Riley Ross

This… is difficult.

Riley had his palm aimed at the truck, but aside from making it bounce or sway slightly, he couldn't slow it down at all. He had practiced his telekinesis extensively since awakening it, yet using it while flying at high speed was still unfamiliar—especially while in pursuit.

The truck tore across the uneven, empty field, bouncing violently over dead branches and large stones.

If he gets to the highway, my chances of stopping the truck would become even lower. I need to stop him… or kill Tomoe to prevent her from saying anything. Fortunately for both of us, Replica Ricky still has not thought of removing her mask.

Riley focused his attention on Tomoe, and although they were too far to see clearly, he could still see that she still had her mask on.

Riley locked his attention on her. Even at this distance, he could see the mask was still on. He abandoned everything else—his armor, his attempts to move the truck or pull Tomoe free, and focused solely on the chase. He could have tried manipulating the tires, but at this speed and range, the risk of killing her was too high.

I would like to prevent that if possible. She is extremely useful… and I believe Sister would be sad to see her suddenly gone. It would be… uh oh.

Riley started to see the highway across the horizon. He placed all of his power into pushing himself in the air, but the truck still wasn't getting closer. Wherever he might have gotten the truck from, he obviously made the right vehicle to get.

Riley exhaled and abruptly let himself drop, channeling everything into forward momentum instead of trying to lift himself up.

…And it worked. He was able to close the distance.

He immediately pointed his palm at the truck and managed to jolt it up in the air. He was able to stop it for a second, but only a second before the entire tailgate was ripped away from the rest of the truck.

And since Riley was trying something new, trying to attach himself to the truck, he found himself suddenly and violently rolling in the air for a moment.

But a moment was enough to slightly confuse him and lose sight of the truck. He stabilized himself in the air, quickly scanning his surroundings until he once again saw the truck—but it was way farther now than it was before.

Riley stared at the truck for a moment before he once again shot toward it. This time, however, he spun in the air while flailing his hand—he scooped the air beneath him, and the ground beneath him trembled before suddenly cracking with a loud drum.

All the dust and dirt that wasn't deep into the ground turned into a mist—but not for long, as the rest of the ground also lifted up.

And like a wave growing larger and taller by the second, the clouds of dirt and dust started to follow the truck. But of course, if Riley couldn't catch the vehicle, it was obvious this large mound of ground wouldn't—but his goal wasn't for the ground to chase the truck.

Riley dove straight down to the clouds of dust… and hid himself there all the while still chasing the vehicle.

He couldn't stop the truck anymore, even if he wanted to, so the only choice he had was to follow it onto the highway.

He is obviously trying to lure me into the city. I… don't need people to see me just yet.

For anyone in the distance, Riley now just looked like a cloud of dust being blown by the wind. But, well, if one were to look at him long enough, they would clearly notice how this dark "cloud" had a life of its own.

All of Father's teachings are telling me that this is a trap. Replica Ricky wants to expose me to the public as Riley Ross, but why? I truly do not have any recollection of ever meeting him. Could he be a relative of someone I have killed?

He mentioned his wife, his friend, and several people. I do not think I have killed an adult woman just yet. What exactly do you want from me, Replica Ricky?

The truck soon swerved onto the highway, its tires screaming against the asphalt. Behind it, horns violently blared—it was a large semi, which had no choice but to brake to avoid hitting him.

But this sudden break caused a car to plow into it from behind, and then another large semi behind it followed—completely squishing the car and whoever was inside it.

More and more vehicles slammed together, the metals twisting as one car topped on another.

The truck didn't even stop, however. Replica Ricky kept on accelerating—its speed incomparable now from when it was driving outside the highway.

Riley didn't fly into the highway. Instead, he banked to the side, choosing to stay as a cloud of dust and dirt as he shadowed the truck. It was impossible to chase it now at the speed it was going.

He also didn't want to cause Replica Ricky to do anything more drastic. It would put too much risk on Tomoe's life. Unfortunately for Riley, soon, he wasn't the only that was going to chase Replica Ricky.

"Holy shit!"

A patrol car was parked along the highway, and the officer immediately jumped out of his car as soon as he heard the explosion coming from behind him. His eyes widened as he saw the fire and smoke building up in his eyes.

He was about to enter his vehicle, but he heard the loud rumble of an engine, and quickly looked back.

And there, he saw Replica Ricky's truck passing by—and also happened to see several of them pinning Tomoe down.

"What the…" The officer blinked before immediately jumping back into his vehicle.

"Dispatch!" He screamed on his radio and quickly stepped on the gas, "Suspect 505, 503! We have a possible kidnapping in progress—and… and the perp is driving a reported stolen vehicle. Request backup! Giving chase now! Perp might have also caused a major multi-vehicle pile-up, northbound—Fuck! Just send someone! Everyone! We also need a bird up there!"

He turned on his sirens, and Riley quickly sighed and shook his head. The last thing he wanted was to garner attention, and now Replica Ricky had caused a massive accident and involved the police.

Should… I remove my outfit and follow him as Riley? It would make it seem like I'm trying to rescue a friend. But the explanation I would have to do afterward would be extremely difficult. There is also the fact that Replica Ricky has seen Tomoe's parents and what we did in the warehouse. Hmm. No time to think, I should focus on just following him for now. Besides…

The sirens seemed to have spooked Replica Ricky a little, as he started grazing the traffic and slamming the side of their doors. This slowed him down, but this also put Tomoe in grave danger at the same time.

[You on the white truck! Stop!]

If that could work, I would have said it already.

The patrol was hot on Replica Ricky's tail and was even managing to hit his bumper, but the patrol didn't seem to want to topple the car over, as there was someone else on board.

The patrol did, however, manage to recognize Replica Ricky's face.

"Oh shit… Oh, shit!" The man quickly radioed his discovery to the others, causing them to act even faster than they already were.

Minutes more passed, and Riley could already see the lights of the city across the horizon. But he could also see something else—red and blue lights dancing, completely blocking the road ahead.

A chance.

Riley maintained his speed, his eyes scanning for anything that he could use in any way. But it wasn't until they neared the blockade that he saw something that wouldn't necessarily risk Tomoe's life.

A spike strip.

…Which Replica Ricky easily avoided by swerving the car off the highway.

Unfortunately for him, the spike strip was something Riley was easily able to move, even if he was flying and at a distance.

The strip crawled toward the car, latching onto its front tire. Unfortunately for Riley, this caused the car to lose control anyway as Replica Ricky chose to step on the brakes.

His replicas on the back were instantly thrown out of the bed along with Tomoe.

Life.

Riley opened his arms, once again removing all of his control in anything other than just moving forward. He shot toward Tomoe, rolling in the air several times to lessen the impact before he landed on the ground…

…right in front of the barricade.

Right in front of the entire police force.

The officers quickly pulled out their guns from their waist and pointed them at Riley, but Riley just calmly faced them while carrying Tomoe in his arms.

"Oh…" He whispered,

"...Hello there, officers."