaway criminal. They are sure that today, Lumen will definitely be caught.
Yemon was assessing the situation and something was bugging his mind.
He was deciding on how he was going to make contact with Lumen so that they can escape together from the police cars.
Using his own car was out of the question immediately. He had a licence plate and tracing its ownership would not be that difficult for the authorities.
So, he needed another mode of transport.
"Tsk. Hoga, keep an eye out for Lumen. I am going to bring another car."
"Just say 'steal'. You should not be embarrassed by that."
"You get what I am saying."
He parked his car at the side of the road and picked his fox mask. He wore it, concealing his identity and got out of the car.
He ran and looked for a suitable vehicle comfortable to be in a getaway chase.
Lumen, who was getting tired turned left into a narrow alleyway. It was impossible for the police cars to enter the small passage.
"Che! All of you, block all of this alleyway's exit."
""""Yes sir!""'
One stayed at this very entrance Lumen just entered while the others were advancing to the positions designated.
Lumen was slowly getting trapped and she knew it. The frustration pent up as she continued running for the shortest exit. It was so that she would not get imprisoned in the alleyway.
Upon seeing an exit, she rushed thoughtlessly.
*SKEEEEE!!!!*
The sound of the brake on the police car invaded unpleasantly into Lumen's ears. She stopped, not stepping any closer to the police.
Immediately, Lumen turned her back and dashed to the other exits.
"Shoot her legs!"
The policemen had pistols which they fired at Lumen. The shots were missing the slender leg of hers however two of the bullets grazed her thighs.
"Kuk-!"
Nevertheless, she did not have the intention of getting restrained. The policemen were hell-bent on making her a cripple for her capture.
So halting was going to be a bad idea either way.
After a few seconds, she saw the other exit. This time, with no authorities in sight.
This made her relieved. Unfortunately, that was short-lived as well.
And to make it worse, instead of the police, a van with the logo of the SMF displayed pulled right at the entrance.
".....Shit..."
Her legs gave up.
A few of the SMF soldiers, armed with assault rifles, came out of the back and aimed at Lumen.
Tardily, her running stance changed to walking as all hope was lost.
"...Not like this..."
All she could do was lift her hand in the air, signalling her surrender. The one thing that she pleaded was to not get hurt.
"Please! Don't shoot! I surrender!"
The soldiers remain unfazed by her plea. The guns were still aimed at her and they were about to pull the trigger.
"Everyone scatter!!!"
One of the SMF soldiers suddenly ordered everyone.
They were wondering what was going on so they glanced in the direction where the previous soldier was looking at.
Their eyes widened and they soon followed his orders quickly. All of them dispersed from their van.
Abruptly, what Lumen saw next was a ray of hope that came crashing in front of her.
*BAM!!!*
The van of the SMF was pushed by another car. More specifically, it was a yellow hummer that had enough power to get rid of the van off the exit.
The front of the hummer was damaged but not to the extent of being inoperative.
Lumen was confused about why someone would do that? Was it a lucky accident for her?
However, that theory was immediately dispelled from her mind as the door of the yellow hummer opened.
Inside, she saw that the driver was wearing a fox mask and he yelled.
"Get in!! Quick!"
Lumen had mixed feelings about this identity that rolled up in front of her. Should she trust that fox wearing man? Or should she turn tails and run from both of them?
"Come on!! The SMF will soon trap us!!"
She snapped out of her thoughts and she entered the passenger seat of the hummer.
Upon sitting, the fox masked man, meaning Yemon, put a foot to the acceleration pedal and took off.
The SMF was quick to be organized but not enough to catch them initially.
So they fired their assault rifle at the back of the hummer.
*Pew!**Pew!**Pew!**Pew!**Pew!**Pew!**Pew!**Pew!**Pew!**Pew!**Pew!*
"Duck!!"
Yemon grabbed Lumen's head and pushed it down to hide from the bullets coming from their fragile windshield.
He too had his head down but the hummer kept going as it ignored the damage sustained from the bullets.
For a few seconds, the firing stopped and the SMF got onto their vans and started the chase.
Yemon reinstated his driving stance and worriedly spoke in the earpiece.
"Virus! I need a place to escape real quick!"
"Hold on, wait a minute."
"I haven't got a minute!!"
"If you are so impatient then go to the parking facility to the next left and find a hiding spot."
"What kind of help is this!!?"
"Hey, I gave you a suggestion. It is for you to execute it."
"Idio-!"
His conversation was interrupted by a police van that came from an intersection.
The van was aiming to the side of the hummer so that they would not halt its fast driving or even slow it down by making it veer uncontrollably.
Yemon saw through that so he steered out of the police van's path, missing the hummer by only inches.
"Waa!" Lumen was agitated by the sudden steering.
However, she did not try to talk with Yemon because he was busy trying to get them out of this mess.
