Thanks to all readers! Man, this new chaptering system's got me kinda messed up. Here's the name of each chapter since the new system screwed up the original names I meant to put there
Chapter One: Care and Hurt
Chapter Two: Realization
Chapter Three: Confession
Chapter Four: The Rescue part one
Beat paced back and forth in the garage. He was supposed to be resting after receiving that blow to the head, but he just couldn't sit still. In times like this Beat always had to be in action some way or the other, and lying in bed was no where near enough to calm his nerves. Of course, pacing around wasn't doing him or anyone else much better. The others sat on the other side of the garage, watching Beat pace back and forth and not daring to say a word knowing how anxious he was.
"What is taking her so long?" Beat said aloud to no one in particular as he brushed his hand back over his forehead. The others sighed silently. They knew Beat was being as patient as he could, but when he asked where Piranha was and what was taking her so long every thirty seconds it really began to grate on everyone's nerves. Still, no one said anything. They all shared a bit of Beat's anxiety. After all, Gum had just been kidnapped and even if she left the GGs, her safety was most likely at risk. No one, save Cube and Combo, knew why Beat was taking it so hard though. They each had their own theories to explain his behavior, but they had no idea how right they were.
Old jump ropes and robe sashes, as simple as they were, effectively held Gum to a chair in the Love Shocker's HQ. The Shocker's had roughed her up pretty bad, but that didn't seem to bother her. She chuckled silently as she recalled the looks on their faces when she temporarily freed herself from their grasp and socked their leader right in the face. Even though she only had enough time to get in a few punches and kicks before she was overwhelmed by all three of them, it was still satisfying to her.
Her chuckled faded into a small grin of sadness. She still didn't know what had become of Beat or what the Love Shockers were planning to do to her. The young memory of her giving their leader a bloody lip was the only comfort she had right now. That, and when Beat had held her after confessing his love. She knew that if Beat was okay, he'd come and get her. He and maybe the other GGs if they weren't mad at her. She could clearly remember the shocked and angry face of Mew when she saw her skating around with the Love Shockers.
The sound of a heated, yet quiet, conversation in the other room brought Gum back to the present. She leaned forward in the chair and strained to hear what they were saying. They were talking about her, she just knew it. However, she was rather perplexed when the conversation between one Love Shocker seemed to be one sided. 'She must be talking to herself,' Gum thought 'or, she might be on the phone.' She sunk back into her chair, getting pretty close to the point of panic. If they were talking to a third party by phone, than whatever they had in store for Gum had to be bad.
"Piranha! What took you so long?!" Beat was on her right when she entered the garage. He lunged at her and grabbed her shoulders tightly as if to shake information out of her. Beat's numerous questions shot out of his mouth so fast Piranha couldn't understand a word he was saying. "Hey hey hey! Let go 'a me!" she said as she knocked his hands off of her shoulders. Beat took a few deep breaths and calmed down a bit. "Sorry….well? What'd you find!?" Beat finished off a little more anxious than he had wanted and dropped his arms to his sides. Piranha walked over to a wall and leaned up against it, crossing her arms and legs. She threw a quick glance at the other occupants of the garage, who were just as anxious as Beat despite their higher level of self-control. She closed her eyes and faced away from them. "Their hide out is on the other side of Shibuya, pretty close to Kogane. They're hiding in a tenement near the west edge of what was once Poison Jam's turf. You'll know it when you see it."
"Right. So, did you see Gum? Is she okay?"
"That building don't have any windows and they already got her inside by the time I arrived."
"Is it just them?"
"Yeah,"
"Well then, let's go."
"What a second," Cube broke in. "I think we should have a plan before we rush over there."
Beat sighed silently, but slowly sat down anyway. He wanted more than anything to bust over there and kick some major Love Shocker ass! However, Cube was right. Attacking another gang without a plan or any idea what they might have up their sleeves is a stupid and dangerous thing to do. Beat slunched back in his chair and crossed his arms. "So, any ideas?"
