This chapter is a little short...but, it's significant, because it's the first chapter with such a long-running scene in it. Also, this chapter is pretty much all about Clutch, so, that's a little different, too.

Keep in mind that I suck at writing action scenes. I'm a romance writer, kthnx. Haha. Enjoy this.

Chapter Ten

"Cube? Are you alright?"

"Huh?"

Cube blinks over at Jazz. Jazz is staring at her, a worried expression on her face, her head cocked slightly to the side. Cube shakes her head to clear it.

"Yeah…I'm alright. It's just…been ages, since I came down here…" she says softly. She and Jazz look across the gap, to where the pipe maze begins, and Jazz nods.

"It must feel a little weird…" she says sympathetically, and Cube sighs.

"…I'm not the same person anymore," she grunts. "I've changed a lot since my days as the boss down here…"

"…If…you want to go back, that's fine," Jazz murmurs, giving Cube a concerned look. "…We're most likely going to run into Poison Jam, going down here…I don't want you to freak out or anything."

"It's not like that. I can handle it," Cube says, smiling. "I'm mostly worried about those guys…they adored me, you know. I was like their queen."

"Well…I believe you. Just saying, though…Clutch is really my problem. I should be the only one chasing him down here…"

Cube laughs. "That's cute," she snickers, putting on a burst of sudden motion and grinding the steel rail out into the gap, jumping across expertly and landing on the opposite rail. She rides it to the other side and skids to a halt as Jazz follows after her, baffled.

"What's cute?" she demands.

"The fact that you call him your problem," Cube replies, grinning. "I thought you two were—"

"No," Jazz cuts her off, and Cube blinks at her, one eyebrow cocked.

"…Alright. If you say so." She shrugs and starts skating slowly down into the sewers. "…I don't blame you, then. I mean, I wouldn't want to be with him. He's good for nothing. A quick fuck, maybe, if I didn't have Dante…and if I was drunk…and if Yoyo wasn't interested, first—" Jazz glances at Cube, who is smiling slyly, "—but…nothing useful. He doesn't really seem like boyfriend material."

"He's not," Jazz says, and Cube hears a hint of sadness in her voice, but says nothing about it. Jazz looks at her again, obviously intent on changing the subject. "…What did you mean, 'if Yoyo wasn't interested'…? Do you like him?!"

"He's cute," Cube says airily. "Stupid…and young…but cute. And I'll bet he's a virgin. He'd be like putty in my hands…"

"You'd fuck him?" Jazz asks, bewildered. Cube snickers.

"Maybe…"

Jazz gawks at her, obviously having a hard time picturing Cube and Yoyo together. Then she smiles, giggling under her breath. "…He is cute. Have you seen the way he looks at Rhyth?"

"Yeah, I know…he's like a helpless puppy around her," Cube says. "Rhyth doesn't want any of it, though. I've talked to her about it. She says he's a baby, and she's not interested in that kind of a relationship, or some shit like that."

"That's sad," Jazz murmurs. They speed over the twisted pipes of the inner sewer as quickly as they can, grinding a half-pipe next and rolling over an elevated metal grating. "…You know…I think that Yoyo's the only one out of all of us…who's never been in a relationship."

"Well, you don't know that," Cube replies, glancing at her. "I mean…what about Soda? Does anyone really know?"

Jazz looks thoughtful. "…I think he has."

"…Really?! With who?" Cube asks, and she tries not to think of the conversation she overheard earlier. Jazz shrugs, smiling.

"I don't know. Lots of girls like the strong, silent type, you know?" she says quietly. "Anyway…I think he's a sweet person. I've never talked to him, personally, but…I don't know. I've seen how much Corn cares about him, and I don't think he'd care that much if Soda wasn't a really great guy. Just because he and Gum don't get along…I don't think that really says much at all about what kind of a person he is. Gum can be a real bitch, sometimes, and anyway, she dumped his best friend flat on his face. I don't blame him for not liking her."

Cube's face breaks into another crafty grin. "Ahhh…do you have a little crush, Jazz…?"

Jazz smirks and shakes her head. "I'm not in love with every single redhead, Cube."

Cube starts laughing again, but she's quickly cut off when the two of them coast into a very familiar room. It's empty, but the lighting is even more eerie in the silence, the great gorgon's head gaping out at them from the left-hand wall. Cube feels a chill race down her spine, and Jazz purses her lips into a thin line of concern. They should have found Clutch by now…

"Jazz?! CUBE?! WHAT THE—?!"

