Icarus Guild: The Renaissance Incident

TRAFFIC LAWS? WHO CARES!

“ Watch out!”, Kai yelled as they narrowly escaped a twelve-wheeler.

“ Worry not, bro. I have got this.”, Lanza revved up the accelerator.

Lanza was having the time of his life. He had stolen a pizza and raced up the wrong side of the road,  without a helmet or a license,  skipping two red signals,  with Kai holding on for his dear life. They had given two police cars the slip and scared the hell out of some old grandmas out for a walk.  ( OK, it had been wrong, but hey! A little fun never hurts.)

He had probably  broken every possible law in the States in a single evening.

“ Can’t you slow down a bit?”, Kai asked as he tried to keep his butt in position.

“ Never use the word slow and Lanza in the same line.”,  Lanza grinned.

A brief burst of laser slammed into one of the rear view mirrors just as he turned the corner. Did he mention they were being followed by microbots?

“ I thought we finished them off!”,  Lanza yelled as he swerved past a Corvette.

“ Apparently not.”,  Kai grumbled as he fought inertia.

“ Didn’t  you say that they could only shred people to pieces?”

“ Don’t blame me. I didn’t know they were an upgraded lot.”
Lanza pulled round a corner just as the killer machines ambushed them.

“ INCOMING! “,  Kai shouted as another beam grazed past the headlights of the bike.

“ Hey! “,  Lanza complained, “ Don’t touch my baby! "

“WATCH OUT! “,  Kai shrieked as they almost ran into a pole.
Lanza swore as he turned the handles,  pulling up on the cobbled foot path.

“ Cipher.”,  Kai breathed,  “ I am never letting you near my Harley again.”

Lanza snorted, “ Oh, please. Can you just let me concentrate on driving? How about you drive away some of our assassin bots right behind us?”

Kai muttered a series of words which would have made Wallace wash his mouth with CleaneX. Lanza's cheeks coloured. ( Yes, he did get embarrassed sometimes.)

Behind him, Kai pulled out his bow from the camouflage form. The pendant glowed warm on Lanza's arm, reacting to the presence of the legendary arm.

Even over the cursing of the passing people, Lanza could hear Kai's soft chant.
“ Roar, O mightiest of bows! Adorn thy warrior with infinite strength flowing from the arms of He who Destroys!  Let your wrath be unrenderable, reducing your worthy enemies to the gates of hell. COME, PINAKA!”

The first time Lanza had heard the name, he had dismissed it as something small.  Honestly the name had sounded like a toy gun brand or something. However, that view had been changed pretty quick, after he had seen him in action in Asphodel.

Lanza concentrated on the road. Thanks to his shameless driving, the Memphis police was now closing down on them for a nice little chat. Lanza would have liked a repeat telecast of the Fast and the Furious, but there was only so much you could do with the sorry mileage of a pizza delivery bike.

The Memphis Bridge loomed in front of him as a giant metal framework. He could see the cop sirens, hooting towards him. At the same time, he risked a look at Kai. Somehow, he had adjusted his position to have his back towards Lanza. Her arms were a flash of movements, adhering to the simple pattern of Lock, Load, Fire.