Ultima Ratio

Chapter 23: Target Practice

The lobby had mostly cleared out by the time they arrived, leaving only a few families along the furthest walls, likely too exhausted to move elsewhere. They didn't appear to notice Akira and Danya as they loitered by the entrance while Akira double and triple checked her uniform for openings and Danya waited patiently beside her. The civilians continued to ignore them by the time Akira unbolted the door and headed out into the storm, Danya following close behind.

While Akira had left her bike exposed to the elements in the earlier commotion, its shielding was holding strong, judging by how quickly it managed to start up. Still, they were evidently lagging behind as Navin zipped past them a second later, going nearly eighty kilometers per hour through the streets littered with abandoned vehicles and lost possessions.

"Someone's in a rush," Danya said as she adjusted her seating behind Akira, their helmets lightly bumping in the process. "No wonder the swan princess was worried he'd do something stupid."

"And if Elodie's still trying to convince Quyen to stay put, we're the only ones that can stop him," Akira said as she took off after Navin.

In hindsight, she should've known she couldn't navigate the obstacle course of a city as well as Navin did without his keen eyesight. Akira didn't trust herself to go over sixty kilometers per hour, and by the time they arrived at the legislative building, Navin was already standing on a mountain of rubble, futilely throwing rocks to the side one by one.

The former building was the widest Akira had seen in the city. While most of it was flattened, a hint of what it once was could be seen in the remnants that still stood. The tallest sections were only three stories tall at most, but the entire structure was almost two hundred meters wide, composed mainly of cream-colored stones with pale pink accents. Most of the damage targeted the south end of the building; Akira could only guess that was where Jivan was, trapped under the collapsed debris.

Navin likely thought the same, judging by the way he frantically scrambled to move the rocks. His desperation was apparent with how his arms flailed wildly with more urgency than practicality, and how his gaze behind his visor bored down into the rubble like it could drill a hole through it.

"Stay here," Danya muttered, jumping off the bike and running towards Navin before Akira even stopped.

Akira's initial reaction was shock. It seemed unlike Danya to volunteer her time and energy for something that didn't benefit her personal goals, and Akira couldn't imagine that the woman experienced a life-changing epiphany during their bike ride over. Either Navin's distress affected Danya in some convoluted way, or Akira seriously misjudged Danya's character.

Her second reaction with immediate compliance, mainly at the sound of Danya's sudden serious tone. But continuing to do nothing was the exact opposite of what Akira wanted to do, especially when one of her own was in need of help. So instead, she preoccupied herself by constantly shifting her gaze between the destruction and the offending storm clouds, as if physically demonstrating her impatience would speed everything up.

She kept this tactic up for at least a minute, only half watching what she assumed was a one-sided conversation on Danya's part while Navin continued with his seemingly endless task of throwing aside one rock at a time. That changed when Navin suddenly dropped a rock back down instead, then seized the front of Danya's uniform with his left hand and threw a punch with his right.

Even though Akira knew his punch wouldn't hurt Danya, she still stepped towards them, ready to intervene. She stopped, however, at the sight of Danya shifting just enough to let Navin's fist whiz past her helmet, then grabbed his wrist before he could pull it back. And then they both went still.

"Where's Navin?" Elodie's breathless voice suddenly asked beside Akira. "Wait, why's she talking to him? Where's Jivan? Why aren't we doing anything?"

"Standby, Elodie," Akira murmured, not willing to take her eyes off the tense scene. "Quyen too."