The leading Love Shocker, Petna, drummed her fingers on the desk as she tried to reason with the person on the other end. "I'm making you a good deal here. What's wrong with you?"
"I just don't know if I can trust you or not."
"Look, I'm helping you out here. I'll help you capture all of the GGs and all you have to do is protect us from them."
"How do you know they'll come?"
"I've already got one right here. Consider her, collateral. C'mon, you know you can't catch them on your own."
The other person grumbled a bit at that remark and sighed angrily. "Alright alright! You've got a deal! But, you'd better…"
"Don't worry about it." Petna interrupted. "I'll hand the GG I've got to you the minute you arrive and when the others come to save her, you'll be ready for them." After receiving a sigh in agreement from the other, Petna hung up the phone and smiled. "Perfect! Those GGs have no idea what's in store for them!"
Onishima released his grip on the phone and grunted. The last thing he wanted to do was accept help from another one of those damn rudies, but he didn't really have much of a choice. The pressure on him to put the rudies behind bars was intensifying and rumor had it that if he didn't get at least one of them locked up by the end of the month, he'd lose his job. "Are you sure we can trust those rudies, Captain?" asked a young, but loyal female officer. It wasn't that Seisna mistrusted her superiors judgment, she was just concerned about his physical well-being. He had been very stressed out lately and that didn't do much good for his mental and physical health.
"Well, to tell you the truth, no." he replied, shuffling a few papers into order. "However, we don't have anything to lose. They told us their exact location and I doubt they'd do that unless they meant business."
"True, unless they're planning on taking you and our best men out."
"I doubt a bunch of rudies would be able to do that, but you're probably right. So, if they do not hand over that prisoner rudie they were talking about immediately, we'll arrest them."
"Aren't we going to arrest them anyway?"
"Not now. If those, what were they again?"
"Love Shockers sir?"
"Right, Love Shockers. Well, if they can help us capture those GG kids, then they might be of assistance in the future. We'll take them all out one gang at a time! Once they're all behind bars, those Love Shockers will join them!"
"Brilliant in it's simplicity, sir. I'll call in the best men we've got."
Petna sat at her desk and patiently awaited the arrival of the keisatsu. While she seemed rather confident in her plan, the others differed greatly. "Are you nuts? Why would you invite the cops over here?!" one of them shouted. Petna simply shook her head and turned to them, smiling evilly. "We're leaving."
"What?" the other two asked in unison.
"Every year at the same time we leave Tokyo-To and every year we come back. We'll get the cops to play along with us and, when they aren't looking, skip town. This time for good."
"But what about Shibuya-Cho?"
"Who cares what happens to Shibuya? All the GGs will be in jail and our revenge will be complete. Just as long as Shibuya is no longer home to the GGs, that will be good enough for me."
The sound of several cars pulling up outside ended the conversation and had the two other Shockers looking at their leader nervously. "Don't worry, I'll handle this," Petna responded motioned for the other two to follow her. Gum had also heard the cars and was getting a little nervous herself. She had no idea what was in store for her and the evil look on Petna's face when she walked out of the room didn't help. Petna slowly walked over to Gum and placed her hands behind her back. Smirking evilly, she chuckled softly as she spoke. "Have we got a treat for you,"
Beat was lying on his bed resting the back of his right hand on his forehead. He was supposed to be sleeping, but who could sleep at a time like this? Piranha had been sent back to the Love Shocker's HQ to check up on the conditions there, then report back letting the others know if anything strange was going on. It was Cube's idea. It was also her idea to send Beat into his room to get some rest and, preferably, sleep as well. Beat sighed as he stared at the plain garage ceiling. He had been doing this a lot lately and he never really noticed how interesting the ceiling can get when you're bored, or worried out of your mind.
A sudden crash at the entrance made his heart leap in his chest. He bolted up and rushed to the main area where the frantic chatter of his friends boomed. Piranha rested her hand on the door frame and her other hand on her thigh, trying to catch her breath. However, her lack of oxygen did not stop her from reporting the sudden change at Love Shocker HQ. "The….whole place is surrounded…by cops.." she panted.
