I feel like an awful person. I didn't update yesterday. I actually may be having some problems updating daily until Thursday or so. Once again, I've got a theatre production coming up and my director hates my guts, so she tries her damndest to make life difficult for me. I hate to say it, but she's doing a good job. The woman tried to make me change my costume two days before the performance. That's why I missed the update: I was forced to go out shopping for something that might work last-minute. Like she couldn't have told me that my costume didn't work when I first wore it out a week ago? Hmmph. Bitch.

DISCLAIMER: I'm too pissed to put a witty disclaimer here, but if you really still need one every chapter to tell you that I don't own GX, then go ahead; sue me. I'm going to have fun persecuting your ass.

"NO, please, please, it's just me! I don't want to be pushed over a cliff!" yelped Misawa.

Ryo relaxed a little. "Hmmph. I'm a little disappointed."

There were some exchanged glances. Perhaps Ryo had a little bit of a sadist lurking deep within?

"Don't let your hopes fall. We ran here because we thought we heard someone running by us. We think it might've been the kidnapper," Asuka said. Ryo brightened.

"So, he's trying to make a getaway, hmm? So we can head him off at the docks." The teenager's normal, small smirk became a cruel and feral grin. "Great. Now, after we beat him up, we can half-drown him, too." Kenzan grinned at that.

"But, Ryo," Johan said, "we should be more worried about getting Judai back to Duel Academy. He should be looked after in the state he's in."

Ryo raised an eyebrow. "You don't want revenge on someone who touched your boyfriend without permission?" The others had similar incredulous faces.

"Of course I do. It's just that, as long as I have to hold Judai up, I can't hit him half as hard as I would like to," he responded cheerily.

Judai shot the emerald-eyed boy an I'll-get-you-later look.

"But didn't Jim and O'Brien ask that we leave some fun for them?" asked Sho, starting to feel a little sorry for the third kidnapper.

Ryo's grin widened. "First come, first served."

"I concur," Misawa said.

"Now, what's this all about, mates? Thinkin' a leavin' your favourite people be'ind?" Jim said, emerging from around a clump of trees, followed by the rest of his group.

"Jim!"

"O'Brien!"

"JUDAI-SAMA!" Rei promptly attempted to launch herself at her idol. She was warded off by Sho's rapid-fire gesticulating in front of her target. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"He's injured himself! His ankle is hurt, and if you land on him wrong, it would only serve to make it hurt worse!" Sho explained, alarmed. Rei made him terribly nervous. Actually, everyone on the planet tended to make him nervous, but Rei induced the feeling on a pronounced level.

"Oh, no! Judai-sama, I will destroy the one who did this with my bare fists, I swear on my mother's grave!"

"But your mother is still alive."

"That is beside the point!"

"Anyway, no one did anything to me. I tripped and fell wrong like an idiot. It's okay, really," Judai said, sweatdropping.

"But we ARE going after him, right?" asked O'Brien.

"Of course. We have determined that he's heading for the docks to escape," Ryo said.

"Then what a' we waiting fo'?"

"We were considering taking Judai to the school before engaging in our manhunt."

"Actually," said Judai, clearing his throat, "I would like to watch, if it's okay with all of you." All heads turned to stare at him. The more violence-inclined of the group smiled indulgently.

"Why, of course you can!" they chorused.

"Lovely," Judai said, looking for all the world like a kid in a candy store.

Ryo had been right. The third kidnapper was heading for the docks in an attempt to make a quick getaway. He had seen what had become of his fellows and had decided that Judai's friends (for of course, there was no way that little helpless Judai had done something this utterly terrifying in results) were by no means people to be trifled with any longer. As soon as he was home, he was going to quit his job by any means necessary. And, in his line of work, quitting one's job could be quite painful.

He was unwrapping the rope ties around one of the docking hooks in a regular speedboat that had been floating innocently by the docks when the sounds of crunching grass behind him alerted him of the presence of others. The Man turned around, shaking.

