CHAPTER 11: POINT BREAK
At the poorly-maintained home of Otto Rocket and Twister Rodriguez, as Sam and Tito began working hard on the computer, having potentially found the identity of the Rippers; Reggie walked into the house, joining the three.
"Hey, guys, find anything?" Reggie asked.
"I think so. We took a look at those 'Rowdy Boyz' guys that Otto had some trouble with, and I think I found some information on them that matches what we might find in the Rippers." Sam said.
"And dinner'll be ready in a little bit. I'm making hotdurgers." Tito added.
"Cool. By the way, I had a talk with Alex Gravity. He says that if I can bring him a hoverboard, he'll believe my story and he'll help us with finding the Rippers." Reggie said.
"What?! Are you crazy?!" Sam asked.
"What?"
"What do you mean, 'what'? You want to just give the board away, getting rid of all our evidence?"
"I think we can trust Alex Gravity. He seems alright."
"That doesn't matter. We still need to keep as few people knowing about this as possible, and we're not losing the board."
"I told him I can't give him the board. I have a better idea, especially now that you've told me that you know who the Rippers are."
"First of all, we don't 'know' that these people are the Rippers, we're just guessing, albeit guessing carefully. Second, what is your idea?"
"He said that if he had physical evidence of a board, he'd believe me and help us. We don't have to give him the board, we just have to give him a board."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"If these guys are the Rippers, they'll have the boards. We get one of their boards, we'll have evidence."
"If they are the Rippers, we won't bother about finding help, we can take them in ourselves at that point."
"That still doesn't get me my job back. I'll need one of the boards to prove it all."
"Fair enough. If these are the guys, and we catch them, we'll help you in getting your job back."
"Thanks, Sammy."
"Don't thank me yet. We still have to actually catch these guys. Speaking of which, I need to ask, how do you feel about sitting in a car for a few hours?"
"Uh, what for?"
"In order to find out if these are our guys, we need to stake them out, like in the movies. We catch them in the act, we can prove they're the Rippers. I could use a partner."
"A partner, huh? Are you sure this isn't just a way of asking me on a date? I'm not sure I'll say yes, considering how insensitive you were earlier."
Not prepared for the conversation to take a turn towards unfamiliar territory, Sam began to stutter and blush at the suggestion, not knowing what to say next.
"What? I- Uh... I didn't mean it like... Well, uh..." Sam stuttered.
"Really? Come on, Sam, I was just kidding around. What's with the panic attack?" Reggie asked.
"Well, ancient Hawaiian saying: A coconut will never know the cool breeze of the ocean if it never comes down from the tree." Tito said.
As typical of Tito's Hawaiian words of wisdom, no one in the room understood the meaning of his proverb, leaving him disappointed at being misunderstood.
"Well, alright, Sammy. I'll help you out on this stakeout. Who're we spying on?" Reggie asked.
"The Rowdy Boyz. We're heading out now if you're ready."
"Right now? I just got back."
"If we don't catch them now, we won't have another chance to catch them again. That means that no one else is safe from these guys. We want to catch them in the act."
"Sounds cool to me. What about dinner?"
"Way ahead of you, cuz." Tito said.
Tito held up a plate of hotdurgers, fresh off the grill and ready to eat. Reggie, hungry and needing the energy to be ready for the stakeout, immediately grabbed two and began chowing them down, much to Tito's impression.
"Wow, little cuz, you sure can put it away." Tito said.
"Yeah, I haven't eaten all day, I'm really hungry. So, how're we gonna tell Otto and Twister we left on a stakeout?" Reggie asked.
"We left a note. Given how passive they can get, I think a note should do fine." Sam said.
Meanwhile, back at the back offices of Zero Gravity Zone, the now 5 men known as the Rippers stood before their employer, Alex Gravity, starting a meeting with the eponymous owner of Zero Gravity Zone. With many eyes beginning to fall on the group and many clues to the group being left, their ambiguous plans were left under danger of being put to an end.
"Good money, I pay you good money, and this is what I get in return for my services?" Alex Gravity asked.
"Mr. Gravity, even with such a low-populated city, this kind of work takes time. We've been-" The leader began to say.
