The sleek black car screeched to a halt outside Tokyo’s Imperial Palace. Smoke poured from the red-hot tires, making Neil cough. He waved his hands to dispel the acrid cloud. The windows were too dark for Neil to see inside. He was tempted to make a run for it, when he noticed the license plate read 2die4. The passenger door swung open and Neil leaned down. Nori was behind the wheel.
“You?” Neil said, surprised. “I thought you didn’t like land?”
“I needed to experience the thrill of the chase. Now hop in,” Nori said, tapping the passenger seat. Neil noticed it seemed to be made of some kind of alligator skin. He hesitated.
“It’s Komodo dragon, very rare but oh so soft.” Nori smiled. “Get in.” Then he pulled out a gun and the last of Neil’s hesitation disappeared. Neil got in and then Nori pulled the trigger, squirting the inside of the passenger side window with water. “It’s glacier water. Very expensive.”
Neil had the feeling Nori wanted to impress and intimidate him at the same time. “Nice,” was all he said.
“You mean ice!” Nori laughed, running a series of red lights.
Neil was even more surprised a few minutes later when Nori drove off the end of a pier, laughing maniacally. They hit the water and Neil gave a horrified shriek and shut his eyes. He expected to hear the sound of air bags deploying followed by water rushing through the cracks around the windows. Instead, the car sped on.
Neil opened his eyes. They were floating and heading out to sea.
“It’s a hovercraft,” Nori said, happily slapping the solid gold dashboard.
“Why not just take a boat?” Neil said, shaking with a mixture of fear and anger. This was worse than riding on the back of Larry’s motorcycle.
“That was the plan, but then I had to get away from those guys, so no time.” Nori jerked his thumb back toward the pier, where two black-clad motorcyclists were stopped at the edge, shaking their fists.
“Are those motorcycle-driving ninjas?” Neil said, incredulous.