time she arrived. Smirking at the sight of her, he lifted his left arm and pressed the watch around his wrist to his ear.
“I think my watch stopped…” He mock-pouted.
“Your pulse is next!” Serena took a step towards him.
As her foot landed, Axle did a back-handspring that returned him to his feet. Seeing that speed was a factor, Serena decided to cut the play short and simply use her vampire speed to cross the rooftop before he’d even had a chance to blink. Unfortunately, before she even had a chance to shift her focus into overdrive, he’d already taken advantage of a nearby antenna, which he vaulted over to clear the distance to the next rooftop.
Accepting the obvious challenge, Serena smirked and rushed across the rooftop in overdrive and using the superhuman speed to propel herself after him. Once her feet left the roof, the laws of physics took hold and the once time-frozen world came alive as she dropped out of overdrive to avoid watching the world—and her airborne leap—pass by at a snail’s pace. Slamming onto the other roof, her boots skidded with the excess momentum and she overshot Axle, who’d banked to the left to allow her to pass.
“Decent moves,” he offered, already standing on the roof’s ledge. “Though that ‘faster than a speeding bullet’ shit won’t do much good in a game where jumping reigns supreme.”
“Game?” Serena panted, the exertion from jumping in-and-out of overdrive so quickly already taking its toll on her vampire system. “Since when is me kicking your ass a game?”
“No no,” Axle wagged a finger at her. “You see, you kicking my ass is the prize you win. The game, however, is parkour.”
“Huh?”
Axle pouted, “You know, parkour? Free running?”
Serena tapped her toe, “So jumping reigns supreme in the game of free running ? Tell me, you didn’t think this banter through all the way, did you?”
“Probably not,” Axle shrugged. “I was too busy planning out the part where my buddies snuck up behind you while I was delivering the banter.”
“What?” Serena threw up her aura in a defensive shield behind her as she spun to face off against…
A vacant rooftop?
“Oh you have got to be shitt—” Serena sighed, “You’re already gone, aren’t you?”
Turning, she confirmed her suspicions, spotting Axle already sprinting across the rooftop two buildings ahead. “You cheap little shit!”
She began to rush after him once more. Jumping across each building at the pace he did; neither gaining nor losing a pace on him as they entered a more urban area. As the rooftops became less and less flat and more littered with rises and ladders, however, the capacity for Axle’s notorious elusiveness became that much more evident. Every time that Serena thought she had a drop on the therion, he’d throw himself between a railing gap or flip from a ledge only to land in mid-sprint like a cat on a beam no wider than his arm. Though combined agility and speed threw off Serena, who found herself forced, again and again, to compensate for a missed opportunity at grabbing him by fumbling across a light post or catching herself on a balcony.
Finally settling into her own groove, Serena focused less on trying to capture Axle and more on simply keeping up. The hunt soon became a chase, which soon after that became a test of skill.
Serena no longer cared if she got to feel her knuckles against Axle’s jaw; she just wanted to prove that she wouldn’t be so easily eluded.
And Axe—judging from the excited swirl of his light-green aura—knew it!
If Serena made a move to gain height on him, Axle would find another path to end up right beside her; if she tried to take the low path to increase the obstacles, he’d not only meet here there, but expertly dodge and roll over everything in his path.
Winding up side-by-side in a full-sprint along a pair of scaffolding beams at a construction site, the two leapt into the air and freefell for eight stories
“I think my watch stopped…” He mock-pouted.
“Your pulse is next!” Serena took a step towards him.
As her foot landed, Axle did a back-handspring that returned him to his feet. Seeing that speed was a factor, Serena decided to cut the play short and simply use her vampire speed to cross the rooftop before he’d even had a chance to blink. Unfortunately, before she even had a chance to shift her focus into overdrive, he’d already taken advantage of a nearby antenna, which he vaulted over to clear the distance to the next rooftop.
Accepting the obvious challenge, Serena smirked and rushed across the rooftop in overdrive and using the superhuman speed to propel herself after him. Once her feet left the roof, the laws of physics took hold and the once time-frozen world came alive as she dropped out of overdrive to avoid watching the world—and her airborne leap—pass by at a snail’s pace. Slamming onto the other roof, her boots skidded with the excess momentum and she overshot Axle, who’d banked to the left to allow her to pass.
“Decent moves,” he offered, already standing on the roof’s ledge. “Though that ‘faster than a speeding bullet’ shit won’t do much good in a game where jumping reigns supreme.”
“Game?” Serena panted, the exertion from jumping in-and-out of overdrive so quickly already taking its toll on her vampire system. “Since when is me kicking your ass a game?”
“No no,” Axle wagged a finger at her. “You see, you kicking my ass is the prize you win. The game, however, is parkour.”
“Huh?”
Axle pouted, “You know, parkour? Free running?”
Serena tapped her toe, “So jumping reigns supreme in the game of free running ? Tell me, you didn’t think this banter through all the way, did you?”
“Probably not,” Axle shrugged. “I was too busy planning out the part where my buddies snuck up behind you while I was delivering the banter.”
“What?” Serena threw up her aura in a defensive shield behind her as she spun to face off against…
A vacant rooftop?
“Oh you have got to be shitt—” Serena sighed, “You’re already gone, aren’t you?”
Turning, she confirmed her suspicions, spotting Axle already sprinting across the rooftop two buildings ahead. “You cheap little shit!”
She began to rush after him once more. Jumping across each building at the pace he did; neither gaining nor losing a pace on him as they entered a more urban area. As the rooftops became less and less flat and more littered with rises and ladders, however, the capacity for Axle’s notorious elusiveness became that much more evident. Every time that Serena thought she had a drop on the therion, he’d throw himself between a railing gap or flip from a ledge only to land in mid-sprint like a cat on a beam no wider than his arm. Though combined agility and speed threw off Serena, who found herself forced, again and again, to compensate for a missed opportunity at grabbing him by fumbling across a light post or catching herself on a balcony.
Finally settling into her own groove, Serena focused less on trying to capture Axle and more on simply keeping up. The hunt soon became a chase, which soon after that became a test of skill.
Serena no longer cared if she got to feel her knuckles against Axle’s jaw; she just wanted to prove that she wouldn’t be so easily eluded.
And Axe—judging from the excited swirl of his light-green aura—knew it!
If Serena made a move to gain height on him, Axle would find another path to end up right beside her; if she tried to take the low path to increase the obstacles, he’d not only meet here there, but expertly dodge and roll over everything in his path.
Winding up side-by-side in a full-sprint along a pair of scaffolding beams at a construction site, the two leapt into the air and freefell for eight stories
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