"No, no, let me tell you what you've been doing. You got rid of one store, only one store; and, now, people are starting to look into you. They find you, they find me, and I will not be found. Do you understand?"
"We know Otto Rocket's onto you. We're working on him. Once we get him, we shouldn't have any more problems. Besides, that 'one' store happens to be the only major business left in this whole city, the one and only electronics store. Get rid of that, we're bound to have people clearing out faster."
"And after destroying that one store, you managed to have one of your men, a new recruit, if I understand; discovered by a goddamn stoner, and jeopardizing our entire operation!"
"Don't worry about Otto, jefe. He got me this sweet new robot arm, so I got no problems with him once he's on our side. As for the rest of them, I can handle them personally." Lars said.
"You won't do a damn thing unless I say so. Like he said, you're the new recruit, and you don't have as much weight as you think, especially not since you got caught. If you didn't have any more use to me, you'd be dead and forgotten." The leader said.
"I don't care how you do what you do, as long as you get the job done, and everything goes according to plan. Now, you've still got plenty of places to drive out, like Good Burger and Skatopia, my competitor in this area. I can't buy the Good Burger, and Skatopia won't sell. If you don't hit one of them by tonight, all of you are fired, and your severance package comes with no life insurance, if we understand each other." Alex Gravity said.
"I'll you do you one better: How about we hit both tonight if it makes you feel better?"
"Why, yes. That would make me very happy. Once all the big businesses are out of the picture, phase 2 begins. Then, you all get paid well, not to mention lifetime passes, of course."
"Cool with us."
"So why are you still here?"
"We're not. Rippers, you heard us. Next, we hit Skatopia, then Good Burger. But, first, how about we round up our new recruits?"
Several hours later, after a long, tiresome walk home, Otto and Twister finally arrived back at their abode, stepping inside through the front door. As the two arrived inside, Twister felt that something was suspiciously wrong with their home.
"Hey, Otto, is it just me, or does our house seem... different?" Twister asked.
"Yeah, the smell's gone. Guess Tito cleaned up while we were gone." Otto said.
"It's not that, it's like... too quiet."
"Well, no shit. Only we live here, and we're not currently in the house. Therefore, with no one in the house, there is no one to make noise in the house. Consequently; the house is quiet. Was that slow enough for you?"
"Yeah, but what about Sam and Tito? Shouldn't they be here?"
"...Maybe they went home and didn't tell us. Big deal."
Otto reached out to the wall, flipping the light switch and Upon flipping the switch to the lights, nothing happened.
"Twist! Did you forget to pay the light bill again?" Otto asked.
"No way, dude, you were there with me, you saw me pay it!" Twister replied.
"Well, then, what happened to the lights?"
Twister headed into the dark unknown of the room, heading towards the ceiling fan. After pulling the string to the fan, Twister discovered that the light was simply turned off on the pullstring switch, thus making the switch on the wall temporarily ineffective. With the string pulled, the lights came on in the room, bringing the tense moment to an anticlimactic end.
"Somebody used the string instead of the switch. Whatever. Looks like that 'super-detective' stuff is like a Rain Man thing, huh?" Otto asked.
"You know, Otto, I don't like when you talk to me like that." Twister said.
"Like how?"
"Like I'm an idiot and you talk down to me like that."
"Well, let's be honest, Twister, you're not exactly the brightest of bulbs."
Angered by his insensitive comment, Twister picked up a smoke pipe from the table and threw it at Otto's head, the pipe shattering against his head, miraculously not leaving any cuts on his head.
"YAH! WHAT THE FU-" Otto began to say.
Before Otto could finish his sentence, Twister punched him in the stomach, knocking all the breath out from him and leaving him to fall to the ground.
"Stop that, Otto! I hate it when you always do this to me!" Twister shouted.
"What the hell, man?! What do I do to you to deserve this?" Otto choked.
"You talk down to everybody like you're better than them, especially me, your own best friend! You act like a narcoleptic!"
"Uhh... Don't you mean 'narcissist'?"
"Oh, and you'd would know, wouldn't you?"
"Look, man, we talk like this to each other all the time. Why the sudden PMS episode?"