Sure enough, there stood ten people. Seven of them he did not recognize. There was the girl that they had pretended to kidnap first… then Judai, with what appeared to be a bum leg… and then there was the one supporting the brunette. Johan Andersen. The one he had been ordered to take in the first place. The Man's superiors had sanctioned any actions necessary to take the Andersen boy with as little trouble as was possible. Things had become quite troublesome, indeed. The Man wondered if it would still be in his best interests to go after the blunette now, when he was surrounded by friends, each with a clear murderous intent. Of course, all of this thinking had to be done quickly, considering that some of the children were advancing. There was a tall boy with long dark blue hair who looked like he would like nothing more than to shove The Man's head into a meat grinder. Then there was a dark boy with dreds and a really big gun. Then there was another tall boy, no, more of a man, with one eye bandaged up, a full Aussie outfit, and a large crocodile strapped to his back like others wore a backpack for school. Lastly, there was a boy who wore a strange bandana with teeth. This one's eyes were rapidly turning to rather frightening slits that were decidedly reminiscent of a reptile's. And… the Andersen boy was passing Judai to the women. He was… smiling. No one smiled when they were that angry, unless they were insane.

And, in many ways, he was.

There were five bloodthirsty people advancing on The Man. He was not happy with this arrangement. Not in the least.

"G'day, mate. Thought you might like some comp'ny, what with it bein' so nice out," Jim said.

"It's very hot out, though," commented O'Brien, cocking his gun. "Perhaps it would be best to air yourself out first." He raised his eyebrows up and down to indicate his version of 'airing out' a human being.

"Or, instead, it could be that a nice little swim is needed to cool off these days," Ryo added brightly. The Man glanced behind him, looking at the brackish water that slapped against the poles of the dock. The dock had been placed specifically in regards to the steepness of the shelf here: it made docking much easier, but at the same time indicated the terrible undertow the water possessed. Going for a little swim often meant never coming up again in these waters.

Kenzan just smiled. It was all the threat he needed.

Johan simply stood there with a pleasant look on his face, looking indulgently at The Man. "You took something of mine without asking. I was going to ask if I could have it back, but it seems it found its way back to me regardless. And it seems that I've borrowed something for you, too. Seeing as I have what is mine back, you can have what is yours back." And with that, the boy kicked. Hard. Right in the place where no one should be kicked. But that wasn't the extent of it. The leg continued on its course, moving up steadily until it connected with The Man's jaw. He went flying, crying like a babe. But there was no way that any of the boys would let him fall into the waters so easily. His torture was far from over.

He had truly been beaten to within an inch of his life. Then Ryo, Jim, and O'Brien had taken him away to some place, expressly forbidding any of the others to come along. No one wanted to come along, a bit afraid of whatever the older boys had in mind. Knowing them, they were probably going to give him a taste of prison before he even got there.

Currently, Judai was getting fitted for a cast. His foot had, indeed, been broken, and quite badly at that. He had been quite cheerful and upbeat for one so badly injured throughout the entire thing.

Everyone was sitting in the waiting room, markers in hand.

Judai pushed himself out of the doorway, waving his goodbyes to the nurse. He used his new crutches to get himself over to the not-so-silent congregation before they jumped him.

"Let me sign him!"

"I wanna sign first!"

"Let me!"

"Can I doodle on your ankle?"

"Well, if you're going to get the ankle, then I get the heel!"

"Guys, how about you try asking Judai first? I mean, it's his cast, after all."

"But that's what I did!"

Judai chuckled. His friends were nuts. But then, he knew that. He'd have to treat them to lunch later, after they'd finished raping his cast with sharpie and various dry-erase markers.

Johan was the only one not partaking in the signing of the cast. He was the one sitting next to Judai quietly, just to be touching him. It was this very sort of relationship that reminded Judai of an old married couple's behaviour. He would never voice such a thought out loud, though.

