Chapter 04 – Breakout Part One
(Disclaimer: Oh, come on, you know it by now. Blah, blah, don't own
characters, blah, Sega does, blah. However I freely admit I know zilch about
the technicalities of radio building so please don't freak about that. Thanx!)
Beat grinned as the music faded away. You had to admit, building a fully
working radio in jail from who knew what was a pretty good achievement. He
could afford to be smug.
"And this is Professor K, bringing you Jet Set Radio live and in action.
And now we have a special message to all the GGs from a lonely lady…"
Cheesy romantic music echoed in the background.
And then Beat heard the voice he'd been wishing for.
"Beat? Everyone?"
He fought the urge to punch the air. Of course, this didn't mean she'd
forgiven him. But at least she could mention his name.
"This is Gum…uh…I don't know whether you'll pick this up, but I got
the frequency of your radio and it's a way of communicating, I don't dare come
to visit you 'cos they'll probably figure I'm a GG as well…uh…anyway…I'm
gonna bust you punks outta there if it's the last thing I do!"
The Noise Tank and the Poison Jammer glanced at each other, with
'huh?' faces on.
"Anyway…uh…I'll try and tune in tomorrow. I just hope the Keisatsu
didn't choose to hear this…"
"Well, wasn't dat nice?" Professor K said. "Folks, the GGs are coming
home!"
"Not if any of the Keisatsu were listening, they're not," said the Noise
Tank. "Boy, life must be sweet out there without you dweebs hanging round."
Beat ignored the jibe. Surely this had to be an omen. First they got Jet
set Radio. Now Gum was speaking to him again.
Things didn't get any better than this.
Cube saw the three GGs, all at different places round the table. Beat and
Piranha grinned at her. But Slate just looked, and then his eyes slid away.
Cube felt her throat tighten. Why couldn't she just talk to him? If only
it was possible. She looked over again, but now he'd gone back to staring at
the table. She sat down next to San, who was next to Slate, and sighed.
"Hey," whispered San. "You wanna talk to that guy with the nose?"
"What? Sure I do, but –"
San nodded. "Tell me what to say and I'll say it to him."
Cube felt herself blush, but realised she had no other option. "Tell him
– ask him if he's mad with me."
She forced herself not to listen to the whispered conversation on her left,
and concentrated on her food.
"He says no, but why won't you believe him?"
"Because it can't be true."
Whispering. "Why can't it?" San turned back to her again.
"He knows why. It's stupid, it's impossible and he doesn't even look
right." Cube knew she was being cruel, but she didn't care. She was sick of
being pushed around.
"He says what if he could prove it beyond all doubt?"
"Then I'd believe him. But he can't. We can't even talk."
"He says, remember that day you went up to sit by the statue in Grind
Square together. He says remember you carved your names on it, and he said
that'd be more permanent than graffiti, just like he hoped you and him were
gonna be." San sighed. "Geez, that's so romantic. Come on, Cube, say yes,
whatever it is!"
"Hey, you're a Love Shocker. You don't believe in romance, right?
Tell him to stop using my memories." It hurt to hear them being spoken out
loud. They'd been private. They'd been what she remembered when she was
lonely.
More whispers, then San said, "He says he isn't, he says they're his
memories too, and he says if he could just get you on your own…" She
giggled. "He'd prove it to you for certain."
"Tell him to shove off." Cube felt a mean pleasure as she saw Slate's
face fall. She was sick of this. If only Coin hadn't died. Then everything
would be fine.
There was more whispering on her left, but ignored it.
"You realise if your girl's got her radio tuned to this frequency, she can hear
everything we're saying," said the Noise Tank.
"Uh-huh." Beat lay back on his bunk, staring at the ceiling with a big,
happy grin on his face.
"Well, why're you so happy then?"
"Because I can do this…" Beat took a deep breath. "GUUUUUUM!! I
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!!"
The sounds echoed around the cell, and down the corridor, and about
fifty voices yelled back in response, "Shut up!"
Gum twisted the radio until she picked up what she was beginning to think of
as the Beat frequency.
"You realise if your girl's got her radio… crrrrrrrrrrrr…frequency, she
can hear everything we're saying."
"Uh-huh."
"Well, …crrrrrrrrrrrrrrr… happy then?"
"Because…crrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…this…GUUUUUUM!!I
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!!"
Gum blushed, and listened to the barking and howling as every dog in
Shibuya added to the noise. Potts stuck his head out of the kennel and looked
around, baffled, then whined and went back to sleep.
Combo was actually grinning. "You think he wants you back?"
"I'm never forgiving him. Never."
"Or her?"
"Either of them."
"Come on, Gum. Don't you think it's time to forgive and forget?"
"No."
"Okay, fine. But you're gonna miss him…"
"I am not."
"Are so." Combo was looking happier than she'd seen him for ages.
"Am not."
"Are so."
"Am not!" Gum grabbed her spray paint and painted a long yellow
smear down Combo's shirt. "Now shut up."
"I hate yellow. Can't you have done it in blue?"
"Okay!" Gum grinned and did so.
"Right." Combo picked up his own paint. "Dis means war."
Spray paint flew in all directions. When it finally cleared, both of the
GGs were covered in paint and Gum was feeling happier.
"All right," she muttered, "Maybe I'll miss him. Just a bit. Just a little
bit. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna be nice or anything. Okay?"
"Sure, sure."
"Combo?"
"Uh-huh?"
"Is this paint fumes I can smell?"
"Uh-huh."
"Can't we get high on those?"