"I never liked being treated like an idiot! Don't you think I have feelings?"
"Seriously, dude, you're acting like a chick right now. You even listening to yourself?"
"Are you listening to yourself?! I'm trying to tell you that my feelings are hurt, and you just wanna brush it off?!"
"What do you think's more important right now: Your feelings, or stopping these criminals from tearing our hometown apart?"
Twister thought over the two options for a moment, contemplating whether the mission was more important, or his own personal feelings twoards Otto and his disrespect towards him. Unfortunately, with someone not intelligent enough to think too far ahead, his emotions outweighed his logic.
"...I guess my feelings are more important, because I'm not helping you anymore." Twister said.
"Are you serious right now? You'd rather let these guys go and let them tear up other places than just suck it up and help me catch them?" Otto asked.
"If it means getting away from your bad attitude and huge ego, then yeah."
"C'mon, dude, we're supposed to be best friends. What the hell is this?"
"These days, it looks like Dax is your new best friend, so you can be best friends with him. We're done."
After giving his goodbyes, Twister walked out the door, taking his skateboard along with him, hoping to find another place to be other than in Otto's presence.
"Oh, yeah? Well, screw you too! I don't need your help! I'll beat them all by myself! Good riddance!" Otto shouted.
Despite Otto's prideful shout to Twister as he left, his emotional state was anything but powerful in that moment. With his best friend gone, no one else home, and Dax and the Prodigy out on business, Otto was left without any emotional support when he needed it most. Is this consequence a form of punishment for his wrongdoings a person, or simply a moment of bad luck?
Needing to find some release for the moment, Otto turned to the bag of marijuana sitting in the cupboard, hoping to smoke away the problems in his life. Taking a bud and placing it in a pipe, Otto took to the couch and prepared to intoxicate himself, hoping to forget his problems with an artificial high.
Lighting the devil's leaf as it laid in the pipe and inhaling its fumes, the cannabis made its way into Otto's lungs, the chemicals beginning to reach his brain. As the marijuana's components made their way to the receptors in his brain, his high was beginning, leaving his brain in a haze-like state; barely able to think past the moment he was in.
For the past few days, he was nearly killed by well-equipped supercriminals bent on terrorizing Ocean Shores, and made catching them his mission, hoping to locate their known accomplice, Lars Rodriguez. Now, focusing too much on his new friends in Dax Jett and the Prodigy Skateboarding Team, it seems that he has forgotten his goals and priorities.
It seems that, although he lives in his 20s, he has never learned the meaning of responsibility, or how to own up to being a man.
In the midst of his high, however, the phones of his house began to ring loudly, managing to catch his now limited attention span. Reaching and picking up the phone, Otto answered the call and held the phone to his head, beginning the conversation with the mysterious caller.
"Hello?" Otto asked.
"Otto, it's Dax. You got plans?" Dax asked.
"Uh... I was just gonna stay home and smoke some weed. What's up?"
"Come on back to ZGZ. We need you."
"Dax, man, I'm not really in the mood for skating-"
"Not a skating session, man. Team meeting. Bring Twister."
"He's not here."
"No?"
"No, man. He's off at Madtown, probably."
"Well, just come on anyway."
"What for?"
"You'll see."
Meanwhile, outside of the home of Randy 'The Rowdy' Raucous, the obnoxious and ill-tempered leader of the Rowdy Boyz, the eponymous team and their leader resided inside, throwing a party with untold amounts of alcohol, more drugs than an entire Mexican cartel, and many, many attractive (and quite unintelligent) women. Being uneducated skaters with destructive tendencies, their hedonistic tendencies make these parties a regular occurrence for the household.
Sitting outside the household, just on the edge of the sidewalk outside the home, an old car rested unsuspectingly, not minded by anyone in the vicinity. Inside the car sat Reggie Rocket, Sam Dullard, and Tito Makani, all silently observing the home, hoping to catch evidence that the Rowdy Boyz were the mysterious Rippers, and ending their threat to the small town.
Inside the car, however, the three found little to no success on their stakeout just yet, as typical of many stakeouts, growing impatient and bored.
"Sammy, how long exactly does this kind of thing take?" Reggie asked.