Both girls whirl around at the sound of their own names, startled into momentary paralysis at the sight of the filthy and beguiled Clutch, flanked by all five members of Rapid 99. The pigtailed girls look the other two up and down suspiciously, the leader of Rapid 99 scowling at Cube.

"Cube," she spits, and Cube gathers herself long enough to exchange an icy look with the Rapid 99 leader. "I see you've come back to your true home…?"

"Fuck off," Cube growls. "We were just looking for this idiot."

"What?!" Clutch demands, glaring at her just as angrily as the leader of Rapid 99. "Why are you down here?! Are you following me?!"

"Yes," Cube says angrily. "Where the hell is Yoyo, Clutch?! You were supposed to be taking him out for a drive, not…wandering off with these hussies!!!"

"He's down here!" the tall Rapid 99 says, meeting Cube's gaze uneasily as Clutch looks at Jazz. Their eyes meet, and there's a strange moment between them that makes Clutch grimace.

"…He got kidnapped," he mutters, and Cube stares at him accusingly.

"You were in charge of him, and you let him get kidnapped?!" she demands. He scowls at her.

"Hey, it's not my fucking fault, alright?!" he snarls. "Your ex-best buddies down here fucking dragged him out of the car and beat him over the head! I couldn't do a goddamn thing!"

"We're here to help Clutch rescue him," the leader says bitterly. "Either you can help us, or you can stay the hell out of our way, Cube."

Cube glances at Jazz, whose face is a little pale and sickly-looking out of nowhere. "...Clutch…why didn't you come back to the garage and tell Corn about this…?!"

"He's fucking blown his top 'cause I told him I think he's secretly a fag, that's why," Clutch mutters, and Jazz swallows thickly, looking down at the ground and saying nothing. "I couldn't go back there. He would've ripped my balls off."

"It would've been better than what I'm gonna do to you for putting us through all of this shit," Cube hisses, glancing around at the sound of approaching skates. "…Ngh, goddamnit…you guys take care of Poison Jam…Jazz and I will keep looking for Yoyo, alright?"

"What's the matter, Cube?" the short Rapid 99 asks, her voice cold. "Too ashamed to face your old gang, again? It's just like what happened with us, huh?"

…There's a cold stillness while Cube looks at the girl, both of their faces frozen with hatred. Then Jazz grips Cube's arm silently and rockets back out of the main chamber, leaving Clutch and the five 99's to contend with the approaching collective Poison Jam. They all face the opposite wall, where, down the other half-pipe, shadows are moving, sounds growing more excited. By the time the first masked behemoth arrives, the sounds of Cube and Jazz's skates have all but disappeared behind them. Clutch clenches his hands into fists, and the six Poison Jams snarl simultaneously.

The biggest one is holding Yoyo like a baby. He's curled up and shaking, breathing hard, weak. Clutch's stomach sinks, and he moves forward, gripping the railing and staring across the pool of raw sewage at Yoyo's crumpled form.

"…He's not breathing well," Poison Jam's leader growls. Clutch can feel how wide his own eyes are, how pale his face is.

"He…he has asthma…come on…shit, guys, seriously, we don't have time to fuck around, I mean, look at him…!" he says frantically, and Rapid 99 gathers around him, all of them looking worriedly across the gap at the wheezing Yoyo. "Just give him to us!"

"You know da rules," another Poison Jam mumbles. "You gotta beat us in a Tagger's Tag, first."

"Fuck the rules, you idiots!" Rapid 99's leader shrieks. "That poor boy could die—!"

"We don't care," Poison Jam's leader barks back. "It's not our loss, if he does. And why should you care, either? The only person to whom this boy is significant is that redheaded fool standing with you…and even he hasn't shown any real concern for this boy's life over the past few months. Isn't that right, boy?" He shakes Yoyo a little, and the youngest GG wakes up, his eyes bugging as he grasps at his own throat. Clutch's insides feel frozen, twisted, painful, aching with each stifled breath that Yoyo takes. He could die…shit, the kid could die if he doesn't get his medicine…Yoyo turns to look around when he realizes that he's not in his cage anymore, and when he sees Clutch, his face lights up with fear. Clutch's knees buckle when Yoyo moves to reach for him, and he has to grip the railing to stay upright.

