Author's Note: Sorry this took so long, school's back in session and my health hasn't been so great. Hopefully you'll enjoy this regardless!
When the GG's reached the Tokyo Underground Sewage Facility once more, it was unusually quiet. There was only the sound of falling water drops hitting the puddles below.
"Looks like Poison Jam isn't here. Lucky us." Gum stated.
"Either that or they've skipped town." Cube mentioned, "As tough as they like to present themselves they are a bit cowardly."
"I've seen that behavior myself when I first met Yoyo." Combo remembered.
Corn advised, "Stay alert everyone. The Golden Rhinos could be anywhere."
"So which way to the Fortified Residential Zone?" Boogie asked.
"It's over this way." Cube guided through the dim sewers, "Just past the entrance."
"I've been there before myself." Garam mentioned, "As a warning to everyone, it's major hectic."
"Well Garam, considering what's been going on… I'm expecting it." Corn replied.
The gang came upon another entrance. This one was no different than the others except the path ahead; a twist followed by a slope going upward.
"This is it." Cube confirmed.
"So how are we gonna do this?" Garam inquired energetically, "Are we gonna bust in and secure the place like the feds?"
Corn glanced at Garam oddly, "I was thinkin' more… let's quietly sneak in. With how trigger-happy the Golden Rhinos have to be by now it's probably a bad idea to draw attention to ourselves."
After an awkward silence, Garam agreed, "Yeah, good point. Let's just be ninjas."
Boogie chuckled, "I like the sound of that. Being ninjas."
"Watch me be the best ninja, little lady." Garam whispered to her.
"You're on." She winked.
"All right GG's." Corn spoke, "Let's go."
The sounds of the large fans filled the air of the Fortified Residential Zone. However, there was nothing else. It was almost too quiet for the Fortified Residential Zone.
"You think the Golden Rhinos would be all over this place if they have Yoyo." Gum whispered.
"Stay awake everyone." Corn replied, "I don't know what they're trying to pull and I don't want to find out the hard way."
"Hey Corn, check this out." Rhyth spoke.
"Hm?"
She had found a reel-to-reel tape recorder sitting near one of the residences.
"What's this doing here?" Beat wondered.
The reel clicked on by itself and began rolling, startling the GG's.
"Whoa, what's going on?" Rhyth took a step back.
"Well, well, you actually showed up! How admirable!" The voice from the tape was immediately recognizable.
"Rokkaku!" Corn shouted.
"Unfortunately, it's far more foolish than admirable! Hahahaha!" Rokkaku taunted, "You continue to cling onto the sad notions of 'camaraderie' and 'friendship'. Now that's all quite wonderful and touching really but now, you're deplorable, disgraceful, and pitiful lives will end in a grand display of fireworks! You've fought well and it's sad to have this entertaining battle come to an end… but I have plans to execute, and it starts by executing you all! Hahahaha!"
The tape spontaneously exploded into pieces.
"What is he talking about? What's going on?" Rhyth looked around and gasped, "Guys!"
"Whoa! Golden Rhinos approaching from that way!" Combo pointed at the group of men with military weapons.
"Holy sh- guys, this way!"
Corn directed his gang to a worn and rusted stairway. Using their skates, they glided off the ground and the Golden Rhinos fired their guns. The GG's made it to the second floor no problem and continuing rail riding. Corn, who was ahead of the group, noticed the rail was ending fast but saw a steel ladder bolted to the wall.
"Gang, get ready to jump!"
"Got it!" Everyone replied.
One by one the GG's jumped to the ladder and glided vertically and flipping backwards on the next floor. Now out of the line of fire the GG's took a breather.
"Did we lose 'em?" Cube asked.
Corn looked around, "Looks like it… wait, what's that?"
The GG's locked their sights on a suspicious machine on another floor above them.
"It's got a timer!" Gum shouted.
Corn rushed to the ticking machine with a spray can in hand. He had to fly up a set of twirling stairs and hastily skate several more feet to get to the suspicious contraption.
"Shit! Is this what I think it is!?" Corn swore. The timer had fifteen seconds left. Thinking fast, he tore the back of the machine off and filled it with paint.
