Well, onto the next-

Puggsy: Hold it! I have a question!

Me: *sigh* What is it?

Puggsy: Why did you choose an anime character as one of the rapists? Why not make them all OC?

Me: Because, after watching Episode 10, I figured Joshua would fit the role of the 'sympathetic'-criminal, since he is a pervert but wouldn't intentionally hurt anyone. …That, and he needed the money.

Joshua: By the way, how much am I getting paid in this role?

Me: No time to talk! On with the story! *leaves quick*

Joshua: Oh, no you don't! *races out*

Tracker: …anyone else afraid for WG's sanity?

Puggsy: For? No. Of? YES.

Tracker: T_T *shoves Puggsy off-screen*

*CRASH!*

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"(…I think we need to do more serious introductions…)" Puggsy muttered, a bit bruised from the intro.

"(Shut up and keep in character!)" WG hissed.

…

Okay then.

As the group walked down the street, WG tried to keep her nerve. Her powers were gone… that meant she wouldn't have the strength to fight. All she had was her machete- and it would be a miracle if she managed to use it right.

Unbeknownst to her friends, the authoress lacked combat skills. It wasn't until her cartoon-hybrid powers kicked in that she gained the confidence to fight. Open portals to go places; use laser-vision to zap flamers; use her super-strength to punch them to the other side of the globe; and use her weapons with skills she gained from watching television.

She had depended on her powers for so long that she never realized how weak she was without them.

Until now.

But she couldn't let her friends know that. She didn't want them to think she was a wimp who needed to be protected. They were worried about her enough as it was.

Question was, how could she pull off the charade if-

"WHEREVER-PERSON!"

*WHUMP!*

"What the-?!" FF2 gasped, watching as WG was suddenly tackled by a young girl.

"Oof! …Hi, Edward." WG grunted, as she was hugged by the radical teenager. She felt uneasy about the contact, going rigid.

Edward let go of her. "What is Wherever Person doing in Ikebukuro with friends? Comic Con ended over a month ago!"she asked.

"We're, um… looking for some bad people. They- uh, hurt me bad, and we're trying to stop them before they hurt anyone else. We think they're staying at… What was the name of the hotel, Joshua?"

"The White Raven Inn," Joshua answered. "Um… how do you two know each other?"

"Edward started following WG on Fanfiction ever since she posted 'Point of View'! Then we became friends. Wherever Person needs to update the story soon- Edward wants to see what happens next!" Edward answered first, then cocked her head. "Hey… Are you related to Spike-Spike?"

Joshua arched an eyebrow. "Um… not that I know of. Why?"

"You look just like him!"

"Funny, we think he looks like- OOF!" Junpei began to crack, until Swaine elbowed him in the stomach.

"What are you doing in the city, Edward? The Bebop crew got a good bounty or something?" Puggsy asked.

"Yep-yep! Big-assed bountry, Spike-Spike says! The baddies are wanted dead or alive- and they're worth a lot dead! Broke into a lab, stole a drug, and killed a lot of people! They were last seen coming here."

"Stole a drug…?" Freddy repeated, looking at the group.

"You think it might be the guys we're after?"FF2 asked, as if reading his thoughts.

"A lot of people steal drugs from labs… Look at all the DC and Marvel comics," Fanatic commented.

"Edward! Come on!" came a shout, as the group saw Jet Black down the block, walking out of the police station. "We've got work to do!"

"Edward's on the case, Jet-Jet!" Edward exclaimed, and cartwheeled down the sidewalk to meet up with him.

Everyone blinked.

"…Are you two related, or was that your soul-mate?" Swaine commented to WG, who just rolled her eyes.

"Well, if they've got Spike Spiegel trying to track them down, those assholes are going to get their asses handed to them," Fanatic claimed.

"I'd rather kill them myself. …We can let the Bebop crew collect their remains for the bounty." Tracker responded.

"Let's get to the hotel then and get answers- the sooner we bust these creeps, the better we can sleep at night." Freddy said.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The group went to the White Raven Inn, telling the proprietor of the situation; understanding, she let them look through the book of the patrons that checked in the night WG was raped.

The downside was, since the Comic Con took place, the Inn had been booked (like the rest of the hotels, the proprietor said). Thankfully, she was helpful enough to point out the residents who had a total of 3 people in their party.

Everyone looked over every option carefully. "Ed, Edd, Eddy… Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup… Yakko, Wakko, Dot…" Fanatic read. "…Either our culprits were willing to risk Copyright Strikes with their aliases, or these aren't our targets."

"What about 'Mom, Dad, and Timmy Turner'?" Junpei asked.

"No, they have three goldfish listed with them," Freddy pointed out. "…But 'Hewey, Dewey and Louie' sure sound suspicious…"

"Carly, Sam, Freddy- Freddy?!" Fangs gasped, looking at the animatronic bear.

Freddy gave him the 'Seriously?' look, and they went back to reading.

"Wait, this might be them!" Tracker said, pointing to a list of names. "Herod, Jezebel, and Joshua."

Joshua turned to the proprietor. "The people who left me here… Were these the names they used?" he asked.