"C-Clutch, p-p-please…hhh…I…c-can't…hhuuhh…"

"Shut up, Yoyo!" Clutch shrieks. "Don't talk, don't fucking move…!"

"So what's it going to be, ladies?" Poison Jam's leader asks monotonously. "Will you humor us, or watch this boy slowly suffocate…?"

"You're sick!!!" the tall Rapid 99 screams. Clutch feels his heart pounding in his chest. He can't let Yoyo die…he can't have that on his conscience…but they didn't bring any paint with them for a Tagger's Tag…Clutch reaches quickly into his pants pockets and pulls out two spray cans: all that he has. He hands one to the tall Rapid 99 and the other to the leader, pulling in and whispering something to the five girls that Poison Jam can't hear from across the way. Then he turns around, unarmed, his eyes slits on his face, his fists clenched at his sides.

"Alright, you bastards," he snarls. "Let's go."

Poison Jam erupts into six separate entities the moment the final word leaves Clutch's mouth, cans of paint held tightly in each of their hands, and Clutch is overwhelmed for a moment, forgetting even how to breathe until he sees the five members of Rapid 99 split up into three sets: the leader with the fat one, the tall one with the young one, leaving Clutch with the short one. She grabs his wrist and gives it a fierce tug, and then his face sets and he remembers what he's doing. The two of them jet off down the half-pipe that Poison Jam came out of minutes ago, one of the larger goons following them closely. The girl gives Clutch a very uncertain look.

"Are you sure that we can pull this off?" she asks, and Clutch can hear the fear in her voice. He nods firmly.

"Yeah. Just follow my lead," he replies, and makes a sudden turn up the wall of the half-pipe, jumping just before his skates pull him into a grind along the edge. The Rapid 99 repeats his move on the other side, and the two of them soar over the Poison Jam who had been following them, Clutch coming down just in time to grab one of the spiked straps of the goon's overalls. As Clutch had hoped he would, the Poison Jam roars and reaches up to smack Clutch away with the hand that he's carrying a can of paint in, and with a vicious swipe, Clutch steals the can from him easily and begins tagging the Poison Jam's back as quickly as he can while the Rapid 99 runs into their target from the side and knocks him to the ground. Clutch finishes his tag and grinds the heel of his skate into the defeated Poison Jam's back, edging down a little to glare at him.

"Give us any other paint you've got, asshole…now!" he demands. Accepting his loss, the Poison Jam miserably tosses out three more cans of paint, one of which Clutch tosses to the short Rapid 99 before he shoves the other two into his baggy pants pockets. They head back to the gorgon's head room together, the Rapid 99 grinning wildly and shooting impressed glances back at Clutch, who is smirking, himself.

The two of them pause and listen for sounds of battle, but the echoes are confusing in the sewers. The girl looks firmly at Clutch. "We need to find the others," she says, and he nods.

"Yeah…ugh, shit, well, let's just try to move fast," he mutters, and they grind the railing, jumping across the toxic pool and backtracking toward the entrance to the sewers. Clutch feels an odd rush, accompanied by a sickening feeling of guilt, when he realizes that the Poison Jam boss, unable to contribute to the fight, must be hiding somewhere with Yoyo still in his possession. He grinds his teeth, working as hard as he can to keep up with the Rapid 99 girl. She bolts around a corner and lets out a surprised yell, and Clutch puts on a burst of speed to come to her aid. A streak of paint is across her back, one of the smaller Poison Jams grabbing at her arm and trying to tag her again. Clutch kicks off of the damp half-pipe floor and nails the Poison Jam in the face with his skate, fighting dirty but not caring at all. As their enemy collapses on the floor with a low groan of pain, the Rapid 99 quickly leaves her mark on him and collects his paint cans before the two of them rocket off again.

"Two down, three to go," she says sternly. "Then Yoyo should be safe."

"I'll never be able to thank you enough," Clutch murmurs, actually glad that he's able to find strength enough within himself to say that to this girl. She smiles, her face flushing distantly.

"You've helped us more than you know," she replies. "I'm sorry I was such a bitch to you when we first met."

"Don't sweat it."