"Uh-huh."
"Is that a green hairy elephant coming out of the kitchen?"
"Uh-huh."
"Great." Gum fell back onto the sofa. "Can you reach the radio?"
"No. It's too far…and the elephant's in the way…"
"Cool." She lay back and let the sounds wash over her.
"You love her? You love her? What sort of a rudie are you?"
"A happy rudie…"
"I think I'm gonna throw up. Is this radio connection of any use apart
from allowing you to do the love letter thing?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes. Look, bozo, some of us want to get out of here."
"So do I. I've got my girl to worry about." Deep sigh.
"Well, I've got a plan. Do you think she's listening?"
"Probably…her ears catching every word…crrrrrrrrrrrr…she's got
beautiful ears…"
"Okay, now I am going to throw up."
"So what's da plan?" asked a new voice.
"Simple. Your girl needs to…crrrrr… what if the Keisatsu are listening
to this?"
"They won't be. You have to be pretty lucky to tune in in the first place,
and they don't even know about it. We're fine."
"Your girl needs to get in here and spring us all out."
"Oh, is that all?" Beat sounded scornful. "And how's she supposed to
do that?"
"I'll explain when I've got it all worked out. But she's gonna have to
get busy."
Gum felt she practically lived at Jet Set Radio for the next few days as she and
the prisoners made plans. She talked to Beat politely, like you'd talk to a
friend, and she made no mention of anything that had happened between them.
She wasn't sure herself now how she felt.
But then, one dark night, all was ready.
The prison had a high concrete wall around it, which was dotted with
searchlights, lookout towers, and barbed wire. About eight feet away from that
was a wire fence which was lower, and which Gum and Combo now climbed.
Neither were finding it easy. Combo's skates were hindering his progress, and
although Gum was wearing shoes, she was clutching a large metal pole almost
as tall as she was.
Once on the other side of the first barrier, Combo crouched down and let
Gum balance on his shoulders. Using the pole to balance with, they
approached the wall.
"Ready?" whispered Combo.
Gum nodded. Her heart was thumping. She hadn't realised fully how
dangerous this was gonna be. One slip, one loss of speed, and they'd be in
there with the other GGs, and then there'd be no hope for any of them.
The sensible thing would be to stay away from this building for good.
But I was never sensible, thought Gum. She hefted her pole. "Let's
go."
Combo, gripping her ankles, ran down the length of the wall, and Gum
swung the pole. It caught the first searchlight, which fizzed out like a dying
firework. And onto the next one. And the next. The smashes and crackles
made Gum smile. Maybe, deep down, she was just a vandal after all. And
underneath her pleasure there was shiny fear – after all, it wasn't impossible
that she could get fried by doing this. Or picked off by a sniper.
The pole was swinging wildly, nearly pulling Gum over, but Combo
was holding her steady. And now all the lights were off, and the prison yard
was a pool of deep black shadow. Gum took a deep breath, dragged the wire
cutters out of her pocket, and prepared to dive in.
The barbed wire was tough, but eventually it parted, leaving a GG-sized
gap. Gum pushed up from Combo's shoulders, threw her arms over the wall,
the pole clattering against the stone, twisted it vertical and felt it thud the
ground, and slid down it. Once on the ground, she ran.
Above her the watch towers were playing Jet Set Radio at full volume.
Gum grinned. Some piece of radio-technology had enabled Professor K to
block out all the other frequencies in the city for a short time, which meant the
guard towers' communication was down.
"I'll need to order backup manually!" yelled a guy from one tower,
hurrying down to ground level. Gum ducked into the shadows, and followed
him.
He reached a door, unlocked it – it slid open – and then Gum clouted
him over the head with the pole, dashed in and slammed the door shut behind
her.
She stood in a neon-lit corridor, at the foot of a metal staircase. She
waited for a few seconds, and then clicked on her wristwatch radio to try and
pick up Beat. Professor K had said he'd take the frequency jammer off after
five minutes.
But there was no Beat. There was no Jet Set Radio. There was just the
lonely hiss of static.
What had happened?
Beat stood, listening to their radio. At the moment Jet Set Radio was playing
nothing but music so that none of the guard towers would hear Professor K
talking about the escape. Beat's heart was pounding. It seemed too good to be
true that they'd finally be out of here.
"Fingers crossed, huh?" said the Noise Tank.
Beat nodded.
Suddenly, they heard footsteps, and then the door to the cell was thrown
open. Two guards stared down at them.
"What the – don't move!" yelled the first one as the Noise Tank made to
hide the radio under the bunk. "What's that?"
"I suppose you wouldn't accept it being an electric toothbrush," Beat
said.
The guard scowled. "Well, it's illegal. Get out the way –" And he
raised his foot and brought it down on the radio.
There was a miserable crunch. The Noise Tank went pale. He looked
from the guard to the radio like he couldn't believe what had happened.
The guard kicked the flattened radio, and said, "You're all on extra
workload tomorrow. Now, spill. Where'd you get the stuff for this?"
Beat looked at the Noise Tank. The other rudie was looking over at the
radio, and then he just touched it slowly. His shoulders were drooping.
"Geez, grow up," sneered the other guard. She rolled her eyes. "It's
just a radio."
And then they both laughed.
Beat burned with rage, and he got to his feet, and yelled, "Hey, leave
him alone!"
"You shut up or you'll be in solitary," the male guard ordered.
And then Beat punched him in the face.
His cellmates' mouths dropped open. Beat stood there, feeling blood
trickle over his knuckles. He didn't feel angry now. He just felt a little dizzy.
