Beat was ahead of everyone, rushing to catch up with Yoyo. He looked over the rail into the water to try to find him but saw nothing.
"Yoyo!" He called, hoping for an answer. Unfortunately he only heard the rushing water.
"Beat!" Gum's voice echoed across the wide hall. The redhead glanced up and saw her rushing to him.
"Have you seen Yoyo?" She asked.
"No, not yet… Damnit if we don't find him soon Poison Jam will get him! We can't let that happen!"
"Corn too!" Gum reminded, "Hang on, let's wait for the others to catch up. The odds will be better for us if we stick together."
"Good point." Beat agreed, then called down the hall, "Hey everyone! Over here!"
Gum shouted right after, "This way guys!"
The duo heard their voices resound throughout the urban cavern, but they didn't receive any responding voices from the rest of the gang.
"Guys?" Beat tried again.
So did Gum, "Hello?"
Still no answer.
Beat pounded his fist into the wall, "Shit! Damnit! I forgot this place is like the Lost Woods in Legend of Zelda!"
"Well this is just great." Gum carped, "Where is everyone?"
"You've been down here before haven't you?" Beat mentioned, "What are we gonna do?"
"I have, but I didn't have to look for other people first. I just had to leave."
"Oh, right. So what now?"
Gum adjusted her cap, "Huh… well, all of the water in the sewers leads to the very bottom of the sewers."
Beat nodded, "Okay, and your point being?"
"My suggestion for our next course of action would be to head to the bottom of the sewage facility now. Because Corn and Yoyo will be swept there and we gotta get to them before Poison Jam does."
"That's a good idea. What about the others?"
Gum felt somewhat anxious, "They'll be fine, we just have to find Corn and Yoyo, find the others, and then get the hell out of here. I just hope they stay together."
"So what's the quickest way we can get to the bottom point of this joint?"
"I know a shortcut from here. This way, let's go."
"Let's do some tagging on the way!" Beat reminded.
Gum remembered the original plan, "That's right! Good idea!"
"You see, this is why I said stay together." A frustrated Garam told the others, "Now look at what's happened."
"Give them a break." Combo argued, "I'm sure you would react like that if your friend fell into that water."
"I know that. I'm just irritated that's all."
Rhyth came rushing back from the grotto she went down, "They're not down there either! I can't tell where they're coming from, it's too dark…"
"Don't worry about it Rhyth. We'll find everyone I promise." Combo comforted her.
"It's the echo." Garam explained, "The sound is bouncing off the walls, making it hard to tell where their voices are coming from."
"So what should we do?" Combo asked.
"All right, I know exactly what to do." Garam declared.
"What?" Rhyth wondered.
"Were gonna go to The Bottom Point of the Sewage Facility. Everyone who falls into the water, they're taken there."
"We're goin' to the bottom huh?" Combo asked.
"Yup, which means we have to go through the gates to the underworld. It wouldn't be a good idea to knock, just sayin' ahead of time."
"Huh, I would think that's common sense."
"We better get going." Rhyth added, "Corn and Yoyo could be down there already!"
"Good point, did you see how fast that water was carrying Yoyo?" Combo mentioned, "Then again he's kind of… a small pint. Heh…"
Beat and Gum headed for The Bottom Point of the Sewage Facility, making tags along the way.
"Heh, this'll throw Poison Jam for the loop of their lives!" Beat bragged.
"It will." Gum approved, "They wanted us to do better than that race Corn gave them, well here they go."
"Sure thing! You know as much as I would love to see the look on their ugly mugs when they see their home all covered in real artwork like ours, but I would not want to be around them when they go crazy."
"I'll second that, but at least they aren't as crazy as Onishima or Hayashi."
Beat chuckled smugly, "Crazy doesn't even BEGIN to describe those two, all right?"
Gum giggled, "Haha! Of course."
The two were headed for a steep incline, Gum was aware of this but Beat was not. So she warned him, "Beat, hold onto your headphones. We're about to hit the express lane to The Bottom Point of the Sewage Facility."
"What do you mean express lane?"