"I don't know. For all I know, they might not leave home at all." Sam said.
"So, you want us to just sit here and do nothing for several hours?"
"That's pretty much all we can do."
Tito let out a loud yawn, reaching out his arms to stretch his tired body.
"Well, cuzes, I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired. Think you two can handle this on your own? I can't stay up as long as I used to." Tito said.
Sam looked to Reggie, as if seeking approval. After thinking for a moment, Reggie gave Tito his answer.
"Sure, Tito, go ahead and head back. Me and Sammy got this." Reggie said.
"Great. I'll see you two in the morning. Call me if you need me, I'll be asleep." Tito said.
Tito stepped out of the car, the car rising back up from having the enormous body weight of Tito Makani relieved from its body. With Tito gone, Sam and Reggie were now left alone, creating an awkward tension between the two.
"So, uh... This is gonna be a long few hours, I guess, huh?" Sam asked.
"Well, it's your stakeout, Sammy." Reggie said.
"Yeah, it is."
Sam and Reggie sat in an awkward silence, not knowing what to say to each other next.
"So... Uh... Listen... about yesterday, in the garage..." Sam began to say.
"Uh, that? What about it?" Reggie asked.
"Just to clarify, that was... Uh... What was that?"
"I don't- Uh... I..."
"I mean, everybody's started talking about us, and-"
"Talking about us? What are people saying?"
"Well, Otto's joked about us, Tito's joked a little and... We're not a 'thing', are we?"
"We've just been friends again for a few days, Sammy. What do you think?"
"Well, yeah, but... I don't know. I haven't really had much experience in this area. Like... none at all."
"None at all?"
"No. I was always busy at my store. This is all kind of weird."
"Well, if I'm being honest, this is kind of weird for me, too. I only had one guy friend, and he was gay, and he was just a colleage."
The two shared another awkward silence, still at a loss for words towards each other.
"You know, you were the only person who was consistently nice to me when we were kids." Sam said.
"I was?" Reggie asked.
"Yeah. Otto and Twister would always mess with me, being the Squid to the group, but you were the nicest one. I kind of liked you back in the day."
"Really?"
"Yup."
"Well, uh... If we're being honest with each other... I kind of liked you too."
"You did? Wow."
The two sat in awkward silence yet again, still fumbling over their own thoughts and words.
"You know... I still... kind of like you." Sam said.
Reggie began to give a slight blush at Sam's comment, not prepared for Sam to share his full feelings.
"Wow... Well, uh... I kind of like you still too... I mean, even though we've just met again." Reggie said.
"Yeah, I know, me too, but..."
As the conversation began to fumble and fall on itself again, Reggie and Sam began to feel strange, not knowing what was wrong with themselves. Their minds were in a strange state of lack of concentration, not able to fully focus on any train of thought. Being stuck in a car without the air conditioning turned on was no help, either.
"Is it just me, or it is kind of hot in here?" Sam asked.
"It is. I'm starting to feel woozy." Reggie asked.
"This feels kind of familiar... You don't have any weed in here, do you?"
"What? No, why?"
"I only felt like this when I was high for the first time the other night. At least, when the initial hysteria started to lower, but I don't know what could've-"
As Sam began to ponder what could be causing their state of mind, he had a minor flashback to the hotdurgers that Tito had cooked on Otto and Twister's grill, and the fact that marijuana was mixed with the charcoal, potentially lacing their food.
"Oh, crap." Sam said.
"What? What happened?" Reggie asked.
"How many of those hotdurgers did you eat?"
"I think 3 or 4. They were really good, why?"
"I think they might have had weed in them. Otto and Twister tried to burn marijuana in their grill, and Tito cooked the hotdurgers in the grill."
"What?! Why didn't you clean it out?"
"We tried, there was way too much to get out."
"So, we're both high. Great. This isn't going to be easy."
"Hang on, let's not panic just yet. There couldn't have been too much pot in the grill, so we probably won't be high for long, or maybe not high enough to get distracted from the mission. This might not change anything."
"I don't know, Sammy, my head's starting to feel a little dizzy now."
"Well, crap. This is going to be a challenge."