"Guys, guys!" Asuka bellowed as best she could.

"Hmm?" Heads turned to face her.

"Has everyone finished signing slash doodling?"

"Yes, ma'am," they chorused like good little children on a field trip listening to their counselor.

"Okay! In that case, let's give Judai some alone time with his boy, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am." And with that, they trotted out, a few smirks tossed back at the boys still in the room. Judai was sure that he's scene Jim mouth something obscene, but then decided that he didn't care.

When they were all gone, he swung over to the door to lock it.

"Hmm? Why'd you do that?" asked Johan.

"I need to ask you some things, and I'd prefer it if no one just, y'know, waltzed right in."

"Okay."

Judai took a deep breath. "Johan, why did they want you?"

Johan looked a little surprised at the question. "Well, uh, I don't know! There are plenty of people who wouldn't mind relieving me of my Crystal Beast deck-"

"That's not it, though," Judai said softly. "If they wanted your deck and that was all there was to it, then they wouldn't need you in the demands, just your deck. What's the real reason? You can tell me, seriously."

Johan swallowed and was silent for a while.

"Judai… have you ever put any thought into why I transferred to a place so far from home?"

"Maybe a little, but it never concerned me enough to think seriously about it," he said.

"Okay. And did you ever wonder why they said I was from Europe and gave no specific country name?"

"Nope, never that one."

Johan nodded, still looking troubled. "Okay. Um, this is kind of hard to just come out and say. I'm from Italy in particular. Italy has a very rich history, one of the most famous organizations having been begun there. This organization is called the Mafia, or to those more familiar with it, the Cosa Nostra."

"Johan," Judai said warningly.

"Yeah," he muttered weakly. "My Mom heads a Mafia family."

Silence reigned for several long minutes.

"Could you be hurt for telling me this?"

"You would've found out anyway, but let's pretend like you went through my stuff and found evidence and confronted me about it, okay? We do have a policy, the omerta, or vow of silence, but I guess that that can be glossed over in this instance. Just don't tell anyone, under pain of death, please. I'm serious."

Judai nodded, swallowing. "So… the kidnappers…"

"Were after me so that they could ransom me to mother, most likely."

"I was going to ask, but why does your Mom head it? Doesn't the Father usually take care of stuff like this?"

"Yeah, but he was killed a while ago, by the same group that attacked us."

"… I'm sorry."

"Don't be; from what I recall of him, he wasn't that good of a person. But anyway, my Mom, once he was dead, just grabbed control and reigned in all of the loose cannons. She was so good at it and so commanding that no one questioned her rise to power. She's very persuasive."

Judai chuckled at that. "So that's where you get it from," he grinned.

Johan smacked him lightly upside the head. "Still, I don't think that we'll be hearing from that Family again. They are likely to think long and hard about the loss of some of their best men. Though I do wonder why they weren't given guns for this mission. Even if they'd had guns, I'm not sure that they'd be able to withstand all of us."

Judai smiled. "And so we know we're safe. That's a relief."

"Yeah."

"And since the door is locked already…"

"Ah! Judai, ah, um…"

"What?"

"Um, please not- there! Oh, dear sweet- EEP!"

"Haha! You're ticklish."

"I – I know! Please st-stop…"

"But whyyyyyy?"

"Umm, well, because – oof!"

"C'mon, c'mon, pleeeaaase?"

"But I – y'know what? Screw it. Get down here."

"YEEP!"

I always wanted to write the beginning of… things… as just the dialogue. Now I've been given the opportunity.

I'm very happy with Johan's backstory.

After this, I'll be writing the omake chapters – basically, everything that was asked after or commented on in a bunch of reviews. So basically, it'll be Slut!Judai and The Death of Kidnapper Number Three.

If you can think up torture methods that the boys would be liable to use on Mr. Third then PLEASE, tell me. I'm still not sure what all they should do to him.

Any other ideas are much appreciated.

Now, review!!