There was another car with a logo of the SMF that was coming from the opposite side of the road.
Yemon did not notice it until at the last second.
The car was trying to obstruct the hummer's route. The SMF car drifted and positioned itself to block the two sides of the road.
The driver of that SMF car was skilled as he fulfilled a barrier in just a matter of seconds.
Nevertheless, that did not hinder Yemon.
"Brace yourself!"
He warned Lumen as he changed gears. Lumen had a bad feeling about this so she grabbed at her seat and waited for impact.
'Shit.' Lumen was ready.
Yemon accelerated towards the bonnet of the SMF car. It was one of the 'lighter' parts of the car that it could bump into.
The hummer's already damaged front charged into the bonnet and crashed.
*BAAM!!*
"Woah!" Lumen's exclaimed as she was tumbling but her grasp was making her stabilise
The SMF car was shoved aside but at the cost of the hummer's front.
The hummer was still moving but slower compared to before. Yemon guessed,
"Well, I think that this is the end for this car."
"What? What are we going to do?"
"......We have to run for it."
Yemon was using the hummer as much as possible. By the next corner, Hoga mentioned a parking facility.
He decided to again rely on his not so guaranteed hunch because right now, he had no other choice.
Both Lumen and Yemon got out in a hurry and heading towards the parking facility.
It had at most 5 floors. It was pretty big so Yemon prayed for there to be many vehicles.
"Let's go there."
"....."
Without questioning his decision, Lumen followed right behind Yemon. They ran into the facility and disappeared from the police and SMF's sight.
They had to enter and tread attentively so that they do not miss any clues.
Both the policemen and the SMF soldiers started their search. Meanwhile, a police officer ordered his men to surround the parking facility.
It was getting harder now to escape this dilemma.
Whilst some of the authorities were in their respective cars, some were on foot. It would be more sure for them to know that they have ransacked the area of the criminals better.
On the first floor, they swept everywhere but no signs of the two criminals.
On the second floor though, Yemon and Lumen were in a cramped place.
Literally.
"Okay, then. Why the fuck are you two hiding in the boot of a random car?"
"You told me to find a hiding spot so I did!"
Yemon was screaming but whispering at Hoga simultaneously.
"I mean I did say that but I wouldn't have guessed that you were bad in hide and seek."
"Oh just shut up and scan our surroundings! Tell us when it is good to go!"
"Whatever you say..."
Their little arguments ended and Yemon looked at the person just in front of him. The two of them was tangled up. So that they would fit in this small place to hide.
Yemon awkwardly opened his mouth.
"Um. Nice to meet you. You can call me Yemon."
"....."
"*Sigh*.....Look, I know that this is not the right time to do an introduction but the reason I am here is that I can help you."
"Help.....me?"
"Yes. I can provide you with shelters from the authorities and even Heroes."
"...."
"The thing that I am saying is all true. I have no shortcomings of benefits. You can have anything you want."
"........Anything...?"
Her timid attitude was getting to her at a time like this. Lumen did not know what to say. Her confused yet expectant expression nagged Yemon.
It was getting complicated but finally, Lumen blurted.
".....Is there a reason why you are doing this to me?"
"...Yes. I will give you anything on one condition. You have to join me. I am currently creating a group and you are the last member remaining."
"What...?
She was trying to process what Yemon was negotiating here. This sounded sketchy as hell.
Nonetheless, the fact that this fox wearing mask took the risk of saving her in a troubling situation, that bugged her mind.
A part of her wants to accept Yemon's one in a lifetime opportunity and another does not want to get involved.
But if it means getting away from the constant running away, then.....
"I thin-"
"Shhhh!"
Yemon gestured her to stay quiet. Lumen tried to figure out what he heard. Nothing rang an alarm for Lumen.
For Yemon however, it felt like he heard some faint 'whoosh' sounds. He listened more carefully and pinpointed the source of the noise.
"...."
Lumen did not open her mouth to disturb his concentration.
After a few moments, Yemon blurted out with a perplexed tone.
"Helicopters?"
"..."
"....."
*Clank**Clank**Clank*
The sound of heavy boots echoed closer. Yemon and Lumen froze. They stayed like statues, minimising their breathing noise.
As it grew closer and closer to their ears, the noise then abruptly stopped.
There was a moment of silence. Sweats formed in Lumen's forehead. The stress became higher.
The sound of the helicopter too got closer which made Yemon twitch his eyebrows.
....
No...
...It couldn't be...
Yemon's eyes suddenly widened, which made Lumen stiff. Yemon was having his heart dancing with fear.
He realized.
Realized that police helicopters were equipped with infrared cameras that could see thermal energy through objects.
Especially humans.
*Click*
The boot opened with high speed and what both saw, was a soldier wearing tge traditional blue uniform of the SMF and an assault rifle aimed at them.
"Get your hands up!!"