"I don't know if this'll work but it's all I got!"
By that time, the rest of the GG's had caught up and inspected the object. The timer was now stopped at three seconds.
"The timer stopped, thank God!" Gum announced.
Corn was breathing heavily from the adrenaline, "There's no doubt… this thing is a bomb!"
"I can't believe this!" Beat threw his arms in the air, "Rokkaku has gone too far!"
"He was gonna blow up this whole place wasn't he!?" Gum assumed, "So that's where all the residents went! They were probably all evacuated! Or… at least I hope so."
Jazz shook her head, "I knew this guy hated kids like us but to go to these lengths? That's so messed up."
Combo looked around, "Man, we better find Yoyo soon!"
"GUYS! HEY GUYS!"
Startled by that familiar voice, the GG's glanced around frantically.
"UP HERE YO!"
Rhyth faced upward, "Oh my gosh, he's up there!" She pointed.
Yoyo was on the next floor several feet away, locked in a cage that resembled the kind bird owners would keep their birds in. He surely resembled a trapped bird.
"Yoyo!" Corn yelled, "Hang on we're on the way!"
"Hurry yo! They've got another bomb over here!"
"Son of a-! GG's we gotta get over there!" Corn scanned the area quickly for a path, he found one quickly, "Everyone follow me!"
Corn led the gang up a flight of stairs leading to the next floor on the same level as Yoyo. However, their caged companion was on ground one wide gap away.
"This way!" Corn announced, he traveled up another ladder up another floor and sped toward the edge. Using his spray can he increased speed and power to his skates and took a leap of faith. Him and the rest of the GG's knew that if they fell short they would likely fall to their deaths below, but they had full faith in him, and they did the same. Everything appeared to almost freeze while they were at the peak of how high they were gonna go. The descend was the opposite, fast and heart pounding.
The landing? Surely not as smooth as they would typically go. Some of the GG's ended up colliding into one another just before landing and rolled across the ground several times.
Corn, who happened to land okay, rushed to Yoyo, "Where's the bomb!?"
"It's that way yo! I think it's about to explode! Hurry!"
Corn could see it clearly, there were only five seconds on the clock. The leader went barreling right for the machine and practically pounced on it and repeated the process as with the first bomb. He managed to stop disaster by less than a second. Before everyone could relax, Rokkaku's voice came from nearby in another reel-to-reel.
"What? You did it? Ugh! How frustrating! The fact that you are hearing this indicates that you have managed to stop the bombs. As aggravating as this is I will not worry! For I have prepared several more countermeasures. Enjoy this small little victory now you little rats… but know that you will fail soon!" The tape then self-destructed just like the first one.
The cage Yoyo was in was just above the GG's heads, so Cube took her skates off and climbed on Combo's shoulders to get to the same level. Yoyo seemed to be all right for the most part; he had several bruises and scratches indicating a recent physical altercation. He tried to shake the bars but they did not budge. He did not have his sunglasses on either.
"Relax, we'll have you out of this in a second." She told Yoyo.
Yoyo glanced at Cube curiously, "Don't I… know you from somewhere yo?"
"That doesn't matter right now. Do you have any idea on how to open this cage?"
"It's not going to be easy considering those guys yo." He scratched his head, "They locked me in here while I was out cold."
Corn hurried over, "Yoyo? Is that really you?"
"What do you mean yo? It's me!"
"Just wondering if you're another robot in disguise."
Cube reached through the cage and grabbed Yoyo's arm to yank him closer.
"Hey yo, what are you-?"
She then seized him by his hair and started scanning around his neck and face, she also tugged at his skin a bit.
"Yo, what's the idea? Could you just get me out of here yo? Ow! Watch the marks yo!"
Cube looked at corn smiling with reassurance, "Good news. This is the real deal Yoyo."
Corn breathed out, "Okay, thank God. Dude, you have no idea what we went through to find you."
Yoyo shook his head, "I think I do yo. You guys look like hell."
"We practically went to hell and back… twice!" Combo emphasized.
"Seriously, you really freaked us out!" Beat explained, "Not only that but… we'll tell ya later."