He wasn't the sort of guy to freak out and throw punches normally. He
couldn't quite believe he'd thrown this one.
"Ride, you're for id dow." The guard's nosebleed was obstructing his
speech, but not his movements. He grabbed Beat, pulling his arms behind his
back, and dragged him out of the cell.
Cube was waiting in the corridor, surrounded by Love Shockers. She couldn't
stop picking at her fingernails, and she was annoyed by it. She'd faced down
much worse things than just talking to a guy.
"He's here!" San hissed to Cube, and immediately all the Love Shockers
separated and stood in twos and threes, blocking the corridor. San had
drummed up support all right.
Slate walked towards Cube, who tried to act calm. "You said you could
prove it," she said, throat dry. "We're on our own. Get going."
Slate, she was glad to see, didn't look any less nervous. "Okay. Fine."
He reached up, and began to unbutton the collar of his uniform, which
even now still hid the lower half of his face. Cube tensed. Soon she'd know
for sure.
There was one long scar which ran down from his ear to his neck, and
he still had his nose, but…
…Cube studied his face. She was afraid to move, because – because it
was Coin. It was. His wry grin, the shape of his jaw, his goatee, and the look
in his eyes – it was. It was.
"I believe you," she whispered. And then she kissed him.
As she felt his arms encircle her waist, she was only dimly aware of the
Love Shockers cat-calling.
(Author's Note – any tacky jokes about whether Slate's nose stops him
kissing are not appreciated. Just enjoy the moment, people.)
Suddenly –
"Hey! You know the rules! Get moving!"
She heard the Love Shockers start to move off, and looked up. Three
guards were coming towards them. Cube felt her muscles tense, and her blood
shivered.
"Hey, quit playing tonsil tennis and scatter," called the nearest guard.
Cube didn't move. She slipped her hand into Slate's.
"Didn't you hear me?"
"I heard you," Slate said. He sounded calm. Cube wondered if he felt
it.
"Right –" The guard raised his truncheon. "You're dead."
It struck Slate's head, and Cube felt her fear snap. She ran forward,
grabbed the guard's arm, trying to pull the truncheon away, felt something
strike her face, but hung on, saw Slate duck another blow, and then she was
really furious and bit down on the hand she was gripping as hard as she could.
The guard yelled and shook her off. Cube felt her back slam into the
wall, the spine scraping down the rough concrete. She got to her feet, burning
to smash, to punch. Then she felt the truncheon hit her face, heard Slate yell,
"Leave her alone!" But more blows were falling like rocks on her face and
body, and she fell back into darkness.
Gum walked up the steps, trying to keep calm. Okay. So the radio was out.
She'd lost her communication. But she was just gonna have to work around
that.
On her left was a door, with Dormitory B:Women printed on it. It was
slightly open, and she could see guard's uniforms hanging on the walls.
This was the guard's quarters. If anyone came along, she'd be dead
meat.
So…
She carefully pushed the door open a little more, taking care to keep out
of sight. Waited for someone to yell, but all she could hear was snores. This
must be the day shift.
Creeping on feet that suddenly seemed to crash on every step, Gum
walked over to the nearest hanger. She was tall for her age. The uniform
looked like it might fit.
It was dark in there, the only light the orange city-glow through the
window. Gum slipped the white shirt and black skirt on over her normal
clothes, kicked off her shoes and forced her legs into the tights, added the cap
and jacket, and finally buckled the belt, with holsters containing tranquilliser
gun and truncheon, around her waist. The weight of the weapons gave her
comfort. She'd go down fighting, at least.
And then, slipping her shoes back on, she headed back out into the
corridor.
Beat sat in the pitch darkness, rubbing his wrists where the cuffs dug in. He
was really kicking himself now. Losing his temper had simply got him exiled
to the hole – the black basement cell – and there was no way he was gonna
escape from that. He resisted the urge to bang his head against a wall.
Suddenly he heard the rattle of keys, and light flickered in, dazzling his
tired eyes. He saw the silhouettes of two guards, one carrying another figure in
its arms.
The guard deposited the figure roughly on the floor, and kicked it.
"Stupid bitch. That bite really hurt!"
Beat kept his mouth shut. He had no wish to get another punch in the
face. As the door slammed and the light vanished, he tried to make out his
cellmate in the darkness.
"Uhhh…what's happened?"
That voice sounded familiar. "Cube?"
"Beat? Is that you?"
"Yeah. What did you do to end up here?"
"I bit one of the guards."
"You bit him? That's mature."
"Then they beat me up and now I'm here. Beat, I was talking to
Slate…they started hurting him…that's why I hurt them…he's not Slate. I
mean he is, but Slate…" She was running out of breath. "Slate is Coin."
Beat turned the sentence around in his mind, wondering if it would
make any more sense backwards. No. It still had the same degree of accuracy
as 'Onishima is a GG' or 'The Rokkaku corporation have decided to fund a
let's-all-help-the-rudies project.'
"What do you mean?" he said at last.
"Coin managed to escape from them. He – he got hurt, his face got cut
– a guy fixed him up but that was why he looked different. He told me – I saw
his face – it was him."
"Wow." Beat didn't know what else to say.
"You know what happens now, don't you?" Cube said bitterly.
"What?"
"Well, we're both lying in the dark, injured, scared…you know what
happened the last time we were in this situation." She made a kissing sound.
"At least this time you can't kick me out of anything."
