Excerpt: The Domino Effect

I am alone on this one. The sirens cut through my thick helmet. I leave my bike in a safe spot, a darkened alleyway, and I arm it before I leave. Grapple out and I’m on the rooftops again. Leap, leap, leap, jump, run, fly. There are the barricades. The regular police is swarming around like ants, with the Squad intersperced among them, instantly recognizable with their jackets on. But they are concentrated on the door, not the roofs. I back up and take a running jump across to the building Double F is trapped in. I should have known he would have at least some trouble. And I never agreed with Ib pairing him with M. M is- flighty. Forgetful. A good fighter, and a smart girl, but inconsistant. TS would have been a better match. But there was no time for that now.

In the door to the stairs, down to the tenth floor, and there was Double F, crouched behind an overturned desk, his red mask and boots the only spots of bright color in the flood of the searchlights. The police are speaking to us, but it is merely background noise, static, another melody to tune. At least the boy has sense enough to see me coming and he is up and we are running to the other side of the building. No time for the stairs- I can hear the Squad below us. I kick out a window and we are flying, Double F only a whisper beside me. The sound of gun fire and the smell of cordite serenade our escape into the maze of the city.