They peel into a room with coiled red and blue pipes, and they ride the shorter blue pipe a brief ways before they see the Rapid 99 leader and her accomplice take down a third Poison Jam in the shallow waters below. The two of them leap fearlessly from the pipe to join their group, and the Rapid 99 leader nods approvingly at the sight of Clutch, untagged, with his pants pockets full of paint. He hands one can to the fat Rapid 99, who smiles at him appreciatively.

"How's the situation?" the leader asks.

"Three down. Two more left, unless Hotpants and her friend took down one or both of them," Clutch responds. The leader nods, not even seeming to notice Clutch's demeaning nickname for her second-in-command.

"Fantastic," she replies, inclining her head toward the grid staircase behind them, and the four of them continue to move as fast as they can, making their way back up to the beaten path of the half-pipe and moving as one solid unit down the curves and slopes of the sewer pipe maze. It isn't long before they encounter the other two Rapid 99's doing battle with one of the two remaining Poison Jams, and with four more coming to their assistance, the hulking buffoon falls easily. Clutch looks at the tall girl.

"We brought down three. This is number…?"

"Five," she replies, a little breathless. There are two stripes of paint decorating her left shoulder and the tip of her pigtail. "We just need to find the boss, again, and then…you'll probably need help taking your friend back to your garage, right?"

"I can do it myself," Clutch murmurs, as the six of them start racing back to the room with the gorgon's head throne. "Corn won't like outsiders coming into the Garage. But…it's…not that…"

"We get it," the leader says warmly. "You're welcome. We're even, now."

"…Y-yeah," Clutch mumbles, his face hot. The girls of Rapid 99 exchange glances and sly smiles as their group pulls into their destination. They stop. Their stomachs sink, at first, at the sight of a room void of Poison Jams, but then Clutch dashes over to the gorgon's head, reaching in with shaking hands and pulling Yoyo gingerly out of the solid chair in its mouth. Yoyo looks at him weakly, his breaths coming out in gasps, air struggling to pass through a pin-sized hole. Clutch swallows a lump in his throat and pulls Yoyo into him, and the green-haired boy locks his arms weakly around Clutch's neck as the redhead slips his other hand under his friend's knees and turns around. The five girls look at the scene with mixed emotions, and Clutch nods sternly at them all as Yoyo chokes against his chest.

"…I think I probably owe you again," he murmurs. "…You saved his life…I…I mean…shit…"

"Go," Rapid 99's leader says firmly. "He needs help. If we see Cube and your other friend…we'll tell them you two made it out safely."

Clutch nods, looks at them all one last time, and then speeds up toward the surface again, clinging to the trembling Yoyo with every inch of strength that he has. He won't lose this kid again.

Sweating, Clutch places Yoyo as softly as he can on his own bed (Pots is curled up on Yoyo's) before he rips around and starts throwing clothes and papers and trash everywhere, searching for Yoyo's belt. Why he didn't wear it today…I'll never fucking know, he thinks frantically, feeling relief pouring over him when he finds the strap under the kid's bed. His hands shaking, he pulls the inhaler from the strap's underside and shuffles over to Yoyo, pressing it into his mouth and pulling the trigger.

"C'mon, kid…" he whispers, and he hates that his voice is shaking so much. "Come on…you can do it…"

Nothing. Then, four seconds later, Yoyo lets out a feeble cough and gasps a few times, trying to sit up, but Clutch pushes him down hard again and gives him another shot from the inhaler, watching, waiting, his entire body aching with prayer. Yoyo's chest heaves, and slowly, slowly, his breathing relaxes, and he's shaking, but he's okay. Yoyo swallows and coughs, staring up at Clutch with huge, frightened eyes. Clutch can feel his own mouth trembling.

"N-never…never do this again, you dumb bastard," he hisses through clenched teeth, jamming Yoyo's inhaler into the kid's hand. He turns around and leans against the bed frame, hiding his face in his hands, reluctant to let Yoyo see how awful he looks. He stares at the skates he's still wearing, Rapid 99 colors vibrant under his boring, stained, khaki pants, and his eyes cloud. "…Never fucking do that…"

"…C-Clutch…you…saved me…th-thank you…so much, I…" Yoyo pants. Clutch shakes his head.

"Sh-shut up, kid," he growls. "Just shut the f-fuck up…"

Yoyo moves cautiously off of the bed and presses close to Clutch again, and Clutch moves his arm up, wrapping both around Yoyo and holding him tightly. Yoyo is crying, too—soft, weak sobs—and Clutch has never been so relieved in his entire life.