Outside there are birds chirping. Sunlight shines through the crack in the curtain and onto the floor. Jake groans and chucks his pillow at the window, waking Dave up. He hits Jake with his pillow. Jake sits up, his hair a complete mess. The clock says 8:32, meaning the alarm went off. Tavros must have turned it off before it woke them up. He wasn't in bed. Jake rubs his eyes. Tavros only had one guest room, and the guys agreed Jade should get it. Tavros insisted the boys share his bed, but they outright refused and said the floor would be just fine. They wouldn't let him argue any further, and went to sleep. Jake stood up and yawned. He was wearing a white muscle shirt and a pair of green boxers. Dirk was too tired to change and fell asleep in what he was wearing, even though it was soaked.
Jake: Dude, get up.
He kicks Dave in the side.
Dave: No way.
Jake: Come on!
Dave: No!
He pulls his blanket over his head. Jake considers splashing water on him, but that would require work. He goes to take a shower. After putting on a clean outfit he makes his way downstairs to find Jade sitting at the table reading the newspaper and drinking coffee.
Jake: Morning, sleepyhead!
Jade: I should say the same thing! I've been up for two hours now.
Jake: Where's Tavros?
Jade: He had to go to work. Said you guys could help yourself to anything for breakfast.
He heads over to the fridge and examines it's contents.
Jake: That was sure nice of him. Luckily I'm not very hungry. You already eat?
Jade: Yep.
Jake: Awesome. Dave come down yet?
Jade: Nope.
Jake: Of course.
He takes out a small carton of orange juice and chugs it. He grabs a couple granola bars and sits next to Jade.
Jake: Hear anything about the meeting?
Jade: Yeah, it ended at like 2:00 this morning. They put the leader of that clown gang on the wanted list.
Jake: Good.
Jade: Yeah. Also, anyone suspected of being in the gang is subject to questioning.
Jake: Is that it?
Jade: Yeah.
Jake: It took them that long just to do that?
Jade: The council is made up of five very different people, Jake. They argue a lot.
Jake: Clearly. Should we go see Kanaya?
Jade: I was planning on it.
Jake: Great. I'll wake up Dave.
After dragging Dave out of his blanket and forcing him to get in the shower, Jake cleans up the room and packs both of their things back in their bags. He brings everything downstairs to find that Jade had already cleaned up the kitchen. Dave comes down in a white t-shirt and black pants.
Jade: You look casual today.
Dave: I don't feel like dressing up.
Jade: That's fine, there's nothing to dress up for.
Jake empties his pocket and places what he assumes the price of their breakfast was on the counter. That was all he had on him, but hey, Dave was rich.
Jade: Hehe, I was about to do the same thing.
Jake smiles. They all make their way outside and head back toward town hall. They can hear the crowd before they get there. A policeman is addressing a huge crowd of concerned citizens in the plaza. Jade sends Bec away before he gets too riled up. Bec always comes back, at the right times. Jake sometimes wonders if he ever really leaves, or if he just follows them around unseen. He's given up trying to figure out that dog.
Dave: Something important must be going down.
Jade: Maybe he's just announcing the results of the meeting from last night.
Dave: Wait, is that...?
Tavros was the one giving the speech.
Jake: Oh awesome!
Tavros sees them in the crowd and waves them up. Dave starts to head up but Jake hesitates. Jade shoves him and he joins Dave on the steps.
Tavros: I know all of you are very concerned, and you have the right to be. Luckily for us, we have help! Yesterday Prince Dave and Avatar Jake arrived to help us with this very problem!
He invites the boys to talk into the microphone. Jake fumbles for words, but Dave is used to this. He steps up to the podium.
Dave: My brother sent us here to investigate the problem of this gang, and the situation is worse than we thought. We're here to help you any way we can.
The crowd cheers, and Jake spots Vriska clapping. He smiles.
?: Sorry to cut this celebration short...
The voice cuts through the crowd and everyone quiets down.
?: But I'm afraid we're going to have a problem.
It's coming from a boy in a black shirt and black and blue striped pants. His shirt has a purple wavy symbol on it. He's wearing a black and blue striped scarf and has a purple streak in his hair. His eyes are hidden by large dark sunglasses. He's smirking.
Dave: Eridan.
Eridan: You don't seem happy to see me, sir.
He speaks with a funny accent.
Dave: What do you want?
Eridan: This little party needs to be crashed.
