Chase

His plan worked. Both of them were just a second behind him as he barrelled through the corridor, and out the door. He stopped there, heaving due to the sudden exertion, and just as the big brute was about to snarl something unintelligible and hit him, they felt an intense rumbling beneath their feet that made them freeze, and look back.

His sister already seemed to have understood the reason behind Al's actions, as she shouted, "Keep running! If their first plan fails, they always have two or three backup plans ready to take effect!"

Al experienced a vague feeling of déjà vu as he heard this. So far, he had been the one with all the meticulous preparations, but apparently, it was finally time for him to meet the real elites in this world from whom he wouldn't be able to expect the same tardiness he had seen so far.

With a nod, he took a step forward and stopped before slapping himself on his forehead. Turning to the two assistants, he shouted, "Activate the Boots of Hermes! They only gave mine in a suitcase so that they would have a video of me opening it… you two are already wearing yours! And wait… was there a coat rack just beside the door?"

The brother and sister looked at each other for a moment after he said this, realisation flashing in their eyes. The woman then jumped back and headed to the door, and as they waited, the rumbling beneath seemed to be getting stronger and stronger, almost as if an earthquake was about to strike where they were.

She emerged at the exact moment before Al witnessed one of the most wondrous, yet terrifying sights in his life. No sooner had she barged out of the door with two cloaks draped over her hand, than the entire place collapsed into a heap of dust and destruction.

"Run!"

"No! Wait! What kind of plans do they use? Did you die to the building collapsing last time? If not, did you spot anything after that?"

Smoke obscured everything behind them, and the street in front looked empty. Still, Al felt a slight prick of danger in his shoulders that made him stop and ask this question, and, when he got the answer, he frowned even though he had been right.

"Yeah… most of us died to their first attack, but one survived! He was killed when he tried to run away!"

His mind worked at the speed of light, correlating what he had just heard with what he knew of the Dragon. Clearly, the answer to the question whether the man had taught his students the same techniques as his has been answered, and from that, Al found a clue regarding what they should do.

It was going to be risky, but his gut told him that they had no other choice. Turning around, he said, "Then they're definitely waiting at the end of the street to ambush us. We have to do something unexpected! Take out the flutes, they must be in the central pocket of the cape right below the spot where it attaches to your neck! Put them to your mouth, and wait for my mark!"

The brute grunted and seemed as if he was about to say something, but his sister shot him a stern look that suddenly made him docile. Al was already wearing his cape, and as the other two put on theirs, he fidgeted impatiently. When they were in the position he had asked them to take, he raised his finger and tapped it twice on the side of his head before shouting, "Let's go!"

Without any hesitation whatsoever, he ran into the devastation of the building they had been in until now. The assistants were surprised, at first, but they quickly followed, connecting two and two together and seeing that by 'unexpected', he had meant that they would be running into the jaws of the enemy behind them instead of the waiting threat in front. It wasn't like they had any other choice; the street ended at a dead-end in the other direction, so it became obvious, now, that the heroes must definitely have set an ambush nearby.

On the way, it was incredible to see how perfectly the building had been demolished. They had no idea how it had been done, but it was almost as if concentrated charges had been set off to result in a collapse of the foundation, which could be expected from experienced professionals going about a task they had worked on for weeks.

Through the dust, visibility was bad. It was all they could do to not trip over the piles of bricks on their way, but after running feverishly for a few seconds, they vaguely glimpsed a tall figure ahead. It was only his silhouette that was visible, but he was still as imposing as mountain. He was at least 7 feet tall, with a large mane of hair that increased his height even more, and right as he raised his fist on seeing them… Al shouted, "Now!"

The haunting music of the Astral flute filled the surroundings, insistent an undeniable because of the reinforcement of three tools being used at once. Al had neglected to question, the last time, how he was exempt from the effects of the flute… so, now, he noticed that anyone who held the tool seemed to have the ability to protect themselves from its power.

Incredibly… where before just one flute had been sufficient to make the two assistants faint, the power of three was only enough to make the man sway, but still stand upright.

"Circle around him!"