Cube jumped off Combo's back and put her skates back on, "Well, I can't see anything obvious we could break to open this thing.
"What are we going to do?" Gum asked.
Beat glanced up at the sky, and did a double-take, "Holy shit! Guys watch out!" He shouted in a frantic voice.
The GG's looked up just in time to see fighter jets crash loudly through the glass ceiling with the Golden Rhino symbol prominent on the wings. The GG's shielded their heads with their arms from the falling glass.
"No way!" Gum freaked, "Now he's got jets!? That's uncool!"
"You've guys got to get out of here yo! Now!" Yoyo shouted.
Determination fired up, Corn replied, "We didn't come all this way here and nearly get blown up just to abandon you Yoyo! Hold on tight!"
He took off skating toward a nearby ramp that he managed to get a good look at. He soared through the air with spray can in hand, shocking the pilot of the jet on the right. Corn landed upon the windshield and didn't hesitate obscuring the view with paint.
When the other jet started to turn around, Gum jumped into action. Using the same ramp, she hopped upon the jet that Corn was on and jumped on the second jet. She covered that windshield with paint. The rest of the GG's used this opportunity by trying to open Yoyo's cage.
The pilots communicated through radio,
"I can't see a damn thing! What are we going to do?"
"Reckless kids… we've got no choice just fire! Fire!"
Both jets launched a missile, one right after the other. The GG's yelped in unison. There was a quick flash of light and before any of the youths knew it, each of them were sent tumbling down among flaming debris.
Corn woke up seconds so close to a large piece of burnt rubble, that he could feel the heat on his face. He had no idea how far that he and his gang had fallen but it felt pretty far from the shock he felt in his body. He pushed himself up to look for his gang and only had time to view the sea of wreckage that surrounded him. The approaching Golden Rhino troops forced him back down, hiding himself. The heavy boots stomping along the ground got closer and closer.
Corn planted his face in his arm, "Shit… no way… I think this is it… we're gonna die… sorry everyone… sorry…"
"Golden Rhinos to communication, we have neutralized the targets and are ready to eliminate them."
"Very well, good job. Rokkaku will be very proud."
"Just as soon as we dig them out of this pile we'll-"
"Not today assholes!" A deep voice bellowed just before barreling into the three Golden Rhinos, throwing them to the ground.
It was Clutch, and Soda appeared right after with a can of spray paint. He began tagging one of the downed Golden Rhinos when the other two started to get up.
"Oh, you want more?" Clutch taunted. He used the wheels of his skates to kick one gun behind him several feet away, just as the other was about to grab his own firearm, Soda gripped his arm tightly.
"You shouldn't be playing with guns." Soda spoke in that calm, monotone voice. Then he nailed him across the face with a solid punch, knocking him out.
The remaining conscious one tried to get Clutch from behind with a knife, but Clutch whirled around, crouched and flipped his aggressor over his head. He then turned back around and delivered his own punch. Now all the present Golden Rhinos were unconscious.
Clutch laughed, "Haha! That was awesome Soda! You know, these guys are scary but you just gotta fight back sometimes!"
Soda smiled somewhat, "It was great finally getting back at them for what they did. Now… what about the GG's?"
Corn stumbled to his feet and Clutch rushed to him.
"Careful, how do you feel?" Clutch inquired.
The GG's leader looked at him, "You two are those guys."
"That's us, those guys. Heheh."
Soda spoke, "Are you guys okay?"
"I'm fine but… I have to see if my gang's okay."
Various groans emitted from the rubble. Gum emerged first, adjusting her cap.
"Gum!" Corn called.
"Oh my God, I was truly scared. I really thought they had us this time for real." She pushed out of the debris.
Next was Beat, "That was a nightmare. I'm glad that freakish trip is over."
Then Combo, once he had his wits back he dug for Cube, "Cube! Cube where are you?"
"I'm right here." She spoke beside him, "I'm not hurt, I think. I can stand."
He helped her up, then began searching for everyone else, as did Corn, Beat, and Gum.
Jazz emerged, "Just as the floor collapsed beneath us, Rokkaku's plans have collapsed once more."