Meanwhile, at the now-closed Madtown, the now alone Twister Rodriguez stepped inside the park, crawling under the fencing, looking for a place of comfortable solitude. Sitting alone inside the park, Twister seems to have found a suitable place to rest, hoping to be away from his problems.
While many believed that Otto and Twister were inseparable as friends, this day proves that this was no longer a fact, and things between the two were far more tense than ever. Not knowing what to do without his best friend, Twister found himself not knowing what to do.
Needing to find something to vent his frustrations on, Twister began to sing traditional Mexican folk songs to himself, practicing his singing abilities after much time out of practice. Despite the large and frequent amounts of marijuana Twister smokes, it seems that it has no effect on his singing ability, still sounding as good as before.
As Twister began to find a moment of peace to himself, an unexpected visitor came to visit. This visitor was the sociopath Lars Rodriguez, little brother to Twister. How comedic that, after much time spent to try to find him, Lars simply appeared to the group actively seeking him out of nowhere.
Taking notice of his little brother singing alone, Lars instinctively decided to crack jokes at Twister, just like he always does.
"Hahaha! You still sing that pussy shit at 25? What are you, a Backstreet Boy? Or, more like a Backdoor Boy?" Lars asked.
Upon hearing the voice of his older brother, Twister immediately stopped singing, turning to face Lars standing before him.
"Lars?" Twister asked.
"Who'd you expect, Jimmy Hoffa?" Lars asked.
Twister, wasting no time to stop his brother from committing any more heinous acts, jumped on Lars, repeatedly punching him in the face. Lars, barely able to react to his younger brother's unexpected burst of energy, found himself unable to fight back against
"Ow, ow, hey, c'mon, man, knock it off!" Lars said.
Partially meeting his request after landing numerous hits to his face, Twister stopped punching Lars and grabbed him by his shirt, holding his face to his own.
"Where's the rest of your gang?! Where are the Rippers?!" Twister shouted.
"Hey, calm down, man! I'm just here to talk, really!" Lars said.
"Don't treat me like I'm stupid, all of you already think I'm just an idiot, just like that self-absorbed prick Otto Why was I ever friends with that jackass?!"
"Whoa, whoa, man, what the hell are you talking about? You and Otto aren't friends anymore? I thought you guys were best buds or something?"
"Not anymore. I'm sick of him always treating me like I'm stupid."
Man, what I wouldn't give to make all my favorite jokes towards my pussy brother, but, I play my cards right, this little dweeb'll be on our side, and mine, no problem. Lars thought.
"Treating you like you're stupid? How?" Lars asked.
"Why do you care? All you wanna do is trash on me, just like you've always done since we were kids." Twister said.
"Well, things change. You and I are brothers, right?"
"Well... Yeah... I- Hey, wait, are you trying to mess with me?"
"No, no, man. You got me all wrong. You wanna get back at Otto, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, since he's going after the Rippers, and I happen to be one of the Rippers, why not join us?"
"What?! You want me to join you? Why would I do that?"
"To help you get back at Otto. You've put up with his shit for years now, so why not get a little payback this time around?"
"What's in it for you?"
"I want revenge on that asshole, too. He made me lose my arm."
Remembering that Otto noted that Lars lost an arm during their last encounter, Twister finally took notice that Lars seemingly possessed both of his arms, leaving a hole in the story he was told.
"Hey, wait, he told me you lost your arm, but how? You've got both of your arms." Twister asked.
More than eager to reveal the newly acquired arm he had received, Lars took off his glove and rolled up the sleeve of his right arm to show his new robotic arm. Twister, never having seen such a wonder of modern technology, marveled at the sight of his robotic arm.
"He made us crash and I lost my arm in the process. The Rippers gave me this cool new one. I'm still not too happy that Otto made me lose my old one, but this one has it's benefits." Lars said.
"Like what?" Twister asked.
"When I jerk off with this arm, I can pretend it's a stranger."
Twister gave a look of disgust upon receiving the mental image of his brother masturbating with a robotic arm, trying his best to remove the image from his head. Lars, more than amused at his little brother's look of disgust, immediately laughing at his reaction.
