The rest of the Sonic Pulse Crew piled out of the garage from the front with their bikes. Hikari’s position was towards the front of the pack, where all the other subgroup leaders sat. Each subgroup was in charge of delivering Glow to different sectors in every direction. Michi, another subgroup leader, sat on his bike next to Hikari. He was never seen without his massive golden ring on his right hand that glittered in the light. He smiled a greasy grin at Hikari, flashing the gaps where he had lost teeth. He had lost those teeth in a fist fight against a member of the Reapers. Punching a Reaper was the quickest way to earn Katsuo’s respect. It’s what got Michi his position as subgroup leader.
Katsuo sat in the very front of the pack, everyone waiting for his signal. He lifted his hand dramatically to the sky and made a fist. The collective revving of the noisy engines shook the buildings around them. Windows shut and doors closed. Katsuo revelled in the mechanical music. Hikari winced at the sight of a young boy hiding behind a trash can. The suspensor train above them zoomed south, the same direction they were going. Hikari’s bike was perfectly molded to fit his body. The purr of the engine was the only thing that comforted him. He re-adjusted his mask, reminding himself he needed a new one. Katsuo revved his engine for show and morale. On the third rev, they would take off. Hikari looked to his right at Ren who was cautiously balanced on his bike near the back of the pack. All Hikari could offer was a thumbs up to which Ren nodded back nervously.
“SONICS!” Katsuo called from the front of the pack. “Let ‘em hear you!” He revved his engine one more time and the Sonic Pulse Crew launched down the streets of Arcadia. The engines’ howl put sector 21 on high alert.
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Hikari’s mind drifted as they surged through the city. The butterfly drifted through his thoughts like a paper boat on the surface of a raging river. The imagery in his head was entirely imagination based on a book he had as a boy that he stored in Yoshi’s shop. He found Yoshi right after he lost his parents. Or that’s what Yoshi told him anyway since he didn’t remember. The book he had had taught him how to read and was full of wonderful illustrations of a world now extinct. One that contained trees, birds, rivers, and flowers too. And the spirits. The illustrations of the spirits stuck in Hikari’s brain and constantly reminded him that they were there.
The wind blew Hikari’s partially white hair behind him. For a brief moment, he was brought back to a simpler time when a ride on his Lite-bike would cure any sore feelings. For the Sonic Pulse, building your own bike was a rite of passage. Hikari purposefully left out the extra modification that gave the Sonics their signature sound for a couple weeks so he could cruise the streets on his own without being noticed. Those moments were the benchmark of his youth. His bike was blue with a yellow lightning bolt shooting out towards the back tailpipe. The gauge on the front told him that it would need to be refueled sooner rather than later.
Before too long, they arrived in sector 20, interrupting Hikari’s reminiscing. Waiting for them, as always, was a man who should’ve scared Katsuo, but he didn’t seem to have that bone in his body. The man represented their manufacturer who gave them the Glow that they took to their distributors. He was a big, burly man with not one hair on his smooth, bald head. An eye patch covered his left eye. He stood with some extra muscle behind him in the same construction site they always met at. Construction had stalled years ago, as it tended to do in the higher sectors.