"Jazz!" Gum approached her, "You okay?"
"I'm fine Gum. I just want out of this hell hole."
Corn replied, "We'll leave. Once everyone is accounted for."
"Hey hold on…" Gum glanced around, "Where's… Yoyo!"
She skated quickly over to his still intact cage, he was laying down inside. While the rest of the GG's climbed out of the mess.
"Ouch… that's going to leave a mark." Boogie rubbed her shoulder.
Rhyth said after, "Ugh! I thought we were goners that time!"
Garam stretched out his limbs before saying, "Truly, that was quite a fall. I'm glad everyone seems all right. Huh? Oh no! Yoyo!" He too, rushed to the cage.
"Huh? What!?" Rhyth freaked.
"Hey guys! I think I might have the solution!" Clutch called, he had a tiny key with the Golden Rhino logo on it.
"There should be some kind of hidden keyhole on that cage. Five minutes before we got here, Soda and I heard them talking about it."
Corn took the key, "Thanks, how did you get this by the way?"
"It was by one of them over there." He pointed at the downed gunmen, "I think it musta fell out of his pocket while we were fighting them! Heh…"
Yoyo started to come to, "Agh… geez, I'm gonna be feeling that for weeks yo…" He lightly shook his head.
Corn began inspecting the cage, "Don't worry Yoyo, we'll have you outta this in a second."
Yoyo crossed his arms and whispered, "One…" before his eyes caught something on the bars, "Hey! What about this?"
"What is it? I can't see from here…"
"Hand me that key yo!"
Corn handed Yoyo the key, who fumbled with it for a bit before inserting the key properly. Instantly the top half of the cage opened. Yoyo crawled out, and hastily got to his feet.
"I'm free yo! I'm finally free!"
All of the GG's cheered and danced in celebration.
"I am free! Who da man yo!? That's right! It's me! I. AM. FREE!" Yoyo danced in victory.
"That was a strong cage to survive a fall like that." Combo mentioned.
"Yeah, but now I'm free yo!" Yoyo approached him, "Who da man!?" He glanced at Cube who was beside Combo, "Wait a minute, I remember you yo! You were that girl who was leading Poison Jam!"
"Not anymore." Cube answered, "I'm with you guys now. It's kind of a long story."
Rhyth suddenly jumped on Yoyo in a tight hug, "Yoyo! I'm sooo glad you're safe!"
Yoyo's eyes were widened with surprise, "Heh… yeah. It's been crazy yo."
"What happened anyway? How did you-?" She paused upon realizing she was looking directly into a pair of hazel eyes.
"I-Is something wrong yo?"
She released him, "Oh no, it's just I've never seen you without those sunglasses before."
"Speaking of." Beat handed Yoyo his red sunglasses, "Here dude, you dropped these. We found them in the streets."
"Thanks yo!" He eagerly took them and fitted them back on, "Who da man!? Yoyo is back! Um… they're cracked yo."
"Yeah, sorry 'bout that." Beat shrugged, "They were like that when we found them."
"I see… ugh! What a pain in the ass yo! It was the Golden Rhinos!"
With a sense of urgency Corn spoke, "Hey guys, we better get out of here before THEY wake up." He glanced at the sky, "Or before those planes come back."
"What about these two?" Gum asked, pointing to Clutch and Soda.
"Did you forget about us?" Clutch joked.
"Hmm…" Corn pondered, "You know, if it weren't for you two we would be screwed right now."
"Ah, it was nothin' GG's. We figured we owed ya a little favor after you saved us. Then spared us right after."
Soda nodded, "No problem. We didn't have anything else better to do anyway."
"Hmm… okay then. How about you guys come back with us? I have a feeling we're going to need all the hands we can get." Corn decided.
"That sounds all right to me!" Clutch agreed, "What do you think Soda?"
Keeping calm, Soda replied, "Sure thing."
"All right GG's. Let's move on outta here!"
"Wait yo!"
Everyone paused.
"What is it Yoyo?" Corn inquired.