Various people in hoods throughout the crowd throw down smoke bombs, causing the crowd to panic and run. Dave and Jake get back to back and get ready to fight, but soon smoke fills the air and they're blinded, and can barely breath without coughing.
Jake: Where's Jade?
Dave: Do I look like I know?
Dave coughs and Jake's eyes water. He runs in the general direction he remembered Jade being but gets knocked over by terrified citizens trying to get out of the smoke. He sits there for a few minutes trying to gather his bearings. From somewhere in the middle of the plaza, a huge gust of wind blows outward and clears the area. Jake looks around in a frenzy, seeing a tall woman dressed in white robes who must have been responsible for that.
He sees a group of armored cars loading someone into the back, barely making her out as his cousin. He stands and starts to run toward them. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see the woman in white robes knock two of the hooded goons out of the way and is running toward the podium. He can see them throw some sort of bomb at her to slow her down, then they pick someone up off the ground. Dave. They chuck him in the back the truck and drive off.
Jake: Shit shit shit shit shit!
He looks around frantically. He needs something fast enough to catch up to them. He catches sight of a police motorcycle.
Jake: Driving can't be too hard, right?...
He runs over and jumps onto the bike. Lucky for him the keys are in the ignition. He spots Tavros kneeling over the lady in white robes, who was knocked out by the bombs. They lock eyes.
Jake: I need to borrow this!
Tavros: Wait, do you even know how to-
Jake turns the key and the engine hums to life. He smiles. He finds the gas pedal and slams it down, sending the bike screaming down the road. He immediately starts to chase after the truck. The goons run every red light, almost crashing three times, and he chases them every step of the way. One of the men in the truck climbs out the passenger door and steadies himself on the top of the car. He starts sending bolts of fire toward Jake, causing him to almost swerve off the road.
Jake: Watch it!
He lets go of the handlebars to shoot some fire back, but almost loses control of the bike in the process. He decides not to fight back at the risk of crashing, but refused to give up. Suddenly the man is knocked off the roof of the car by a gust of wind. Jake looks up to find a girl in an air bender outfit chasing after the truck with her glider. He laughs a little.
He pulls up to the side of the truck with the intent to jump on it, but the driver rolls down his window and shoots a bolt of flame at his head. He barely ducks in time. Another goon climbs out the passenger window and stands on the window frame, gripping the top of the roof hard. The girl tries to knock him off but fails. He shoots a bolt of lightning directly at her and it barely misses, but puts a hole in her glider. She starts to fall.
Jake: Fuck!
Without think he turns down a side road to catch her, and puts her behind him on the bike without stopping.
Jake: Hiya!
?: What the hell?!
Jake: Hold on tight!
She grabs him around his stomach and holds on tight, while still freaking out. He takes another turn and gets back onto the road the truck was on, and can see it maybe a mile ahead.
Jake: I sure hope we can catch up!
?: This is so reckless! Do you even know how to drive?
Jake: No!
?: WHAT?!
Jake: Oh come on, this is an emergency!
He guns it and starts to severely close the gap between them. The back door of the truck opens and he can see his friends tied up. Jade has a gash on her head and is clearly knocked out, but Dave is struggling to get free. A goon pours a bucket of water on the road and freezes it, and both Jake and the girl start to panic. Jake swerves back and forth and loses control of the motorcycle completely. They go flying off the road and hit a ditch, throwing both of them flying. Jake hits the ground and loses consciousness. The truck pulls over and screeches to a stop. The driver and the water bender get out and make their way over to the kids. The girl sits up wearily and shakes her head.
Goon: Don't fight back, girly, or this is going to get a lot more complicated.
One of them takes out a rope. The girl starts to freak out. She looks over to Jake but he's not waking up anytime soon. Just as the guy with the rope is about to reach her, Bec jumps in front of her and starts to bark loudly. The combination of the surprise and the noise sends both the goons back to their car screaming like girls, but they drive away before Bec can stop them. He turns to the girl and growls. She looks ready to pee her pants. He stares her down for a moment, then walks up to her and licks her. She laughs nervously and scratches him behind the ears.
That evening she flops down on the couch. With her glider broken, she was forced to walk back to the docks. The dog carried the boy on his back with her the whole way. Luckily for them the ferry to Air Temple Island was still running. She took him to her room and cleaned a couple cuts on his arm and head and wrapped them in bandages, then left him on her bed. The dog fell asleep outside. She sat there thinking for a while, but to no avail. She was still confused as fuck. She grabbed her laptop from the kitchen counter.