Beat let the words sting him. He deserved it. "I'm sorry," he said.
"You said, in Bantam Street."
"Why won't you believe me? Look, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I'd kiss
your feet if I could see them, I'm officially giving you back your GG
membership –"
"Wow. Do I get a certificate?"
"You're a real bitch sometimes, you know that?" Beat said before he
could stop himself.
There was a silence, and he waited to get yelled at, but eventually Cube
just said, "I know. But when you feel screwed around, you don't feel like
playing the nice girl."
"Would you come back to the GGs – now – I mean, if we weren't in
here?"
She was silent again, and then she said, "Yeah."
"Great." Beat mentally punched the air. "Not that we're getting out of
here." He felt gloom settle over him again. "Gum was supposed to be helping
us all escape tonight."
"What? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Because there's no way she'll get us out now we're down here. You
know you're kept in here for at least a week."
"Trapped in here with you for seven days. Sounds like the subject for a
porn movie."
"Do you have to keep going on about stuff like that? I thought we'd
sorted it."
"Sorry. You never know, maybe she'll manage it somehow."
"I don't think so."
Gum straightened her collar, took a deep breath, and pushed open the dining
room door.
A tall female guard swept up to her, blonde hair coiled neatly back in a
shining knot. "Where have you been? No one's shift ends for another hour."
"I got delayed." Gum tried to act mature. She was not a rudie. She was
a guard. She was employed. She had a job.
"Well, I shouldn't let it happen again. We've got an example to set
here."
"Oh, leave her alone, Julia." Another guard cut into the conversation.
"I'm just trying to cultivate some standards…" Julia rolled her eyes and
marched off.
"Thanks." Gum studied her defender. This guard was short and skinny,
with dark hair slipping down from an untidy ponytail. She had an air of
strength, but at the moment her face was friendly.
"You know Julia. She loves to be right. Where have you been,
anyway?"
"Private business." Gum tried to look confident.
"You sneaked out, huh? Well, I won't rat on you. Are you new?"
"Yeah. I've only just arrived."
The guard whistled. "Novice, huh? Well, don't let them push you
around. They may be prisoners, but you gotta remember, they're just like kids
with marker pens."
Gum forced herself not to get into a fight about this. It was difficult, but
she managed to simply nod.
She looked round, studying the table. "Why are they all in different
colours, anyway?"
"Didn't they teach you that?"
"I was put through in a hurry," Gum said, hoping that would sound
enigmatic enough to be convincing.
"Oh, well, the green ones are from the Poison Jam gang…"
As she explained, Gum surveyed the tables, looking for a sign of GGs.
She picked out Slate, one eye blacked, and Piranha, but where were all the
others?
She put this question to the guard. "I thought there were more GGs?"
"Oh, well, four are in Block A, and two attacked officers tonight and so
they've been put in the hole to cool off a bit. A dark-haired girl, and a guy who
built a radio in his cell."
Beat and Cube. Gum felt jealousy rise up her throat. Those two.
Alone. Together. Again.
And how the hell was she meant to get them out of there?
Suddenly Piranha glanced up from her conversation, and gave both
guards a scornful look. And recognised Gum. Her mouth dropped open.
Shit. Gum marched over to her and grabbed her up by one arm. "What
do you think you're doing?"
Piranha caught on. "Let go of me! You've got no right!"
Gum dragged her away from the table and into the corner. "You and I
need to have a talk," she said, loudly, and then, whispering, "Well, I'm in. Any
ideas?"
"I'm impressed," Piranha hissed back. "Look, you can get us out easy,
but Beat and Cube are downstairs, and there's a ton of guards there. And they
don't come out for a week, that's an unbreakable rule."
"When do you guys go back to your cells?"
"Soon as mealtime's over. Then we're there till next morning."
"Right. So, how's this for a plan – I go and unlock all the cells, get you
guys out, head over to the other block and do the same, and then think about
Beat and Cube after that?"
"It's got that GG style, hasn't it?" Piranha said, grinning. "The Love
Shockers'll be on our side. They all support Cube since she mashed their
leader –"
"Of course." Was there anything the Gothic wonderwoman couldn't
do?
"The Noise Tanks are on Beat's side cos he tried to help one of them –
something to do with a radio – the Poison Jammers'll help anyone who gets
them out of there, and everyone else doesn't have enough unity to be a
problem. It could work."
"Okay. Let's roll." Piranha grinned. "You can sit down now," Gum
said loudly. Piranha skulked back off to her place, and the guard walked over.
"Wow, you're tougher than you look! Did she give you any trouble?"
"No. These rudies are all the same." Gum looked at her watch, hoping
the guard wouldn't notice the radio equipment on it.
Sooner or later the sleepers in Dormitory B would wake up, and then
they'd notice a uniform had gone. Gum glanced at her ID, and swallowed. It
didn't look in the least like her.
So she had a time limit. Okay. Fine. She'd just have to move fast, that
was all.
A bell rang, and a guard yelled, "Okay, get moving!"
As the rudies filed out of the dining hall, Piranha glanced back, but Gum
was too busy watching the guards. She was gonna have to fit in or be fitted for
one of these pretty grey uniforms herself.
The other guards were walking with the rudies, keeping them in line.
Gum watched Slate and Piranha. The first lot of rudies were shepherded out of
the line and put back in their cells. Slate was among them. Piranha was in the
next group, on the second floor.
Gum walked slower and slower, until she was right at the back of the
line. When she was sure no one was looking at her, she left the group and
strode down the stairs again. Where did the guards go once the prisoners had
been locked up again? Surely they didn't have any other duties tonight.
