It was a beautiful day.
The sun was shining.
It smelled like spring.
And a specific area of District Forty Two was quite lively, almost as lively as the last time a rift appeared at the mall.
Driving swiftly through the open road leading to the GPV was a line of eight police vehicles cutting through the free traffic.
Within the leading car, Detective Harper could be seen driving, sirens flaring as she locked in.
Next to her was everybody's favorite police chief, Mr. Richard, his eyes fierce as he observed the road ahead.
The drive was quiet, it had to be, there was no space for small talk as they had already related all necessary information beforehand.
Just then, in that split second, Richard caught sight of a taxi car driving much, much faster than other vehicles and within that car, he spotted the blurry side profile of a very familiar person.
"Whoosh!" The taxi blew past.
"FOLLOW THAT TAXI!" Richard, upon registering the face, yelled abruptly, his sudden response giving Detective Harper a visible shock.
"W-what," Detective Harper responded, clearly overwhelmed but she was sharp, swiftly turning the vehicle around in one swirl, tires screeching.
Both Detective Harper and the other police officers who were following Harper's vehicle were confused, with some even voicing their confusion through the comms, until a voice spoke through the radio.
"District Forty-Two dispatch, this is Unit Bravo-Four, shots fired at GPV building, multiple armed suspects reported."
"One suspect, male, black hoodie, fleeing the scene in a yellow taxi, vehicle has rammed police blockade, officers nearly hit."
"Suspect may be armed and extremely dangerous. We have active gunfire. Repeat: Code 10-34 in progress, possible 245G. Requesting all available units for intercept and pursuit. Air support is already on-site."
"We also need backup, Over."
The message from the radio served as a wake-up call for everyone, with Detective Harper glancing at Chief Richard in wonder.
Noticing the look, Richard asked, "What is it?"
"No, it's just you're sort of an amazing chief, you know," Harper responded softly as she drove, following Mr. Valen's Taxi.
Chief Richard looked towards Harper with an odd expression on his face, "I'm married, you know that, right?"
"No, no, I didn't mean it like—"
"District Forty-Two dispatch, this is Chief Richard. We have a visual—suspect taxi just blew past us westbound on Lexington, nearly took out our lead car." Chief Richard responded cutting Harper short as he continued:
"All eight units are turning now, we're in active pursuit, I need two intercept units ahead of his projected route—cut him off before he hits Main."
He passed a bit, then went on:
"Get traffic units to lock down intersections. Dispatch, divert four additional units to the GPV building—secure the perimeter and sweep for remaining armed suspects. This is a coordinated hit—we're not letting anyone slip through. Air One, keep tracking the taxi and feed us real-time coordinates. Go loud if he makes another aggressive move. Let's end this clean. Over."
Chief Richard barked command after command, but at his words, his subordinates countered:
"Chief, this is dispatch, informing you that no air support were deployed, over."
"Then who the heck is in my airspace?" Chief Richard yelled into the radio, prompting Harper to glance up, her eyes squinting.
"That's... not Air One. I think that's TGH+2. A news chopper," Harper responded, her voice light.
At those words, Chief Richard spoke into the radio, "HQ, this is Chief Richard speaking. If Air One isn't available, patch me through to TGH+2's chopper—we need aerial eyes now, over."
"Chief Richard, this is HQ speaking, we're converting line two, Over."
"Roger that," Chief Richard responded resolutely.
Meanwhile, Mr. Valen frowned as he looked into his side mirror and noticed that a bunch of police cars were after him. He had poked the hornet's nest, but he was not afraid.
Rather, he stepped on it, the engine revving as it was pushed to its limits.
Glancing between his right and left mirrors, Mr. Valen saw police cars closing in on both flanks.
In that instant he swerved as though he wanted to crash into the police car on his left, blocking its view and in turn forcing it to slow down.
Then he swerved right, repeating the process, again, his breath coming in sharp grunts as his gaze faltered.
"I'm so close," Mr. Valen muttered as he drove erratically swerving left and right on the otherwise deserted road.
"Valen, stop the Vehicle, or we will use force!" A loud warning sounded out.