Al went to the left, the two went to the right. Thankfully, a few moments later, they emerged into a different street, and even though it hadn't been perfect, he was happy that his plan had worked.

At least, that was what he thought… until an arrow whizzed out of the dust behind them and clattered onto the cobblestones between his feet.

"Keep running!"

Scrambling forward, he hastily recalled the instructions given along with the Boots of Hermes. Pausing only long enough to tap his heels together twice, he took a step forward… and gasped at the sudden burst of speed lent to his legs.

He almost planted his face on the ground as he lost balance. Tottering around, he barely managed to stop himself by taking support from a wall nearby, and quickly, he looked down to understand how they worked.

Beside him, the two assistants seem to be absorbed in the same task. The woman got the gist of it first. She hesitantly moved one foot forward, and a moment after she began the motion, it sped up to ten times the speed her leg would normally be capable of.

'So, when given a hint of direction, they speed up… alright, let's go!'

He took baby steps, first, but his confidence began to build as he slowly got used to the bursts of acceleration. Despite the dangerous situation, he heard the woman chuckling as she whizzed past him, and with a small smile, he stopped being cautious, too, and ran.

The wind whipped across his face. His skin stung from the resistance of the air…but his lips twisted into a grin, as it felt almost as if he was flying.

He caught up to the woman in a matter of just a few seconds. By then, they had already crossed two streets, and from his estimation, they were running at at least a speed of 60 km/h.

It was almost dizzying, but Al held on, intending to get rid of the pursuers before resting. Still, after crossing another the street, he felt himself swaying and found no option to call for a halt.

"Let's stop!"

The woman was right beside him, so she shot forward while he began to slow down. She then began to slow down, too, so it took a few minutes for them to regroup. The Boots had an automatic slowdown procedure where their boost would decrease if no further hints were given, but still, it took a great deal of effort to ensure that their stint of using the amazing Tools didn't end with a disaster.

All of their faces were flush with the thrill of running faster than the fastest man before the descent of the Gods, so it took a moment to recover. Al did so first, and the first question he had was, "Tell me what else you know about them. How the hell did they find us, anyway?"

He had scanned through the document, but found no mention of the location where the heroes would be starting from. The woman was about to answer…but all three of them widened their eyes and stopped everything they were doing when a sound reached their ears.

It was that of someone humming to themselves, in a soft tone that was unsuspecting, yet unwaveringly petrifying, at the same time. Al was tempted to turn around, but realizing that it was more important to decided what they should do, he searched around for options.

An idea that had come to him right after finding out the function of the cape reappeared in his mind.

"Follow me!"

Shouting to the two, he ran to his left, where there was the entrance to a large, ten storied car park. The assistants sounded puzzled, but they still followed his cue; floor after floor, they went higher and higher, and even though the woman warned him that there was only a dead-end waiting for them at the top, Al didn't slow down.

When they reached the terrace, they saw that she had been right.

"Now what?", growled the brute, but the response…came in a voice they hadn't heard before.

"Now you die."

It was that of a little girl, innocent and high-pitched. Three figures emerged onto the terrace, just a few paces away, but Al continued walking, unperturbed, right to a spot at the edge where there was no wall between him, and the depths below.

The other two were soon beside him, but they had backed away instead of showing their back like him to the newcomers. Al finally turned around to face them, and found exactly what he had been expecting.

They looked almost the same as their photos, with two important differences. The first was that their clothes were plain, without the magnificent dragon that had decorated them before. The second was that of the three, the tall man and the bald woman were sweating, betraying the price they must have paid to get here so quickly, but the third was unchanged, with not a hair out of place.

Al cleared his throat. He raised his hands although that made it so that his palms were both behind the backs of the assistants, and in a sonorous voice, he said, "Nice to meet you. But, alas, I'm afraid we have other plans."

The pixie-haired girl threw her head back and laughed. After she stopped, she opened her mouth to begin what must surely have been a well-rehearsed badass dialogue, but it caught in her throat suddenly when Al…pushed the assistants off the building, and followed them by jumping with his back to the air and his hands raised, two middle fingers gloriously flicking off the three who could only stand there and stare, agape.