Oh, well, she'd just have to chance it. Gum rubbed her suddenly
sweating hands on her skirt, clutched her bunch of keys, and set off down the
corridor.
Cube could hear Beat breathing slowly, evenly, and figured he was asleep.
Good.
She hadn't meant to be that angry. But being taken away from Coin
again – being hurt – and then being stuck with Beat – it had all fused into a
boiling lump which stuck in her throat. She wanted to hurt. And she wanted
out.
She wasn't counting on Gum. Why would that bitch want to come help
her? Maybe she still fancied Beat, but even if she did want to help, they were
in max security and set to stay there.
Suddenly she heard the click of the door unlocking. Surely it couldn't
be another rudie being brought in?
It wasn't. Cube squinted and made out a guard's uniform. He was
alone. He walked inside, and said, "How're you doing?"
"What's it to you?" Cube said.
"I thought you looked kinda run down. Wanted to see how you were."
"Oh, really." Like hell you do, she thought.
Then she noticed the thin golden line that was marking the edge of the
door. The open door. Well, well, well.
"Come on. What've I done to you?"
"Oh, nothing, I suppose. They just treat you like dirt round here." She
spoke a little louder.
"Keep it down. I'm not supposed to be in here."
Cube looked over at Beat. She couldn't just run and leave him in here.
"Then why are you?" she asked. "Oh, and sit down. You're making me
nervous standing up there."
He did so, sitting close to her, and said, "I've heard a lot about you.
Always fighting, right?"
He gently took her hand in his, and then she heard a click, and felt the
pressure of the cuffs on her wrists vanish.
"I hope you won't turn violent now. I heard you're pretty tough."
"You could say that." She addressed her remarks to Beat. He turned
over in his sleep, but didn't wake up. "I'm not afraid to get what I want. If you
see what I mean." Geez, I sound so cheesy, she thought.
"I think I do." And he leant over her, and kissed her.
Cube forced herself not to shove him off and then spit. Think of
tagging, she told herself as his tongue slid around in her mouth. You're
tagging the bus terminal. The buses. First the purple, and then the blue, but no
red otherwise it'll look like a Love Shocker tag…She felt his hands make their
way under her shirt. But how far was she going to have to go? Wake up, Beat!
she yelled silently.
She could shove him off her, try and overpower him. But he was a big
guy. If she lost the fight, he'd lock them up again, and the noise would
probably alert the other guards. He'd stopped now. But she had no other
option.
"Oh…" she gasped, taking deep, fake breaths, "Kiss me again!" This
she did yell. Beat muttered something.
"Ssh." He laughed, and this time pushed her down onto the mattress.
Every muscle in Cube's body was trying to struggle against him, and she had to
force them to keep still. She closed her eyes – not that that changed much –
and felt his hands all over her skin, touching her hips, her stomach, her
thighs…She wouldn't be able to keep this up. Even as she gasped and moaned,
she knew it wasn't going to wake Beat. And she couldn't run without Beat.
Could she?
As his tongue brushed her ear, she considered doing just that. But she
was a GG now – and she wasn't going to abandon Beat. Even if he had done
the same to her.
If she yelled for help, that door would be locked again, and they'd have
lost their chance. What they'd do after they got out she didn't know, but at
least they'd be in the light.
He'd got her shirt half off now. If she didn't do something in the next
few seconds, then things were going to get really gross.
(Please r + r! Part Five coming soon.)
(Disclaimer: Oh, come on, you know it by now. Blah, blah, don't own
characters, blah, Sega does, blah. However I freely admit I know zilch about
the technicalities of radio building so please don't freak about that. Thanx!)
Beat grinned as the music faded away. You had to admit, building a fully
working radio in jail from who knew what was a pretty good achievement. He
could afford to be smug.
"And this is Professor K, bringing you Jet Set Radio live and in action.
And now we have a special message to all the GGs from a lonely lady…"
Cheesy romantic music echoed in the background.
And then Beat heard the voice he'd been wishing for.
"Beat? Everyone?"
He fought the urge to punch the air. Of course, this didn't mean she'd
forgiven him. But at least she could mention his name.
"This is Gum…uh…I don't know whether you'll pick this up, but I got
the frequency of your radio and it's a way of communicating, I don't dare come
to visit you 'cos they'll probably figure I'm a GG as well…uh…anyway…I'm
gonna bust you punks outta there if it's the last thing I do!"
The Noise Tank and the Poison Jammer glanced at each other, with
'huh?' faces on.
"Anyway…uh…I'll try and tune in tomorrow. I just hope the Keisatsu
didn't choose to hear this…"
"Well, wasn't dat nice?" Professor K said. "Folks, the GGs are coming
home!"
"Not if any of the Keisatsu were listening, they're not," said the Noise
Tank. "Boy, life must be sweet out there without you dweebs hanging round."
Beat ignored the jibe. Surely this had to be an omen. First they got Jet
set Radio. Now Gum was speaking to him again.
Things didn't get any better than this.
Cube saw the three GGs, all at different places round the table. Beat and
Piranha grinned at her. But Slate just looked, and then his eyes slid away.
Cube felt her throat tighten. Why couldn't she just talk to him? If only
it was possible. She looked over again, but now he'd gone back to staring at
the table. She sat down next to San, who was next to Slate, and sighed.
"Hey," whispered San. "You wanna talk to that guy with the nose?"
"What? Sure I do, but –"
San nodded. "Tell me what to say and I'll say it to him."