Right as he finished asking, Gum skated ahead and suddenly rocketed down. Beat followed right after, "Whoa!" He yelled out when he himself picked up pace in the blink of an eye. They going like a roller coaster ride.
"I found this shortcut by surprise!" Gum gave details, "I assume you can imagine how that ended."
"Yikes." Beat casually responded, "Bruises and scrapes ahoy I bet."
Gum looked ahead, "Yeah, something like that. Augh! Watch out!"
A giant brown lizard resting right on their path had caught her eye, she swerved to avoid it. Beat decided to jump and do a backflip. Gum watched him with amazement and he landed flawlessly.
"No problem!" Beat replied.
She found herself smiling at him again; however, before she could get her eyes back on the road again she stumbled and rapidly started reinventing her first experience with this shortcut.
"Gum!" Beat yelled agitatedly, then ended up tripping himself.
Both teens went tumbling down. Fortunately for them, the end of the tunnel wasn't far and the incline wasn't as sharp there. Allowing Gum to roll to a stop like if she had gone down a slide at a playground.
Gum was laying on her back, "Oof…"
She barely had time to recollect herself before Beat came to the end… and landed on his forearms right on top of her. She quietly gasped and felt heat flood to her face.
"Ow…" He cringed, "That didn't end well. Gum, you all right?"
She didn't answer, but he came to his senses and realized where he was.
He blushed and hurriedly jumped up, "Oh geez, I'm sorry! Are you all right?"
She sat up and brushed her mini dress, "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it."
She tried to stand, but the fluster of what had happened rendered her unsteady. She couldn't keep herself stable to get on her feet. Beat caught her arms before she slipped and helped her up. She gazed into the lens of his mirrored sunglasses.
She snapped herself out of it, "We gotta get going; we're wasting time! Come on!"
The grotto they found themselves in was much darker than before, and even smellier. The air was damp and sticky. They had reached the deepest depths of Poison Jam's hideout.
Beat looked around, "Ugh… it smells like Poison Jam all right."
"You got that right." Gum agreed, "Shh… we gotta keep it down. Poison Jam could be anywhere around here."
"Sheesh, this place is givin' me the creeps." Beat whispered, "Let's do what we gotta do already."
Beat and Gum entered another path in the form of a half-pipe, this one seemed to go even further down. Eventually reached an uphill slope where a deep, purple glow was emitting. Both rudies shared a sense of caution.
"Yo, we're not afraid of you fish fools!" A familiar voice broadcasted.
"That's Yoyo!" Gum stated.
Beat adjusted his sunglasses, "I heard him! That must be the room!"
They used their skills to flip out the half-pipe and into the purple room. Several chains hung from the ceiling, some of them had hooks attached to the ends. The water below was still, but the bright purple it glowed was just as unnerving.
Two members of Poison Jam stood beneath the head of a reptile statue, they immediately became aware of Beat and Gum's presence. On top of the statue, they could make out a figure sitting on a throne.
"Gum, check it out!" Beat pointed, "Is that the leader of Poison Jam?"
"Looks that way." She considered.
"Well, well, well." A female voice announced, "I see that more helpless prey has wandered into the web of the Poison Jam headquarters…"
"Heheheh!" Her subordinate below laughed, "Looks that way boss!"
Beat expressed shock, "Whoa, the leader of Poison Jam is a chick!?"
Gum was also surprised, "Heh, well this is an interesting turn of events."
"Hey Boss! I think they're here for their friends. Isn't that nice?"
The woman in charge chuckled, "Yes, for us of course!"
Gum stepped forward, "Listen you! We know you have our friends, it's over! Now let them go!"
"Hahaha! What's the rush? You're just in time for the main event of the evening!" She paused, "To celebrate the destruction of the GG's!"
Beat voiced, "If you think you can defeat us, you're badly mistaken! We've beaten you guys several times before!"
The Poison Jam leader rolled her eyes, "Talking in the past; yes, yes you have. But this is different. Do you really think you can win against us now? With just the two of you?"
Beat and Gum didn't respond.
She removed her helmet, revealing her face, "Heh… pitiful. You came all the way here too. There's still plenty of time until dinner and I have a fabulous recipe for the occasion… everything necessary to make a tender stew… made of you and your friends!" She snapped.