"Cops? You mean the keisatsu arrested them?" Combo asked.
"No. For some reason, they made a deal with…Onishima."
"Onishima!? Why in the world would they do that?! What's going on?!" Beat yelled from the back of the room.
"I don't know. I couldn't hear very much of it. Just that they're planning a trap for us. I don't know what's in it for the cops, perhaps the chance to catch us. But why they'd trust the Love Shocker's I don't get."
"Gum. They're probably using Gum!"
"That's the only reason I can think of."
"We need a plan leader guy!" Yo-yo piped from his corner of the garage.
Beat mumbled something inaudible and sat down. The cops, just what they needed. It was going to be hard enough getting Gum out of there unharmed. It was obvious that the Love Shockers had no pride, or else they wouldn't call in the keisatsu to fight their battles for them. While his heart came up with a thousand irrational and dangerous strategies, Beat's brain was coming up with nothing. He tried to keep his emotions in check, but that was proving to be very difficult. With each second gone by, his heart ached more and more. At one point, he almost sputtered out one of his heart's ideas, but caught himself just before any sound could pass through his lips. With his mind a complete mess, he did the only thing he could do. "I do have an idea, and if we don't mess up, not even once, we just might pull it off."
Every officer posted at the Love Shocker's HQ stood ready and determined. This might be it, the day they caught an entire gang. This would no doubt lead to a promotion at the very least. All they had to do was overtake and capture the GGs. Easy, right? Unfortunately for our police force, they made some pretty quick assumptions about the GGs, despite the many times they have evaded arrest. And these particular teens were not ones to be taken lightly. However, the leading patrolman, Shinji, realized this a little too late. "What the hell just happened?!" an officer exclaimed as he heard a clunk and turned just in time to see Shinji slide to the ground unconscious. Fearing his friends may have suffered a heart attack or some other medical ailment, he rushed to his side.
He knelt down beside Shinji as a few random officers went over to back him up. He appeared to be fine, he was breathing at least. However, when the officer realized that there was another sound of breathing that was neither produced by him or Shinji, it was too late. Just as he lifted his head to ask if anyone was hiding in the shadows, he saw a flash of skate wheels flying towards his face, then darkness. "You've got a mean kick, Garam." Mew commented. "Hold it right there!" one of the back up officers said as he reached for his gun, only to be plowed into the wall by Combo while Tab and Cube wrestled the other two to the ground. A Synchronized ambush. It wasn't the best idea there was, in fact, it was pretty stupid and dangerous. But it was the least dangerous and irrational idea Beat's heart came up with and thus the one they went on. The gist of the idea was that the strongest and/or most skilled GGs would render the cops unconscious one by one while the weaker GGs delayed/distracted the cops. Simple strategic, but very difficult to execute. There was no room for error.
While Combo knocked out the two cops Tab and Cube had pinned, the others skated around the remaining cops in a patternless format to distract and confuse them. The remaining cops began chasing the young skaters and they formatted into three groups with no distinguished number. They skated off, then skated back, then skated in different directions while tripping or knocking them down as they skated by. The nearby S.W.A.T. Team sprung into action and grabbed their gear. It was at this time that Piranha, Beat, Cube and Tab realized that they were in the crosshairs of the S.W.A.T. Team's gas spewing rifles. But, seeing as how they each had an officer held down by the neck, they decided to use this situation to their advantage. Now, it's common knowledge among rudies that the S.W.A.T. Team had adopted Onishima's temper, so only after they fired their first round of tear gas did they notice that the very kids they had shot at had a few of their fellow officers in custody. The four rudies, having been used to being sprayed with tear gas, managed to escape and cough whatever gas had gotten into their lungs out easily. The other officers, who were not so accustom to it, were too weak to move and slid to the ground unconscious.