She looked, thinking deep. "I believe so… Yes, now I remember- we all found it odd that they used such names, figuring you all were foreigners from the Middle East. They were also the only ones who paid with cash that night." She said.

"They paid with cash… well that's typical. So much for tracing their credit cards," Puggsy sighed.

"They didn't use credit cards for anything at all here? Meals, ordering movies, anything?" WG questioned.

The woman shook her head. "I think they left sometime during the night, because your friend was the only one who checked out that morning…"

"He's NOT our friend," Fluffy said venomously, making Joshua cringe.

Thanking the woman for her help, the group walked out. "Great. Unless Izaya finds us something, those bastards are loose!" Swaine muttered. "And the fucking cops are taking their dear-sweet-fucking time to find a DNA trace!" he grabbed Joshua by the shirt collar. "If there's something you're not telling us-!"

"Wait… what if we had ATF open a portal to where they are now?" Tracker asked, looking at Fluffy. "You can do that, right? Just think of the person you want to find and open a portal to them?"

"It's not that simple. I need a face to match, or at least have known them long enough to allow my heart to find them." Fluffy replied. "Unless they kidnapped a child- when a child is in danger, I'm fully set on finding them. …That's how I kill most of the human-traffickers in the world. Not by searching for someone I want dead, but by finding someone I care deeply about."

Joshua paused. "You can open a portal anywhere…?" he asked. Fluffy nodded. He stood there a moment, thinking. "Could you… open one to Jita?"

Fluffy scoffed. "Why would I do that?"

Joshua sighed. "Because, like I said before, I doubt those bastards will keep their word and leave her alone. …I have this lingering fear that they're on their way to her school now, just waiting to pounce."

"So you think they'll go after Jita no matter what?" Tracker asked.

"If not her, probably her friends- maybe even Tomo. S-She's a really nice girl, and has a beautiful figure, and her step-sister is really protective of her… if they've seen our anime and know that, then…"

"They may just repeat the same level of the game," Junpei guessed. "So you think they might head there? …How are we so sure you're not just trying to lead us to another location?"

"Yeah, those assholes might still be in this city, and you're just trying to get us out-!" Fangs added.

"STOP AFFILIATING ME WITH THEM!" Joshua snapped. "Do you think I'd help the assholes who threatened my sister and forced me into their rape-game?! How many times do I have to tell you I want them DEAD?!"

"We'll tell you when we believe you," Tracker sneered.

"I'll go to her." Fluffy said.

"What?" Freddy questioned.

"You heard me. I'll open a portal and keep an eye on Jita- I can pose as an exchange student and keep an eye on her. Plus…" He glared darkly at Joshua. "It'll give the pawn here reason not to turn on us- if he wants Jita to stay safe."

Joshua's eyes widened. "Don't… Don't you dare hurt my sister!" he stammered.

"I won't as long as you don't pull anything… Though, I don't see why I shouldn't. You hurt mine. Only difference is if someone told me to do it- I'd kill them instead." With that, Fluffy turned to Fanatic. "Hug me."

"What?" Fanatic asked.

"Just do it."

"Um,okay…" Fanatic did so, hugging Fluffy as much as his strength would allow.

With a *crack* from the back, Fluffy returned to being ATF. "Ah! Man! Well my back feels better. Thanks, Fan!" ATF said with a smile, then opened a portal. "Okay, I'll be at St. Mihailov Academy- I'll let you know if I get any useful visions! Good luck!"

"Be careful," WG told him. ATF nodded, gave a salute, and stepped through the portal. It closed instantly, and she walked on ahead.

"WG? Where are you going?" Tracker asked.

"Back to the hotel… there's nothing else for us to do."

Tracker sighed, turning to the others. "I'll go with her… you guys go see if there's anyone else who's seen the people Joshua was with- this city is full of people, there must have been more witnesses!" With that, she left.

"Right… first, lets go see what's taking the police so fucking long," FF2 muttered, grabbing Joshua by the shoulder. "And YOU can give them your story!"

"W-What if they throw me in prison?" Joshua gulped.

"The only reason we'd let you get thrown in prison is so some roughneck could make you his-" Puggsy began to snap.

Junpei paused, looking across the street. "Uh, FF2? You said Izaya was going to be looking for information, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?" FF2 asked.

"…Because Shizuo is throwing a taxi at him!"

"…Missing in the process-!" Fangs yelped.

"DUCK IN COVER!" Fanatic exclaimed, as the group ran out of the way.

*CRASH!*

…unfortunately, Puggsy didn't move quick enough. "Geez-n-criminy, REALLY?!" he muffled, smashed between a car and a brick wall.

"Shit… it's Comic Con all over again!" Junpei gasped.

Freddy pried the car off him. "You alright, kid?" he asked.

The short teen spit out a tooth. "I hate Fan Fiction…" he groaned, going unconscious.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N: I decided to end on a humorous note this time. (Apologies, Pugs, someone had to take the blow!)

Next chapter, more prodding for answers (which is getting boring), some suspense… and we'll see if Izaya ever stops playing with Shizuo and gets some answers!