The third reptile face emerged from a different room with Corn and Yoyo tied in chains.
"Beat! Gum!" Corn shouted.
"They're not lying yo! They're gonna cook us watch out!" Yoyo warned.
The gothic Poison Jam leader shook her head disapprovingly, "Ugh, I sure hate it when someone doesn't know how to shut their mouth. Let's cook the green haired shrimp first, is the cauldron hot?"
"Heheheh! Hot and ready for cookin' boss!"
"Excellent, let's cook!"
Beat and Gum bolted for their friends, but were restrained quickly. They wrestled with their captors.
"YO! I don't want to go in there yo! I don't taste good yo! I'll give you a stomachache yo! You'll be sorry yo!" Yoyo protested, being forcibly led back into the room they came from.
Out of nowhere, a giant metal bar fell from the sky and blocked the rusty door that Poison Jam was ready to open.
"What the-? Where did that come from!?" Poison Jam's leader shouted.
"Hahahahahaha! Up here fish-faced losers!" Garam's voice aired, "Woo hoo!" He flew through the upper rails of the room.
She was quick to recognize their regular troublemaker, "Oh that little-!"
Before anyone else could respond, a booming crash startled everyone. The rest of the GG's rushed in through a large hole in the wall.
Spray can in hand, Rhyth skated forward, "I got this!" She sprayed Poison Jam's masks, making them stumble around.
Then Combo rushed into the room, "Now I'll take over!" In one swoop he broke the chains and freed his friends. Yoyo gave a solid punch to his captor before returning to the GG's.
In the midst of this, the leader of Poison Jam froze and it wasn't because of the shock of her plans being interrupted.
"No way! Why!?" She thought; staring at Combo, "What the hell is he doing here!?" She hastily fixed her helmet back on her head and remained quiet.
The GG's were now reunited, Corn stood in front of his team, "Give it up Poison Jam, we have you cornered now!" He addressed her.
She hesitated before speaking in a lower voice, "We… we aren't giving up that easily!"
Combo raised an eyebrow at her, he rolled beside Corn, "Wait a second, do I know you? You sound awfully familiar…"
Corn looked at Combo curiously, "Combo, what are you talking about?"
She started sweating under her helmet, "N-no, you don't."
"I swear I do." Combo pressed.
"Hey!" A Poison Jam minion spoke up, "Don't mess with Cube! She's make you regret it!"
She tensed up and squeezed her eyes shut, angry at her minion's open mouth.
"Cube!?" Combo astoundingly shouted, "Cube, is that you!?"
Her cover now blown, she sighed and took off her helmet, "Yeah, it's me! I bet you never imagined I'd end up like this huh!?" Her tone was defiant and she threw her helmet down.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Corn intervened, "You two know each other!?"
Combo sighed, "I'll explain later." Then turned back to Cube, "Cube, why are you doing this girl?"
Cube was struggling to keep her strong voice, "I…"
Her followers interrupted, "Don't mess with our leader! I told you, she'll pound you flat! Won't you ma'am?"
While she wouldn't have hesitated before, now she felt conflicted.
Nonetheless, Poison Jam was angry, "Graah! You've humiliated our leader! For that, we'll tag you!" Each of them brought out spray cans.
The rest of the GG's also revealed spray cans in response.
"Not if we tag you first!" Corn retorted.
"Cube!" Combo continued, "You aren't what these fish fools made you! I know this isn't who you are!"
Poison Jam looked back at her, "Boss?"
She tightened her fist, "Get them out of here…" She muttered.
"Let's get 'em!" Poison Jam started after the GG's; they started retreated the way they came.
Corn grabbed Combo's arm, "Come on, let's go!" Combo reluctantly followed and readied a spray can.
"So what's the plan?" Gum asked.
"Okay here's what we'll do." Corn explained, "We're gonna get into a formation to distract them, then whoever gets behind them will tag them!"
"Let's do it!" Beat enthused.
Once the room was empty, Cube sighed. She picked up her helmet and looked at her reflection off the gold material. She roughly placed it down, rested her arms on one of the armrests, and buried her face into them.
As quietly as she could, she began to sob…