He hurried to where the still unconscious Golden Rhinos were and shook a spray can, "This is what you get for kidnapping me you losers!" Within seconds he sprayed colorful graffiti and street art all over their clothes.
"All right yo! Let's get outta here!"
The triumphant gang left the Fortified Residential Zone, laughing.
Jet Set Radio, DJ Professor K, ready for action!
"Jet Set Radio! Whether you're chillin' in your house or in your coffin, don't forget to tune us in to keep you company!" The energetic DJ greeted listeners.
"The GG's finally found and rescued the real Yoyo! Uh… I think! Looks like the Golden Rhinos are out for retribution because I've just received the word that they are plannin' a massive showdown on the streets of Tokyo!"
He paused before noting, "Now I'm the star at the top of their blacklist because I gave you the lowdown on them. This is the first time I've been on top since… since… the burping contest in elementary school! This time I've got nothin' to say except… it's time to get my runnin' shoes on…"
"Oh? What's this? Looks like some freak that looks a lot like Beat is showin' his face all over Tokyo. Even for someone who likes to play a little dress up, ain't that a bit weird? He's runnin' around sprayin' some craaaazy graffiti. I wonder… does he have any connection to the Golden Rhinos? If the Golden Rhinos are allowed to romp through the streets like this, Tokyo is done for! Somebody stop them!"
Now in a narrow backstreet between their hideout and Rokkaku-Dai Heights, the GG's had just listened to the broadcast.
"Oh no… looks like this is going to hell real fast." Corn dreaded.
"Nah, it sounds worse than that." Combo disagreed, "It's going to hell's basement!"
"What's going to happen?" Rhyth worried.
"Hurry to the hideout! It's be safe there. I wanna discuss a few things with Yoyo."
Yoyo replied somewhat nervously, "Uh, sure thing yo."
With the night in full throttle, the GG's reached to the warehouse where Potts and Roboy were waiting.
"Ruff! Ruff!" Potts barked happily and rushed to Yoyo, jumping in his arms and licking his face.
Yoyo caught him, "Hey boy! It's good to see you too yo!"
Clutch and Soda stared at Potts nervously, the dog caught sight of them and started to growl softly.
"Shh, it's okay boy." Yoyo turned to them, "They're friends. They won't hurt us."
"You found him! About time!" Roboy applauded, "You! Where in the world have you been all this time?"
"Heh, you missed me too huh Roboy? I'll have you know that I'm used to this kind of stuff. I wasn't scared at all! They tried to keep me in line but I was too tough for 'em yo!"
"Whatever you say." The robot shifted his focus to Clutch and Soda, "You two! Back for more? You caught me off guard once but that won't happen again!"
Corn intervened, "Roboy! Roboy, they saved us. They're likely going to be hanging around for a while."
"We won't be pulling anything like that again, I promise." Clutch swore.
"I'll be keeping my eye on you two regardless." Roboy warned.
Soda sighed, "Oh boy..."
Yoyo continued to celebrate, "I'm just too strong yo!"
"You were in a cage Yoyo." An unconvinced Gum retorted.
"That's… that's because they knocked me out yo! Eventually… it took them a while though!"
"Yoyo…" Corn spoke, "I want you to tell us what happened. When you disappeared you were going out to cause trouble and then you vanished. What happened?"
Yoyo grinned, "Well…"
"Be honest please..." Corn sternly requested, "The city's in trouble now and I need to know the truth. This isn't a time to be lying."
Yoyo's grin faded, and he sighed, "Okay then yo… Here's what happened…"
Yoyo rushed out toward his destination, "All right! This is going to be FUN! They have no idea what I have planned yo! Heheheh…. Here I come Shibuya Terminal!"
Trouble? Yes, very much on his mind. Yoyo had the urge for trouble and he knew just how to find it. But on this day…
"Huh? Yo what's going on?"
Shibuya Terminal was completely empty, very much unlike the area. He even cleaned off his shades just to be certain he wasn't hallucinating.
"Where is everybody yo?"
A few steps forward he heard chatter behind on of the vacant buses. Curious, he slipped near the bus the opposite side to where the talk was coming from.
"So the Golden Rhinos really are here huh?"
