“How did I even let you talk me into this?” Stephanie called out, her hands cupping over her mouth to project her voice even further trying to reach the covered ears of her best friend. Roanna flew through the air, gaining at least four feet on the dirt mound that had launched her into the air on the small aluminum bike. Once she hit the ground, she extended her good leg out to the side as she banked hard to the right, the back wheel of the bike and her foot kicking up the loose dirt of the BMX track behind her before coasting to a stop in front of the blonde. Roanna took off the helmet, shaking her hair a bit with her free hand and gave Stephanie a smile.

“Because I’ve been cooped up in your house for too long and I was driving you crazy with my horrible singing.” Roanna reminded her, and Stephanie couldn’t help but to return the bright smile.

“You’re still a moron. I swear…if your leg gets worse from this then I’m going to tie you to the bed so you can’t ever get free again.” Stephanie said pulling on her own helmet.

“Oh Steph, don’t make promises if you can’t keep them.” Roanna replied putting her own helmet back on.

“C’mon, we’ve still got ten minutes before the track closes for the night; let’s make the most of it.” Roanna kicked up her foot and placed it back onto the pedal. Stephanie followed suit and the two were off, racing the track together in hopes that one could out-maneuver the other.
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The sun had long been down before Roanna and Stephanie started heading back to Stephanie’s house, both walking their bikes through the busy streets of Killbride, illuminated brightly by street lamps, building signs and the headlights of passing cars. The two made casual small talk as they wound themselves off of the main streets and down some more residential areas before hitting a small part of town that only had an occasional car pass by and street lamps with the flickering light bulb every fifty feet.

“And you’re sure your leg is doing okay?” Stephanie asked her friend, pushing the bike up onto the sidewalk as they had just crossed the street.
“I’m fine Steph, promise. Does it hurt? Of course, but it’s just a reminder to me that I’m still even [i]alive[/i]. I couldn’t be happier.”

“And I’m sure those pain killers haven’t contributed to this new-found happiness?” Stephanie teased, and Roanna smirked. But before she could come up with a remark, gunshots were suddenly fired and the sound of crunching and grinding metal echoed throughout the nearly empty street.

“Shit!” Stephanie cried out, more scared of the abrupt noise than anything else. Roanna, however, narrowed her eyes in the direction in which the sounds came from, and Stephanie passed her a look.

“I swear to God Roanna…if you’re even [i]thinking[/i] about what I think you’re thinking about…[/i]”

“Swear to God one more time Steph and I will personally put you in a church!” Roanna snapped at her friend. “You know I can’t just walk away…” Roanna then jumped up onto the bike, throwing down the visor of the helmet she had been wearing and began to pedal hard to the source of the noise.
“God dammit Roanna!” Stephanie hissed and jumped on her own bike, following close behind.

Roanna pulled her bike to a stop suddenly as an ATM machine flew out into the open area right in front of her. Thankfully, shielded by a brick wall, whoever it was that was causing a disturbance hadn’t yet seen her. She looked behind her and quickly motioned for Stephanie to stop before peeking around the corner to see a small group of men moving around into the bank. She wasn’t able to get any specifics, so it was unknown if this was gang-related or something more sinister, but a crime was a crime, and Roanna was aiming to stop it.

“Call the cops and then get out of here. I’ll meet you back by the canal once I’ve taken care of these guys.” Roanna instructed to her friend.
“No!” Stephanie said narrowing her eyes. “You moron! You’re hurt! They will kill you! Call the cops with me, then they can do their own damn job, let one of them risk their lives for the city for once.”

Roanna just sighed and shook her head. How many times have they had this conversation?

“Steph, I’m not going to sit here and argue with you. Either call the cops and leave, or just get the hell out of here. Either way, I’m not leaving.” She said stubbornly and dismounted her bike. It took a great deal of willpower to put her full weight on her legs without making a sound of discomfort. The leg brace she had been using was back at Stephanie’s place, and she couldn’t exactly just walk around putting half of her weight on the bike while walking it either. No, she had to toughen up and do this just as she would have done this any other day.

The situation was all too perfect as well. Garbed in Stephanie’s brother’s old BMX outfit and helmet, no one would be able to identify her even as a female, let alone Roanna Sanne. No, this wasn’t an opportunity she was about to pass up. Without so much as even waiting for Stephanie’s response, Roanna slipped around the corner to apprehend the thugs. How hard could fighting off a couple of street criminals be anyway?