Author's Note: I'll be honest. This chapter almost wrote itself. :p
Hope you enjoy!
At the station, DJ Professor K was ready for his broadcast armed with news that was so juicy, it would drench the largest desert.
"The radio show that your parents, the PTA, and the FBI don't want you to hear? Jet Set Radio!"
"The GG's fell for the Immortals' trap hook, line, and sinker baby! Whoo! The Immortals sure played it smooth, I mean, who woulda thought Yoyo would turn on his friends? I guess maybe they are royalty after all, hahahahaha!"
"The GG's have been hauled off to the future site of the Rokkaku Expo Stadium located just off of 99th Street. Members of the Noise Tanks jacked into the power supply of the stadium, which is being built for the Rokkaku Expo" Professor K breathed out, "Whew… I got a baaaad feeling that something wicked is about to go down…"
The GG's sat in stunned silence while the Immortals carried them into the lit up stadium.
Yoyo called, "Yo, Noise Tanks! We've got them! The GG's!"
The Noise Tanks came into view and seemed quite pleased, "Excellent, all had gone to plan I see. Set them down over there. We'll be ready for the games shortly."
After the cage was set down in view of what appeared to be a track, Yoyo told the Noise Tanks, "Yo, I'm headed for Sky Dinosaurian Square. I'll be starting my plans there."
"Very well, you may go. You have done a good job." The Noise Tank replied and let him leave.
Corn was sitting on the ground with one hand over his eyes, "I can't believe I let this happen; I let him join our gang and he stabs us in the back! How did I not see this before!? I've failed as a leader… Completely, entirely, without a doubt…"
Gum noticed Corn and moved next to him, "Corn?"
He shook his head, "I don't deserve to call myself a leader Gum…"
"Don't say that." She touched his arm, "This wasn't your fault."
"It is Gum, I'm supposed to protect my gang and I failed!" He stood up and threw his hat down irritably, a mass of blonde hair quickly accepted freedom and fell into disarray about his shoulders. He leaned with his arm against the wall, facing away from the gang.
Beat tried to encourage him, "Corn come on, you know Gum's right." But the disheartened leader remained silent.
Boogie was shocked, "This is totally insane; how could he do this to us?"
Garam shrugged, "It's ridiculous how much this sucks…"
"What are they going to do with us?" Boogie worried.
"I don't know little lady."
Rhyth was crouched in the corner with her mouth covered, her eyes watered. Combo was trying to comfort her. "I… I know Yoyo…" She spoke, "He's not this kind of guy… That couldn't have been him."
"Screw that Rhyth." Gum snapped, "Look what he's done to us! He's nothing but a lying, selfish, backstabber!"
"No he's not!" Rhyth got to her feet.
"Are you blind!? Look around you! He did this, you saw him! He's a jerk Rhyth, a complete jerk!"
Gum wasn't even finished with that sentence before Rhyth argued, "You don't understand Gum!"
"Oh, I understand believe me."
"No you don't! He… he loves me I know he does!"
Gum was flabbergasted, "Loves you!? He doesn't love you! He's a liar Rhyth! He's probably been against us from the moment we let him join!"
"That's not true Gum!"
"Yes it is!"
From that point the two girls argued back and forth trying to shout over each other. Each of them not bothering to listen to the other.
"He does love me!"
"No you listen to me! He's manipulated you! He gained our trust and then when the time was right he called his minions!
"I know when people are lying and he wasn't about us!"
"He was never our friend he was our enemy the entire time!"
"Why are you saying these thing Gum!? I know these things, I've never been wrong about people!"
"No, you ARE wrong! Just accept the truth already!"
Corn skated between the quarreling girls, "All right! That's enough, that's enough!" They stopped.
"We're only gonna make it worse if we turn on each other! The only choice we have now is to wait and see what these freaks have got in store for us. I can only imagine that…"
His words were stopped by the sounds of the Noise Tanks returning, and they had someone with them. Not Yoyo, but a tall girl with pixie cut silver hair. She was wearing a black, cutoff sweater-shirt, white pants with some green designs, and black roller blades. She also had on a checkered-green scarf. To the surprise of the GG's, she was thrown into the same cage as them.