While the members of the S.W.A.T. Team were disgusted with themselves for endangering their comrades, Combo shot up behind them and slammed one of them into the ground. The other's turned around and began to overwhelm Combo, until Garam slid in and tripped a few of them up. While Combo and Garam headed the frontal assault, Piranha and Slate came up from behind and strangled a few into submission. Meanwhile, the remaining officers were chasing Mew down. She swerved left and right to frustrate them and managed to cause a small collision between two clumsy officers. Out of nowhere, Beat and Tab flew in like the Blue Angels and tackled a random cop simultaneously, sandwiching him. While he was pinned between the two teens, Cube skated up and hit one of the pressure points in the back of his head. With three cops still on her tail, Mew dropped down abruptly and tripped them.
"What is with these kids? I've never seen them act this aggressive." Spoke a lonely cop of to the sidelines as he observed the battle. "I'd better contact the captain,"
"I don't think that will be necessary." Said a voice from behind him. Without thinking, he turned around just in time to receive a harsh kick in the face. Fumbling backwards, he felt sudden pain grab his fingers as his radio was kicked out of his hand. Yo-yo tackled the guy to the ground and began pummeling him, however, the other cop proved to be stronger than the youth and pushed him into a nearby wall. Just as he got back to his feet, he slid back to the ground, revealing Combo standing behind him.
It was unbelievable. They had actually won. A group of rudies had actually beaten the cops. Sure, it was only a small number of cops and S.W.A.T. members and they didn't escape minor injury from the fight, but they had won. "Let's not try anything like that again." Said Mew as she rubbed her sore arm. The others nodded in agreement, but Beat was completely silent as he prepared to bust down the Love Shocker's door. "Let me handle this one, kid." Combo said, placing a hand on Beat's shoulder. Beat looked up at him, and slowly backed away, extending his hand in a gentleman like factor. "By all means," he said in a mockingly polite fashion. It was always good to have someone like Combo around. Somehow, he always managed to bring out the lighter side of Beat, even in times like these.
All three Love Shockers jumped out of their skin as a loud bang filled the air. They turned their gaze to the door and froze at the sight of Combo, who had just busted the door off of it's hinges, and Beat who had brushed past the latter and now had his sights on Petna. Petna tried to make a dash for the back door, but Beat caught her and pinned her to the wall. Socks and other articles of clothing littered the floor, apparently the Love Shockers had been packing. "Where's Gum?" Beat screamed at Petna, banging her against the wall with each syllable. She looked at her capture with pure terror in her eyes, as did the other Shockers who were too scarred to move. "How…d,did you get past the cops!?" Petna mustered up the courage to ask, only to be back handed in reply. "Tell me where Gum is now!" Beat yelled, once again banging her against the wall to punctuate each word. The back of Petna's head was starting to hurt, and she could see that Beat as well as the other GGs were getting angrier each second. She decided that it would be best not to provoke them any further. "We, turned her over to…Onishima." She whispered, bracing herself for the hit.
And the hit did come. Hard. Beat punched her right in the face as he screamed every profanity he could think of. He was ready to kill her. Literally. And he probably would have done it too, had Combo not stepped in. As Beat pulled his hand back for a second punch, he felt Combo's arm grip his wrist and his other arm as well. With his arms tied up at the moment, Beat resorted to kicking Petna, which forced Combo to slowly pull him out of striking range. "It's not worth it, Beat." He said in a rational voice. "I don't think they'll be messing with the GGs ever again." Petna slowly slid to the ground, blood slowly flowing from her nose and mouth. Beat began to calm down under Combo's hold and he was eventually released. He glared at Petna and turned to leave in silence. The other GGs began to pile out of the small room, each mumbling something. Just as Beat reached the door, the slowly turned and looked straight at Petna. "Never show your face in Tokyo-To again." His voice was so monotone, but there was something threatening about it. Something that sent a chill up the Love Shocker's spine. With her eyes still wide with fear, Petna shook her head, her breath raspy and short. Beat growled at her one more time, then slowly turned to leave.
::Gasp:: Gum's been handed over to Onishima! How will the GGs rescue her? What will happen to Gum? Find out next time in Love Conquers All Chapter five: The Rescue part two! You'd better get ready!
Gene Starwind: Hey! That's my line!
Sorry. Please review!