Looking at the mirror, Mr. Valen noticed that the one who had spoken was a dark skinned police officer tailing him to the left.
'Going by his uniform, and the way he speaks, he seems to be the one in charge,' Mr. Valen thought, but then he noticed something.
The vehicle on his right was closing in matching his high speed and following his erratic driving pattern as though waiting for something.
'A PIT maneuver,' Mr. Valen thought to himself with a frown. 'My car isn't fast enough to avoid, so I'll have to go with it,' he concluded.
The police car drove up beside his right, the driver aiming their front bumper near his rear, and in one smooth motion turned their steering wheel.
"Bam!" The officer bummed into his car. Violently.
"Screech!"
A collision followed by screeching tires sounded out as Mr. Valen's car began to spin uncontrollably.
His rear tires lost grip, but he was ready, keeping his hands firm on the wheel, his focus intense.
Instead of resisting it, Mr. Valen steers into the spin swiftly turning the wheel left.
He then let off the gas pedal slightly, softly pressing down repeatedly to allow the tires lose grip faster.
While spinning, Mr. Valen quickly pressed the clutch pedal to disconnect engine power, before shifting the gear stick into reverse all while steering to control the spin.
The car finished a 180-degree spin and was now facing backward allowing Mr. Valen to release the clutch smoothly.
With a grunt, he stepped on the gas pedal, sending the car flying in reverse, wheels smoking.
As for the police car that tried to PIT him, it overshot—unable to correct, driving off route and crashing into the road divider.
Chief Richard's car drove past, with Harper closing in on the reverse driving taxi, her eyes narrowed.
"Who is this kid?" Harper intoned as they looked at his face, but Chief Richard did not respond, he just started angrily.
Mr. Valen was also staring as he drove, perfectly avoiding obstacles in the road without looking back as though Chief Richard's face was more important than his life.
«I think that officer is mad at me.»
Meanwhile above them, the chopper followed, with Mary exclaimed excitedly. "Did you see that maneuver, folks? It appears we're dealing with a seasoned getaway driver! Here at TGH+2, we bring you the news so fast that the police have enlisted our chopper to track this chase!"
As Mary spoke, Mr. Valen swerved past a slow-turning truck, tires biting at the pavement as the taxi threaded the narrow gap between traffic cones and a recycling bin, sending the plastic container spinning.
But there was a problem, he had reached the interception point where the two available units were to flank him.
A symphony of sirens continually blared behind him, lights flashing wildly as the police units closed in.
In front, two police vehicles were speeding towards him, he was concerned, but he kept moving.
"Block him! I repeat—cut him off Carlton!" barked Chief Richard's voice through the comms as he addressed one of the cops up front.
But was Mr. Valen truly cornered?
Grunting, he shifted down, the engine howling in defiance as he yanked the wheel left just as two interceptors tried to flank him.
His car skidded, then hooked hard into a quick drift, tires screeching as the taxi slipped between the two squad cars, which tried to avoid crashing into him with inches to spare.
Inside, his body swayed with the movement, but his hands stayed steady on the wheel.
"Damn it!" Harper spat, gritting her teeth. "This guy is good."
Chief Richard didn't blink. "Don't admire him, drive, detective, we've got him exactly where we want him."
It appeared that this chase was not over yet.
Mr. Valen shot into the inner-city streets, a blur of motion reflected in shop windows as pedestrians screamed and scattered.
But the officers were not done yet, ahead they deployed a spike strip, along with the blockade of a dozen cop cars, their officers all pointing their weapons at the incoming taxi.
But they were too glaring.
Mr Valen had spotted them too early.
With precise timing, he swerved into the narrow alley on 5th, clipping a dumpster as sparks flew off the passenger side.
The space was barely wide enough, but the taxi scraped through, metal groaning side mirrors chipped off.
They had lost sight of the Taxi.
"Air support, we've lost him. Do you have a visual? Over." Chief Richard immediately yelled into the radio.
"TGH+2, reporting! He's headed toward downtown! This alley leads right out to Crossridge Avenue!" Mary, the reporter shouted, her excited voice rising with the tension.