Cube felt herself blush, but realised she had no other option. "Tell him
– ask him if he's mad with me."
She forced herself not to listen to the whispered conversation on her left,
and concentrated on her food.
"He says no, but why won't you believe him?"
"Because it can't be true."
Whispering. "Why can't it?" San turned back to her again.
"He knows why. It's stupid, it's impossible and he doesn't even look
right." Cube knew she was being cruel, but she didn't care. She was sick of
being pushed around.
"He says what if he could prove it beyond all doubt?"
"Then I'd believe him. But he can't. We can't even talk."
"He says, remember that day you went up to sit by the statue in Grind
Square together. He says remember you carved your names on it, and he said
that'd be more permanent than graffiti, just like he hoped you and him were
gonna be." San sighed. "Geez, that's so romantic. Come on, Cube, say yes,
whatever it is!"
"Hey, you're a Love Shocker. You don't believe in romance, right?
Tell him to stop using my memories." It hurt to hear them being spoken out
loud. They'd been private. They'd been what she remembered when she was
lonely.
More whispers, then San said, "He says he isn't, he says they're his
memories too, and he says if he could just get you on your own…" She
giggled. "He'd prove it to you for certain."
"Tell him to shove off." Cube felt a mean pleasure as she saw Slate's
face fall. She was sick of this. If only Coin hadn't died. Then everything
would be fine.
There was more whispering on her left, but ignored it.
"You realise if your girl's got her radio tuned to this frequency, she can hear
everything we're saying," said the Noise Tank.
"Uh-huh." Beat lay back on his bunk, staring at the ceiling with a big,
happy grin on his face.
"Well, why're you so happy then?"
"Because I can do this…" Beat took a deep breath. "GUUUUUUM!! I
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!!"
The sounds echoed around the cell, and down the corridor, and about
fifty voices yelled back in response, "Shut up!"
Gum twisted the radio until she picked up what she was beginning to think of
as the Beat frequency.
"You realise if your girl's got her radio… crrrrrrrrrrrr…frequency, she
can hear everything we're saying."
"Uh-huh."
"Well, …crrrrrrrrrrrrrrr… happy then?"
"Because…crrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…this…GUUUUUUM!!I
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!!"
Gum blushed, and listened to the barking and howling as every dog in
Shibuya added to the noise. Potts stuck his head out of the kennel and looked
around, baffled, then whined and went back to sleep.
Combo was actually grinning. "You think he wants you back?"
"I'm never forgiving him. Never."
"Or her?"
"Either of them."
"Come on, Gum. Don't you think it's time to forgive and forget?"
"No."
"Okay, fine. But you're gonna miss him…"
"I am not."
"Are so." Combo was looking happier than she'd seen him for ages.
"Am not."
"Are so."
"Am not!" Gum grabbed her spray paint and painted a long yellow
smear down Combo's shirt. "Now shut up."
"I hate yellow. Can't you have done it in blue?"
"Okay!" Gum grinned and did so.
"Right." Combo picked up his own paint. "Dis means war."
Spray paint flew in all directions. When it finally cleared, both of the
GGs were covered in paint and Gum was feeling happier.
"All right," she muttered, "Maybe I'll miss him. Just a bit. Just a little
bit. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna be nice or anything. Okay?"
"Sure, sure."
"Combo?"
"Uh-huh?"
"Is this paint fumes I can smell?"
"Uh-huh."
"Can't we get high on those?"
"Uh-huh."
"Is that a green hairy elephant coming out of the kitchen?"
"Uh-huh."
"Great." Gum fell back onto the sofa. "Can you reach the radio?"
"No. It's too far…and the elephant's in the way…"
"Cool." She lay back and let the sounds wash over her.
"You love her? You love her? What sort of a rudie are you?"
"A happy rudie…"
"I think I'm gonna throw up. Is this radio connection of any use apart
from allowing you to do the love letter thing?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes. Look, bozo, some of us want to get out of here."
"So do I. I've got my girl to worry about." Deep sigh.
"Well, I've got a plan. Do you think she's listening?"
"Probably…her ears catching every word…crrrrrrrrrrrr…she's got
beautiful ears…"
"Okay, now I am going to throw up."
"So what's da plan?" asked a new voice.
"Simple. Your girl needs to…crrrrr… what if the Keisatsu are listening
to this?"
"They won't be. You have to be pretty lucky to tune in in the first place,
and they don't even know about it. We're fine."
"Your girl needs to get in here and spring us all out."
"Oh, is that all?" Beat sounded scornful. "And how's she supposed to
do that?"
"I'll explain when I've got it all worked out. But she's gonna have to
get busy."
Gum felt she practically lived at Jet Set Radio for the next few days as she and
the prisoners made plans. She talked to Beat politely, like you'd talk to a
friend, and she made no mention of anything that had happened between them.
She wasn't sure herself now how she felt.
But then, one dark night, all was ready.
The prison had a high concrete wall around it, which was dotted with
searchlights, lookout towers, and barbed wire. About eight feet away from that
was a wire fence which was lower, and which Gum and Combo now climbed.
Neither were finding it easy. Combo's skates were hindering his progress, and
although Gum was wearing shoes, she was clutching a large metal pole almost
as tall as she was.
Once on the other side of the first barrier, Combo crouched down and let
Gum balance on his shoulders. Using the pole to balance with, they
approached the wall.
"Ready?" whispered Combo.