- gutsyGumshoe [GG] began bothering tipsyGnostalgic [TG] -
GG: Roxy!
GG: Please pick up!
GG: I'm freaking out here!
TG: oh god
TG: you fnally did someting wrong, didnt you?
TG: *finaly
GG: No!
GG: At least, I don't think so...
GG: I'm so confused!
TG: okay darlign
TG: whats going on
GG: There is currently a boy passed out on my bed.
TG: oh my
TG: you did it, dindt you?
TG: finalyl!
TG: so pproud of you
TG: *ddnt
TG: *you
GG: NO!
GG: No no no!
GG: It's nothing like that, I swear!
TG: suuuuuure
GG: Shut up!
GG: This is serious!
GG: Serious enough that I messaged you with the full knowledge that you would be drunk at this hour!
TG: corection
TG: drinking
TG: grammar jane
GG: Please just take this seriously!
GG: I am strongly considering talking to someone else!
TG: nooooo!
TG: im the one to help you with all you porblems!
TG: especialy
TG: boy problems :3
TG: *especally
GG: ...
TG: sorry
TG: why is this boy passed out in your room
GG: We were in a motorcycle crash.
TG: you rode a motrcycle?!
TG: so proud of you rigt now
TG: *prod
GG: Again!
GG: This is not what you think!
TG: nah i tots get it
TG: you met some guy ard rode a motorcycl with him
TG: see?
TG: understanding cenrtal over here
TG: *central
GG: Just listen!
GG: I was out patrolling the city and I saw this commotion in front of town hall.
GG: Some guys were kidnapping people! I couldn't just let it happen. So I followed them with the complete intent to see where they were going and report it to the police.
TG: janey
TG: dont lie to me now
TG: you waned to stop them
GG: ...
GG: Okay yes.
GG: Yes I did.
TG: k so you went to stop some baddies
TG: go on
GG: So I'm following them, but then this kid on a policeman's motorcycle (That I'm positive he stole!) shows up and starts chasing them like a maniac!
GG: He's swerving all over the road, and I was starting to think he was as drunk as you get sometimes.
TG: hey
TG: i do not driv when i drink
TG: *dirve
GG: That's because there are no cars in the North Pole.
TG: your geting off topic
GG: Right! So one of the guys in the car shoots lightning at me and cuts a hole through my glider!
TG: oh nooo
GG: I fell, but that kid caught me!
GG: Hence me riding the motorcycle!
GG: But he wasn't drunk.
GG: He simply did not know how to drive.
GG: At all.
TG: oh god
GG: Then we crashed and this demon dog, which I presume is his, jumped out and saved us from getting kidnapped!
GG: Then I walked home. It took 5 hours.
TG: daaaaamn girl
TG: long day
GG: I'm so tired.
TG: you sohuld get some sleep
TG: *shuld
GG: No!
GG: I need help!
GG: What the hell do I do with him?!
TG: idk
GG: Roxy!
TG: maybee
TG: you shoud
TG: call your cousin
TG: *cousn
GG: Maybe...
GG: It figures all of this happens while I'm home alone.
TG: youve got some bad luck
GG: I really do.
TG: wait
TG: you were in the crash too rihgt?
GG: Yes.
TG: did you get hurt?!
GG: Oh.
GG: Umm.
GG: A little.
GG: I didn't even notice until now.
TG: hwo did you not notce?
TG: *notice
GG: I've just been trying to piece this together.
TG: wel what hurts?
GG: Well...
GG: One sec.
GG: I have a gash on my leg.
TG: janey!
GG: It's not bad.
TG: yus it is!
GG: I should probably go clean it up though...
GG: I think it's been bleeding the whole time.
GG: I should probably clean off the couch before someone comes back and freaks out.
TG: i wishi was there!
TG: id heal you up so fasst
TG: and youd be all leik
TG: thanks roxy! ur the best!
TG: and id be all like yeah i am
GG: Hoo hoo. :B
GG: You are the best.
GG: Whether or not you're here to heal my leg.
TG: yussss
TG: i am
TG: 4eva
GG: You actually put up with me long enough for me to share this story.
TG: i care for youre welll being
TG: *well
GG: Thanks.
GG: I think I'm going to go to sleep.
TG: updare me tomorows!
GG: Will do!
GG: Good night!
- gutsyGumshoe [GG] ceased bothering tipsyGnostalgic [TG] -
Jane feels like she was going to do something, but it's slipped her mind. She's too tired anyway. She grabs a blanket and falls asleep on the couch.