It had been almost 6 months, almost half a year since the GGs had last seen Butterfly and Sparrow. As things were going now for the GGs, it was if nothing had happened. Everyone was back, but Beat, Yoyo, Gum, Rhyth, or Corn hadn't spilled anything about the happenings that went on when they were gone (and besides, I'm sure they wouldn't believe that they had to deal with another robot clone from Rokkaku. Okay, it wasn't robot, but still).
So now they just did what Rudies naturally did: skate, spray, cause havoc, and hang out. And it was no different with Beat, Rhyth, and Yoyo as they hung out in Dogenzaka Hill.
"So, then this police guy tries to sneak up on me, and then I do a quick 180 and totally kick him in the crotch, and then-" Yoyo trailed on with his story.
"You mean the one that grabbed you first?" Beat raised an eyebrow.
"It's close enough." Yoyo rolled his eyes and Rhyth let out a small giggle.
"By the way," Rhyth said suddenly, "remember that thing with Butterfly and Sparrow?"
"Don't remind me." Beat sighed.
"But remember how the police were barely active for a couple months after they had left? Isn't that kind of. . .weird?"
"I don't really remember much from six months ago, so I wouldn't really know." Yoyo shrugged.
"Still, I wonder if-" Rhyth stopped short with both her speech and her skating when she spotted something.
"What is it Rhyth?" Yoyo asked.
"Corn alert." Rhyth pointed to one of the tables outside a café, where Corn was sitting with a girl.
"Hey, isn't that Butterfly?" Beat asked.
"Looks like it." Yoyo replied.
"Can you guys be quiet? I'm trying to listen to what they're saying." Rhyth gave a slight glare to the two Rudies.
"Eavesdropping?" Beat raised an eyebrow.
"It's not eavesdropping." Rhyth stuck out her tongue at Beat, "Its getting information indirectly without the person even knowing."
"A.k.a. eavesdropping."
"Whatever." Rhyth rolled her eyes and peered at them from behind a wall.
"-happened after you guys left?" Rhyth as able to catch the last part of Corn's sentence.
"Well, we just kind of did normal Rudie stuff. Fighting over turf, dodging the police." Butterfly rubbed her forehead as she talked with her right hand, "But after a while, it just got boring, so I just quit. I wanted to start a normal life, able to take care of Sparrow without having to dodge the bullets and all that crap. But-"
"You can never escape the police once they have their sights set on you." Corn finished for her.
"Yeah," Butterfly sighed, "Just one day, out of the blue, Sparrow was gone. No word of him anywhere, so I already assumed the worse."
"Couldn't he have just left or something? We all know he's a bit wrong in the head."
"He left his skates. Sparrow never leaves his skates when he goes out somewhere. He may not be that great in the head, but he still has the spirit of a Rudie." Butterfly shook her head, "It probably would have been a lot safer just staying a Rudie."
"Any reason why they might have taken Sparrow?"
"Any reason they wouldn't of?" Butterfly rolled her eyes, "Well, for starters, he's a Rudie, of course they would pounce on him the first chance they get, since they all know he's a bit wrong in the head. And, they think he knows too much."
"What do you mean 'he knows too much'?" Corn raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I never really planned on telling you, but. . ." Butterfly took a breath, "I. . .I used to work for the Rokkaku Police. . ."
"Then there's no reason I should trust you, is there?"
"No, there isn't. I was stupid back then. Thinking that the Rokkaku Police would make me look like a glorified person. All it did was get my hands stained red and got my dry cleaning bill to skyrocket." Butterfly let out a small giggle, "It was awful there. I had ruined so many kids' futures working there, but then I saw Sparrow. His parents had actually sold him to the Rokkaku police because they didn't know what to do with him. I couldn't take what they did to the poor kid, so I escaped with him and became a Rudie."
"I doubt they were very pleased with that." Corn gave a small smile.
"Oh hell no, especially after they saw what I did with my armband. I duct-taped it on their police station and sprayed 'This is what a modern Nazi symbol looks like' around it. Their faces were priceless." Butterfly grinned.
"So. . .why did you come to me for help?"
"Well. . ." Butterfly sighed, "I'm not stupid like Crow was. If Crow was still alive, he probably would have just charged right in and got his ass thrown in jail, then I'd have to save them both."
"And does your arm have anything to do with this?" Corn asked suddenly.
"Hmm?" Butterfly raised an eyebrow.
"When I met you at the Shibuya Station, you tripped a little, but used the hand carrying your bag to grab on to something to keep from falling. Normally someone would use their free hand to catch themselves."
"How do you know?"
"I've seen people almost fall carrying stuff plenty of times." Corn smiled.
"That was kind of sudden you know. . ." Butterfly sighed.
"I need to know if you'll be a liability to my gang." He said flatly, "We're the most famous gang in Tokyo-to among Rudies, which means we have plenty of enemies, which means my members need to not be dragged down."
"It's not going to drag me down, trust me." Butterfly looked away.
"Haven't we already gone over the 'trust' thing?"
Butterfly sighed again, "Okay, you cornered me there. But. . .you have to promise not to tell anyone in the gang if you do let me in. I don't like being treated like a cripple."
"Promise." Corn nodded.
"I. . .I lost use in my left arm from an accident. Well, not really an accident, since I doubt the guys 'accidentally' shot me. I can still skate almost perfectly normal, and I'm right handed so the spraying's still normal, but," Butterfly rubbed her forehead again, "It's frustrating, suddenly not being able to use something you've used all your life."
"I still thing it's going to drag down my gang."
"If I really was going to drag down your gang, I would have been caught by now." Butterfly sighed, "I'm not stupid and I have plans for pretty much every situation."
"Including clones?"
"Well, I got one after the incident 6 months ago." Butterfly rolled her eyes, "Trust me, I won't drag you guys down, which reminds me," She sighed, "You three, you guys aren't very good at eavesdropping."
"We weren't eavesdropping," Rhyth pouted, coming out from behind the wall, "We were simply getting the information indirectly without you guys knowing."
"Well, as I said before, you aren't very good at it." Butterfly smiled.
"How long have you three been there?" Corn raised an eyebrow.
"About when you asked her what happened after they left." Yoyo shrugged.
"So you heard pretty much everything." Corn sighed and turned back to Butterfly, "I already know your skills, so I don't really need a test of them. And Rhyth's probably going to annoy me for eternity if I don't let you in, so I'll let you stay temporarily." Corn nodded.
"Thanks so much." Butterfly smiled, then cringed a little and held her head, "Sorry, I've been getting killer headaches lately."
"I'm sure we have plenty of painkillers back at the Garage from all of the accidents we get into." Yoyo smiled.
"By 'we' he means 'him'." Beat grinned.
"Maybe I mean you." Yoyo stuck out his tongue at Beat, and all 4 of them skated back to the Garage.
"So, she's the last one left?" A girl with dark purple hair asked a guy with red hair and multi-colored streak as they watched the group skate away up from the rooftops.
"We already got the guy." He shrugged, "So yeah. Though I don't think we should have waited. . ."
"Why not? Now it's just gotten a crap load more interesting." The girl smirked, "I mean, how many gangs can say they went against the GGs themselves."
"How many of those games still exist?" The guy raised an eyebrow.
"Details." The girl rolled her eyes, "But. . .think of what they promised us. . ." She gave a meek smile.
"I'm not sure they'll actually go through the promise, but it's worth a shot." He sighed.
"I guess we'll have to start planning then." She giggled and skated away.