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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Old Drew Id" data-source="post: 1369339" data-attributes="member: 12175">Episode II – Session I - InterruptionEpisode II – Session I - InterruptionCrystal eased off the throttle, leaned down into the bike to cut her wind resistance, and coasted around the corner onto Second Avenue. The bars and clubs on Southside had been hopping as she had buzzed through on her way to RGI, but once she had passed the entertainment district, the streets had gotten quiet and a little eerie very quickly. Now that she was approaching the industrial area up near the train tracks, she realized just how loud her Harley was, and she wondered whether stealth might be more important than style right now. She saw Joe’s Jaguar just up ahead now; just a block or two more and they would be turning into the parking lot at RGI. Movement caught her attention in her side mirror. She straightened up and turned her head back for a quick peek.A black El Camino had just pulled out of a parking spot and was cruising down the street behind her, taking it slow and traveling with no lights on. Crystal turned back around and saw Joe slowing down to pull into the gated lot at RGI. Probably just a coincidence, but then again, whenever weird stuff went down, it didn’t pay to take chances. “Guys, be right back, I’m checking something out”, she radioed to Willie over her helmet headset, and cut the bike sharply to the right, gunned the engine, and hopped the curb. She cut down the sidewalk and turned again into an alleyway heading south. For a moment, she cruised down the alley, parting a couple of rain puddles along the way, and vanishing into the shadows. Probably nothing…In an instant, light exploded into the alleyway as the El Camino charged into the alley. His headlights were on now, and his engine was roaring as he raced down after her. Sparks flew off the passenger’s side as he scraped against a brick wall, but he kept gaining speed. A moment later, Crystal shot out of the end of the alley like a bullet from the barrel of a gun. She jammed the brakes and kicked the bike sideways, fishtailing hard right and barreling west down Third Avenue. In a single breath, she was cruising at sixty miles an hour, sitting up, driving one-handed and looking behind her for the pursuit.The El Camino answered her turn with one of his own. His tires screamed in protest, he took out a soap-board sign as he cut the corner, and two cars had to swerve into the right lanes to keep from hitting him, but he successfully made the turn and kept most of his speed as he wheeled after her. Whoever this a-hole was, he wasn’t just messing with her or looking to scare a chick on a hog. This guy was serious. Crystal let him gain a little ground, then turned back around and smirked. Let’s see just how serious he is, she thought, and twisted her wrist back. Fuel flooded into the engine, the bike growled like a wild bear, and she took off like she had been standing still. Seventy… eighty… ninety miles an hour. She darted through a green light… another green light… a red light… but the El Camino kept coming. She darted to the right around a van, and to the left again around a station wagon, then checked the mirror again. He was still on her. “Crystal, was that you?” Willie’s voice crackled over the radio. She swerved for a moment in surprise. (Not smart at ninety miles an hour, she scolded herself.) She realized she must have passed Willie along the way, as he followed Joe and Cooper to RGI. She turned sharply onto an on-ramp, nearly laid the bike over in the process, barely righted herself, and wobbled south down I-65. “Hey, Willie, I’m being followed…well…I’m being chased…”, she radioed back, and tried to blend in with the traffic on the highway. No such luck. The El Camino roared off the on-ramp after her and regained lost ground. Crystal barely dodged a cement truck and a charter bus, then hit the gas harder. She pulled into the left emergency lane and took off. Ninety… One-hundred… one-hundred-ten miles an hour. Slow-moving cars darted past her like they were standing still. She rounded the bend past Greensprings Avenue, and checked her mirrors. The El Camino was still back there. She had gained maybe a couple of seconds on him. He must have a suped-up engine in that thing, she figured. She could definitely get more speed out of her Hog, that was sure, but she wasn’t really sure she wanted to. Willie’s voice crackled on the radio again, “You need some help?”There was an exit ramp coming up on the far right, and she had just passed a moving van that had his right turn-signal on. Crystal radioed back, “No, I think I got it.”Crystal dodged sharply to the right and swerved across three lanes of traffic. She hit the brakes hard as she went, bleeding speed as she hit the ramp, hugging the bike tightly and holding a death-grip on the handlebars as she zoomed down the steeper slope. She heard the squealing tires behind her and knew that her pursuer had made the turn, which was just what she wanted. She turned to check behind her as she lost more speed. Sure enough, the El Camino was coming down the ramp hard, with the moving van narrowly behind him. More importantly, the El Camino was not braking hard like he should have been. Crystal turned back around and watched her speedometer. At fifteen miles an hour, she locked up the brakes, leaned all the way over to the right, and turned the wheel into the curb on her right. The front wheel hit the curb and bit, stopping dead. The back of the bike neatly spun in a half-circle around the front wheel, coming to rest with Crystal facing back up the off-ramp. For a brief moment, in slow motion, the El Camino passed her coming down the off-ramp. She had hoped to see faces, but she could only make out that there were four indistinct figures inside before the vehicle flew past her, followed closely by the moving van. Crystal didn’t wait to see what happened next. The bike kicked under her like a wild stallion as she raced back up the off ramp, dodging oncoming traffic until she was back onto the interstate. Once she made it up to the highway, she fishtailed again back south and blended back into traffic. Willie’s voice crackled on the radio, but Crystal couldn’t make out what he said. She must be near the limits of the signal. She radioed back to confirm she was okay, unsure if he could hear her, and then looked for the next exit where she could turn back towards downtown.</blockquote>

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