Unraveled Spool

Mika plummets toward the ground, bracing for impact, when massive arms catch her, breaking her fall.

“Woah Dell, nice catch!” Jade exclaims from beside him.

Mika, startled, tenses as if ready to fight but notices the Interpol patches on their uniforms. She exhales sharply to relax as Dell sets her on her feet.

“That's quite the exit.” Jade grins, “You must be Mika. I'm Jade. This is Dell. Heard good things about you from Ray.”

“Looks like we just stepped into all kind of mess.” Dell rumbles, several heads above Mika.

Ray emerges from the front entrance, supporting a stumbling Tomomi. The entire branch department building blazes behind them.

“How did you get outside before us?” Ray asks Mika.

“Had to take the express way down.” Mika gestures at the shattered window above. “If it's not obvious by now, we need to get somewhere safe.”

“Interpol headquarters is the safest place there is.” Ray says confidently. He then kneels to Tomomi’s height. “You’re Tomomi, right? And you have the chip with you?”

She nods weakly.

“Okay, you’re coming with us. Dell, you came on wheels?”

“Around the corner, boss.”

“Lead the way—”

Tomomi stumbles forward with a gasp. “Ahh... it hurts...”

“What hurts?”

She quivers as she clutches her stomach. Blood begins dripping onto the concrete.

“N-no, I’m fine...” Tomomi’s voice trembles, unconvincing.

“I got it.” Jade steps forward, and despite her slim frame, scoops Tomomi up in a bridal carry. “Don't worry, I got you.”

Tomomi's pale cheeks blush red, her head resting against Jade’s shoulder.

The group moves out quickly toward Dell’s vehicle. Mika pauses for one final look back at the blazing building before catching up.

The fire spreads as it engulfs the entire building. Corporal Touma, having successfully dragged himself outside, props himself against a tree, watching the inferno with weary eyes.

From the embers, Singer emerges like a demon, clutching her exposed face. Her once-elegant dress is now tattered, revealing more of her stockings and torn gloves. She pauses to kick one of her fallen men, who cry in pain. “Useless,” she mutters.

As sirens grow closer, Singer snaps her attention to the street. Her amber eye narrows as she watches a black SUV pull out of the parking lot and speed away.

Her gaze drifts to the row of Enforcement cruisers...

Inside the SUV, Dell monitors the autopilot from the driver's seat as they head toward Itami Airport. Ray and Jade sit with Tomomi between them, while Mika sits shotgun, each keeping a watchful eye of their surroundings.

An Enforcement vehicle barrels through behind them, swerving erratically through traffic.

Dell glances at the rearview display. “What’s up with that?”

The vehicle pulls alongside them, and Dell cranes his neck to see the driver. His jaw tightens.

Singer. Her exposed face bears a manic grin while her damaged mask flickers a smiling expression.

“Shit. She's after us.”

Singer’s needle-shaped kunai shatters Dell’s window. Dell blocks the shards with his arm, wincing but unharmed.

Dell disengages autopilot. A steering yoke extends from the dashboard as he takes manual control. He guns the vehicle and pulls ahead of Singer, weaving through narrow streets onto the main avenue, even running red lights. Despite driving recklessly, Singer’s stolen cruiser stays glued to their tail.

“Hey, Dell, I know this thing can drive faster!” Jade kicks the back of his seat.

“Already on it! Damn hard to navigate these lanes.”

The cruiser barrels down on them ever closer. Singer sticks her head out of the stolen cruiser like a dog, her half-mask flickering wildly as she enjoys the cool breeze whipping her face.

“Holy shit, this is the crazy bitch you were fighting?” Jade shouts.

“We can't lead her to HQ, Dell.” Ray orders.

“No shit, what you think I’ve been doing?”

Dell takes the expressway on-ramp at full speed, smashing through the automated toll gate. Singer engages her cruiser's autopilot and cranks up the max speed, swerving alongside the SUV.

THUNK. Her needle-kunai pierces the SUV's rear. Singer yanks the thread, threatening to tear off the polycarbonate bumper.

Singer leaps from the moving cruiser onto the SUV’s roof, her needles anchoring her in place. She stabs randomly, trying to skewer the passengers below.

“We’ve got a hitchhiker!” Jade kicks at the roof above her.

Tomomi cowers in her seat while Ray leans out his window, slashing at Singer. Traffic forces him to pull back or risk losing his sword. Mika follows suit from the passenger seat, but Singer easily evades their awkward attacks. Their strikes only damage the roof further.

Dell swerves through expressway traffic in an attempt to shake off the crazy maid, Singer's kunai anchor her firmly. Her exposed amber eye is emblazoned with bloodlust.

“Hold on,” Dell shouts while tightening his grip on the steering yoke. “Y’all better brace yourselves.”

He wraps his arm in the seatbelt and floors the accelerator. Warning signs flash past as he speeds toward a sharp off-ramp curve. The car's collision warnings blare incessantly.

A notification appears on the vehicle's touchscreen: “Accelerator pressed. Emergency braking will not engage.”

“Dell? What are you doing?” Ray asks with growing concern.

With enough stabs to use like perforation holes, Singer tears open the roof with her bare hands. She thrusts her head through the now-giant hole in the roof. Peeking in upside down, her eyes drill into Tomomi.

“Dell, do something or we're all dead!” Jade shouts just as the SUV hits the concrete barrier at full speed. Their seatbelts lock as all the passengers are jolted forward, pinning everyone in place as airbags explode.

Singer catapults off the roof, her embedded needles ripping free. Her scream echoes as she plummets toward the canal below.

“Icarus-samaaaaaa!” Singer’s voice fades as she falls and splashes down into a canal below.

“Y’all good back there?” Dell asks, his arm trembling as he holds the wheel. The SUV lies totaled, steam sizzling from the battery pack, the front completely crumpled.

“Dell, you crazy bastard.” Jade kicks her bent door open and stumbles onto the overpass.

Mika and Ray climb out, shaken but mostly unscathed. They lean over the edge, scanning the canal below.

“You think she survived that?” Ray asks.

“Anything's possible at this point,” Mika shrugs.

They share a pregnant pause as they scan the vicinity.

“AHH!” Mika suddenly points at a food cart with a long line on the street below. “That's the Takoyaki cart!”

Ray, Dell, and Jade stare at her, completely baffled.