"Hell, no, man, I just get some bitches to handle that for me. This arm has much more practical uses than that." Lars said.
Lars pointed his arm at the Madtown sign, changing his arm into its machine gun form as he did so. Opening fire on the entrance, Lars shot down the support beams to the sign, making it fall to the ground. With his target eliminated, Lars changed his arm back into its regular arm form. Twister, not expecting his arm to possess weapons as well, found himself shocked and dumbfounded at the demonstration of the arm's abilities.
"That's just my arm. You should see the board they gave me." Lars said.
"Wow, dude, the Rippers have some pretty cool stuff." Twister said.
"Hell, yeah, man. You stick with us, I guarantee you'll get your fair share of cool shit too."
"I still don't know. Otto's a jerk, but you're still kind of a jerk too."
"Tell you what, then. Let's have a fresh start. Not just because we both want a piece of Otto, but because we're both brothers. How about it?"
Lars extended his hand for a handshake, awaiting Twister to meet it. Twister, torn between various internal conflicts, contemplated very hard before agreeing to ally with his brother, who was once his greatest enemy.
He's up to something, I know that. I wanna get back at Otto, but we still need to stop the Rippers from blowing up any more places like Squid wants. Maybe I can get both at once. I guess I might as well try to use him since he's trying to use me. Twister thought.
Finally, Twister met Lars' handshake, creating a deceptive alliance between the two.
"Okay... bro, a fresh start it is." Twister said.
"Alright. Now, you up for a trip to Good Burger?" Lars asked.
Elsewhere, at the skating emporium known as Zero Gravity Zone, Otto Rocket arrived to the front door of the massive skate park, as instructed by Dax Jett. However, after arriving at the front door, Otto found himself at a dead end in his travels, as the front door was locked, as business hours were over.
"So, now what?" Otto thought aloud.
Otto felt a hand land on his shoulder, giving him a startle and turning to face the owner of the hand. Standing behind him was Dax Jett, waiting his arrival no longer.
"Jesus, dude, what's with you and sneaking up behind people?" Otto asked.
"Sorry, I couldn't help myself. So, you ready for our little meeting?" Dax asked.
"Yeah, sure. Sorry I couldn't bring Twister."
"Don't worry, we can deal with him later."
Dax led Otto to the back door of Zero Gravity Zone, stopping short of the door before entering.
"Now, I know you've only hung with us for a few days, I know this, but I give you this offer because I have faith in you. You're one of the best skaters I've laid eyes on in my years, and I believe you could be one of the best things that happened to this team. If you step through this door, you're in it to win it. Any and all skepticism, you walk away now. You still in?" Dax asked.
"What are you, bringing me into a cult or something?" Otto asked.
"Not a cult, man. Something bigger than you could imagine. Are you still in?"
"Yeah, sure, I'm in."
"No, no, no, not 'sure', are you in, or are you out?"
"Okay, yes, I'm in. That good enough?"
"Why, yes, it is."
Dax opened the back door to Zero Gravity Zone, leading the two to the VIP section of the park. Stepping to the middle of the room, just in front of the couch, Dax prepared to deliver his next speech to Otto.
"Now, a few days ago, you came into contact with a group of strangely-dressed individuals, and these individuals rode on skateboards that hover off the ground, right?" Dax asked.
Otto, not expecting Dax to know the events surrounding the robbery of Sam's Electronics Store, took a step back upon hearing the question.
"What?! How'd you-" Otto began to ask.
"And did they look like these fellows behind you?" Dax asked.
Otto turned around to face 3 strange men dressed in the same technological suits that he encountered at Sam's Electronics Store, bringing him into near panic, not knowing what to do.
"What the- Where'd they-" Otto asked.
The 3 techno-robbers all removed their masks, revealing the identity of the mysterious Rippers. The 3 Rippers were Mike, Jared, and Wes, the 3 other members of the Prodigy team. Upon seeing the faces of the Rippers, Otto had a revelation after seeing the evidence presented to him.
The Prodigy team were the Rippers.
He slowly turned to face Dax, who knew by the look on Otto's face that he knew the truth.
"Mr. Rocket, meet the Rippers." Dax said.