Gum nodded. Her heart was thumping. She hadn't realised fully how
dangerous this was gonna be. One slip, one loss of speed, and they'd be in
there with the other GGs, and then there'd be no hope for any of them.
The sensible thing would be to stay away from this building for good.
But I was never sensible, thought Gum. She hefted her pole. "Let's
go."
Combo, gripping her ankles, ran down the length of the wall, and Gum
swung the pole. It caught the first searchlight, which fizzed out like a dying
firework. And onto the next one. And the next. The smashes and crackles
made Gum smile. Maybe, deep down, she was just a vandal after all. And
underneath her pleasure there was shiny fear – after all, it wasn't impossible
that she could get fried by doing this. Or picked off by a sniper.
The pole was swinging wildly, nearly pulling Gum over, but Combo
was holding her steady. And now all the lights were off, and the prison yard
was a pool of deep black shadow. Gum took a deep breath, dragged the wire
cutters out of her pocket, and prepared to dive in.
The barbed wire was tough, but eventually it parted, leaving a GG-sized
gap. Gum pushed up from Combo's shoulders, threw her arms over the wall,
the pole clattering against the stone, twisted it vertical and felt it thud the
ground, and slid down it. Once on the ground, she ran.
Above her the watch towers were playing Jet Set Radio at full volume.
Gum grinned. Some piece of radio-technology had enabled Professor K to
block out all the other frequencies in the city for a short time, which meant the
guard towers' communication was down.
"I'll need to order backup manually!" yelled a guy from one tower,
hurrying down to ground level. Gum ducked into the shadows, and followed
him.
He reached a door, unlocked it – it slid open – and then Gum clouted
him over the head with the pole, dashed in and slammed the door shut behind
her.
She stood in a neon-lit corridor, at the foot of a metal staircase. She
waited for a few seconds, and then clicked on her wristwatch radio to try and
pick up Beat. Professor K had said he'd take the frequency jammer off after
five minutes.
But there was no Beat. There was no Jet Set Radio. There was just the
lonely hiss of static.
What had happened?
Beat stood, listening to their radio. At the moment Jet Set Radio was playing
nothing but music so that none of the guard towers would hear Professor K
talking about the escape. Beat's heart was pounding. It seemed too good to be
true that they'd finally be out of here.
"Fingers crossed, huh?" said the Noise Tank.
Beat nodded.
Suddenly, they heard footsteps, and then the door to the cell was thrown
open. Two guards stared down at them.
"What the – don't move!" yelled the first one as the Noise Tank made to
hide the radio under the bunk. "What's that?"
"I suppose you wouldn't accept it being an electric toothbrush," Beat
said.
The guard scowled. "Well, it's illegal. Get out the way –" And he
raised his foot and brought it down on the radio.
There was a miserable crunch. The Noise Tank went pale. He looked
from the guard to the radio like he couldn't believe what had happened.
The guard kicked the flattened radio, and said, "You're all on extra
workload tomorrow. Now, spill. Where'd you get the stuff for this?"
Beat looked at the Noise Tank. The other rudie was looking over at the
radio, and then he just touched it slowly. His shoulders were drooping.
"Geez, grow up," sneered the other guard. She rolled her eyes. "It's
just a radio."
And then they both laughed.
Beat burned with rage, and he got to his feet, and yelled, "Hey, leave
him alone!"
"You shut up or you'll be in solitary," the male guard ordered.
And then Beat punched him in the face.
His cellmates' mouths dropped open. Beat stood there, feeling blood
trickle over his knuckles. He didn't feel angry now. He just felt a little dizzy.
He wasn't the sort of guy to freak out and throw punches normally. He
couldn't quite believe he'd thrown this one.
"Ride, you're for id dow." The guard's nosebleed was obstructing his
speech, but not his movements. He grabbed Beat, pulling his arms behind his
back, and dragged him out of the cell.
Cube was waiting in the corridor, surrounded by Love Shockers. She couldn't
stop picking at her fingernails, and she was annoyed by it. She'd faced down
much worse things than just talking to a guy.
"He's here!" San hissed to Cube, and immediately all the Love Shockers
separated and stood in twos and threes, blocking the corridor. San had
drummed up support all right.
Slate walked towards Cube, who tried to act calm. "You said you could
prove it," she said, throat dry. "We're on our own. Get going."
Slate, she was glad to see, didn't look any less nervous. "Okay. Fine."
He reached up, and began to unbutton the collar of his uniform, which
even now still hid the lower half of his face. Cube tensed. Soon she'd know
for sure.
There was one long scar which ran down from his ear to his neck, and
he still had his nose, but…
…Cube studied his face. She was afraid to move, because – because it
was Coin. It was. His wry grin, the shape of his jaw, his goatee, and the look
in his eyes – it was. It was.
"I believe you," she whispered. And then she kissed him.
As she felt his arms encircle her waist, she was only dimly aware of the
Love Shockers cat-calling.
(Author's Note – any tacky jokes about whether Slate's nose stops him
kissing are not appreciated. Just enjoy the moment, people.)
Suddenly –
"Hey! You know the rules! Get moving!"
She heard the Love Shockers start to move off, and looked up. Three
guards were coming towards them. Cube felt her muscles tense, and her blood
shivered.
"Hey, quit playing tonsil tennis and scatter," called the nearest guard.
Cube didn't move. She slipped her hand into Slate's.
"Didn't you hear me?"
"I heard you," Slate said. He sounded calm. Cube wondered if he felt
it.
"Right –" The guard raised his truncheon. "You're dead."