"What the hell is up with you guys!" The girl hissed, "I'm not with this gang! Now let me out of here!"
"Silence!" The Noise Tank retorted, "We don't want to take any chances! Now sit there and wait, we'll be ready soon."
"Are you serious? Ugh! What a pain…" The girl complained.
Corn hesitated before speaking to the girl, "Um… hey there."
She greeted coolly while retaining some anger, "Hey. This sure is a mess huh?"
"No kidding." Beat answered, "Anyway, what have the Noise Tanks got against ya?"
She scoffed, "I was just skating around and those idiots grabbed me! They think I'm one of you guys… speaking of, who are you guys?"
"We're the GG's."
"The GG's!?" Her eyes widened, "You guys are supposed to be the hotshot gang of the streets and ya'll got caught like this? Man… that's crazy."
"It's because someone we thought was our friend betrayed us." Gum explained bitterly.
"Huh?"
Corn explained everything that had happened to this girl. Once the information was delivered, she appeared taken aback, "Wow… I'm real sorry that happened to you guys. I can't even begin to tell how much that sucks."
There was a minute of quiet before she introduced herself, "I'm Jazz by the way, sorry we had to meet like this."
"Likewise." Corn stated, "I'm Corn, and this is my gang." He pointed out each one while calling them by name.
"Sweet." Jazz responded, "We might as well work together since I doubt they're going to listen…Now, I happened to overhear what they got in store for us. They're going to make us play Death Ball."
Adrenaline shot up all over the place.
"Death Ball!?" Corn grabbed his hat, "I hadn't heard about that game in a long time! They gonna make us play that?"
"It seems that way. You guys aren't the only gang they've captured; two other gangs have been brought here to."
"What gangs are those?"
"The Doom Riders are one."
"The Doom Riders?" Beat spoke.
"Do you know them Beat?" Corn questioned.
"Yeah, I remember them. They were among one of the gangs I tried to join before I went solo, and eventually joined the GG's. It seemed like they were gonna accept me at first but… they asked me to meet up with them someplace and they never showed. Hmmph, I distinctly recall hangin' around for three hours before I got word that they had high-tailed it outta town."
"Damn." Garam remarked. Beat nodded in agreement.
Gum stared sympathetically at Beat for a moment before asking Jazz, "What about the other gang?"
"The other gang? They're the Love Shockers."
She paused before retorting with, "Ah, shit. This'll be fun…"
Corn consoled her, "Don't worry okay? Those chicks are all bark and no bite; I bet the Doom Riders are too."
"I wouldn't be surprised." Beat asserted, "Now I can't wait to see the look on their faces when they see me. I'll be more than happy to be the one to take those guys on."
A Noise Tank neared the cage that the GG's and Jazz were in and got their attention, "All right GG's. You will be facing the Doom Riders in a round of Death Ball. Here are the rules: two teams will fight for control of one ball. If you are able to complete a full lap without dropping the ball or getting it taken from you, you win. If you lose, you will be our slaves forever. You may also pass the ball to your teammate. That is all. Oh, and do not beg us for mercy. Remorse is not an emotion we were programed for. You have no choice, you must fight."
The imprisoned gang focused sternly. Corn turned to his gang, "We're a team guys. Remember that, we can get through anything."
Everyone nodded in agreement and Corn told the Noise Tank, "We accept your challenge."
"Smart move, now wait here again while we inform the Doom Riders." And he went away.
"Are you guys sure you can do this?" Jazz asked.
"It doesn't seem too challenging." Corn noted, "Besides, we don't have any other choice."
"All right, I trust you guys. I hope they hurry up so we can get this over with."