This piqued Yoyo's interest, "Huh? Golden Rhinos here?" He thought to himself.
The voices continued,
"Yes, it is true for certain. The Golden Rhinos are here to take over. Don't worry, they're undefeatable. Even that 'hot gang' who call themselves the GG's won't be able to take 'em down I bet."
"Heh, cool. It's about time someone like that was here."
"We're here too, and we'll be taking over more turf. Now let's stop chatting and get back to work!"
"Sure thing!"
Yoyo pinned his back against the bus as two robots left the scene.
"What the…? Yo, I need to go back and tell everyone… this is getting bad. The Golden Rhinos that Combo talked about are here!" He paused, "Actually, maybe I should scout these guys out and try to find out more. Maybe I can catch wind of a plan and we'll be able to stop them…"
"I found some graffiti on another bus and there were more along the buildings yo. I followed the symbols and… I was suddenly grabbed from behind, I tried to fight them but they K.O'ed me… The next thing I remember is waking up in the cage…"
"Yoyo… that's crazy." Corn shook his head, "I'm so pissed that the Golden Rhinos would go so far…"
"What exactly happened while I was gone yo?"
Corn sighed, "Well, here's everything from top to bottom summarized… Yoyo we thought the Noise Tanks had you. But it turned out they made a clone of you. The Noise Tanks were created by Rokkaku and the plan was to take us down. Part of that plan was to kill our spirit by making it seem like one of our own betrayed us. They forced us into playing a game of Death Ball, which is how we met Jazz here."
"They thought I was one of them." Jazz explained, "Now I am, talk about irony heh."
"Then at the amusement park Cube helped us realize that the clone wasn't you, and she told us where to find you."
Yoyo was in shock at what he just heard, "Wow… I can't believe it… I'm so sorry guys, this was all my fault. If I had just come back right away, you guys wouldn't have gone through all that hell yo."
Boogie stepped forward, "Hey, think of it this way Yoyo. If you hadn't gone missing, I wouldn't be a part of this gang right now! They were looking for you where I was hanging out and finding them there gave me the courage to ask to join the gang. So you did me a favor! I'm Boogie by the way."
"Heh, you're welcome yo."
"A blessing in disguse." Jazz added, "I too, would not be here now if this hadn't happened."
Clutch also brought up, "You know, I was wondering how we were going to make up what we did. I was scared we were gonna be on their radar for the rest of our lives. We saved their lives so... we've been forgiven. Now we're here too."
Soda muttered, "For the most part anyway..."
Yoyo chuckled, "Heh… I guess some good did happen yo. I don't feel as bad now, thanks guys! Wait, what do you mean by 'what you did'?"
"I can... explain later." Soda offered, "I'm Soda, by the way. This is Clutch."
Clutch waved, "What's up?"
"Call me Yoyo. It's cause I say 'yo' a lot, yo."
"Still…" Beat spoke, "You freaked us out major Yoyo. For that, I'm going to have to throw you around for a bit once all this is over." He sneered.
"You're on yo! But I'm gonna fight back so you better be ready!"
The GG's laughed while the two struck battle poses.
Garam interrupted by giving Yoyo a high-five, "It's good to see you back Yoyo! Don't worry, I was sure that there was never a dull moment while you were gone!"
"Um, hey guys?" Rhyth said, catching everyone's attention.
"I'm worried about DJ Professor K. I mean about what he said…"
Gum touched her shoulder, "I wouldn't worry about it too much. Professor K is in such a hidden place I doubt they'd find him even if they were looking for him."
"Which they likely are." Combo replied.
"That's right! Professor K said something about someone lookin' like Beat hangin' around!" Corn remembered, "We better get going and see what's up."
From Jet Set Radio, Professor K broadcast, "There are no superheros to save the day in the world of the streets baby! It's all up to you to take on the role for yourself! This just in, low-life punks are rampaging through Chuo Street, and Highway Zero is in a sea of flames! Golden Rhinos are laying waste to the street and showing no mercy!"
"No problem Professor K, we're gonna push back with everything we've got! You heard the man GG's, now let's move out!"