Cube sat in solitude in an empty alley in a meditative state, the setting sun was visible in the street. She took a deep breath and adjusted her shoulder-length, black hair. She had heard the broadcast on Jet Set Radio that the GG's had been captured by the Noise Tanks after Yoyo betrayed them and was feeling an overwhelming sense of regret from it.
After being defeated by them while leading Poison Jam, this news should've made her thrilled. These were extraordinary circumstances however. Her thoughts went to where they often did, to Combo.
"This is terrible…He's probably going to be killed..." Her eyes watered until a tear streamed down, then she loudly sobbed. The image of the Golden Rhinos wielding sharp machetes flashed in her mind, making her gasp. She jumped to her feet and her eyes darted around frantically.
"No... not again..."
Without warning, she heard the sound of that whip-wielding assassin lashing out. She covered her ears as more tears fell.
"Stay away! NO!" She screamed in panic. The vision of the blood on the street was just one nightmare too many and she collapsed to the cold ground, sobbing intensely. This dark cloud that hovered over her, haunted her without mercy. She didn't know what to do anymore, and she could feel her willpower slowly deteriorating.
"This is too much to endure! I don't know how much longer I can hang on…"
For a few seconds, all was calm. However, from the silence emerged wispy sounds of skates. Cube was so engrossed in her torment that she didn't notice. Even when the person stopped and knelt beside her.
"Cube." She knew that she remembered the voice that was gently calling her. Bewildered, she slowly looked up and was confounded by who she saw before her.
"C…Coin!?"
There was no doubt, it was him. He looked exactly the same with his backward baseball cap, muscle tank, and black jeans. Complete with his skates to boot. He was enveloped in a white light, so she was quick to assume she was still hallucinating.
"The one and only." He answered with a warm smile, "Miss me?"
She got to her feet and stared at him in disbelief, when he remained there she threw herself forward and was surprised that she was able to embrace him. His arms returning the hug, she felt a tremendous sensation of healing.
"Cube… It hurts my heart so bad to see you like this. I'll admit that I feel relatively responsible, I shouldn't have acted reckless knowing something suspicious was happening."
Cube looked him in the face, "No, don't blame yourself. Combo and I should've gone with you."
Smiling, he shook his head, "Deep down, I know it wasn't anyone's fault. Except for the Golden Rhinos; but that's not important. Combo needs you Cube, he needs you now."
"What can I do Coin? The Noise Tanks have caught him, and everyone else! That little runt, Yoyo, turned on them! I don't know how I'm going to save him…"
"Relax Cube, you don't have to. He'll save himself, I promise."
She paused, "Then… what should I do?"
"There's more to what meets the eye Cube."
"What… what are you trying to say?"
"Take what you know, and do some searching. I guarantee you'll find something."
"All right… I'll try." Anger rushed in with a wave, "You know what, I'll do it. I… I'm a little scared… but they can't get away with this."
"You can save them Cube; I have full faith in you."
Cube smiled and wiped the running mascara from her face, "My friend needs me, and I'm going to help him!"
"That's the spirit!" He encouraged, "Before you go Cube, listen. Don't let what happened in the past drag you down; always focus on moving forward. You're a great girl Cube, you deserve to have a great life. Make things right with Combo while you're at it, and don't worry. He'll listen."
"Are you sure?"
"Trust me." He comforted, "He will."
"I'll go then." With her spirit renewed, she smiled at Coin, "Thank you so much Coin."
He smiled back, "Anything for my friends Cube." Was his heartfelt response before the light shone so bright it was blinding. She covered her eyes, only looking again once she sensed the light had gone, and found herself back in the empty, shadowed alley.
After slowly glancing around, she mentally gathered herself and skated off, "Okay, let me think. Take what I know, and do some searching?" She thought.
When she glanced down the street, she saw a familiar figure. Upon staring at the person she figured out it was Yoyo, his hood was covering his head.
Quickly and quietly, she crouched behind a wall. To her relief he went by without noticing her.
"Huh… I think I'll follow that little double agent and see what he's up too."
She trailed his back secretly.