It struck Slate's head, and Cube felt her fear snap. She ran forward,
grabbed the guard's arm, trying to pull the truncheon away, felt something
strike her face, but hung on, saw Slate duck another blow, and then she was
really furious and bit down on the hand she was gripping as hard as she could.
The guard yelled and shook her off. Cube felt her back slam into the
wall, the spine scraping down the rough concrete. She got to her feet, burning
to smash, to punch. Then she felt the truncheon hit her face, heard Slate yell,
"Leave her alone!" But more blows were falling like rocks on her face and
body, and she fell back into darkness.
Gum walked up the steps, trying to keep calm. Okay. So the radio was out.
She'd lost her communication. But she was just gonna have to work around
that.
On her left was a door, with Dormitory B:Women printed on it. It was
slightly open, and she could see guard's uniforms hanging on the walls.
This was the guard's quarters. If anyone came along, she'd be dead
meat.
So…
She carefully pushed the door open a little more, taking care to keep out
of sight. Waited for someone to yell, but all she could hear was snores. This
must be the day shift.
Creeping on feet that suddenly seemed to crash on every step, Gum
walked over to the nearest hanger. She was tall for her age. The uniform
looked like it might fit.
It was dark in there, the only light the orange city-glow through the
window. Gum slipped the white shirt and black skirt on over her normal
clothes, kicked off her shoes and forced her legs into the tights, added the cap
and jacket, and finally buckled the belt, with holsters containing tranquilliser
gun and truncheon, around her waist. The weight of the weapons gave her
comfort. She'd go down fighting, at least.
And then, slipping her shoes back on, she headed back out into the
corridor.
Beat sat in the pitch darkness, rubbing his wrists where the cuffs dug in. He
was really kicking himself now. Losing his temper had simply got him exiled
to the hole – the black basement cell – and there was no way he was gonna
escape from that. He resisted the urge to bang his head against a wall.
Suddenly he heard the rattle of keys, and light flickered in, dazzling his
tired eyes. He saw the silhouettes of two guards, one carrying another figure in
its arms.
The guard deposited the figure roughly on the floor, and kicked it.
"Stupid bitch. That bite really hurt!"
Beat kept his mouth shut. He had no wish to get another punch in the
face. As the door slammed and the light vanished, he tried to make out his
cellmate in the darkness.
"Uhhh…what's happened?"
That voice sounded familiar. "Cube?"
"Beat? Is that you?"
"Yeah. What did you do to end up here?"
"I bit one of the guards."
"You bit him? That's mature."
"Then they beat me up and now I'm here. Beat, I was talking to
Slate…they started hurting him…that's why I hurt them…he's not Slate. I
mean he is, but Slate…" She was running out of breath. "Slate is Coin."
Beat turned the sentence around in his mind, wondering if it would
make any more sense backwards. No. It still had the same degree of accuracy
as 'Onishima is a GG' or 'The Rokkaku corporation have decided to fund a
let's-all-help-the-rudies project.'
"What do you mean?" he said at last.
"Coin managed to escape from them. He – he got hurt, his face got cut
– a guy fixed him up but that was why he looked different. He told me – I saw
his face – it was him."
"Wow." Beat didn't know what else to say.
"You know what happens now, don't you?" Cube said bitterly.
"What?"
"Well, we're both lying in the dark, injured, scared…you know what
happened the last time we were in this situation." She made a kissing sound.
"At least this time you can't kick me out of anything."
Beat let the words sting him. He deserved it. "I'm sorry," he said.
"You said, in Bantam Street."
"Why won't you believe me? Look, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I'd kiss
your feet if I could see them, I'm officially giving you back your GG
membership –"
"Wow. Do I get a certificate?"
"You're a real bitch sometimes, you know that?" Beat said before he
could stop himself.
There was a silence, and he waited to get yelled at, but eventually Cube
just said, "I know. But when you feel screwed around, you don't feel like
playing the nice girl."
"Would you come back to the GGs – now – I mean, if we weren't in
here?"
She was silent again, and then she said, "Yeah."
"Great." Beat mentally punched the air. "Not that we're getting out of
here." He felt gloom settle over him again. "Gum was supposed to be helping
us all escape tonight."
"What? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Because there's no way she'll get us out now we're down here. You
know you're kept in here for at least a week."
"Trapped in here with you for seven days. Sounds like the subject for a
porn movie."
"Do you have to keep going on about stuff like that? I thought we'd
sorted it."
"Sorry. You never know, maybe she'll manage it somehow."
"I don't think so."
Gum straightened her collar, took a deep breath, and pushed open the dining
room door.
A tall female guard swept up to her, blonde hair coiled neatly back in a
shining knot. "Where have you been? No one's shift ends for another hour."
"I got delayed." Gum tried to act mature. She was not a rudie. She was
a guard. She was employed. She had a job.
"Well, I shouldn't let it happen again. We've got an example to set
here."
"Oh, leave her alone, Julia." Another guard cut into the conversation.
"I'm just trying to cultivate some standards…" Julia rolled her eyes and
marched off.
"Thanks." Gum studied her defender. This guard was short and skinny,
with dark hair slipping down from an untidy ponytail. She had an air of
strength, but at the moment her face was friendly.
"You know Julia. She loves to be right. Where have you been,
anyway?"
"Private business." Gum tried to look confident.
"You sneaked out, huh? Well, I won't rat on you. Are you new?"
"Yeah. I've only just arrived."
The guard whistled. "Novice, huh? Well, don't let them push you
around. They may be prisoners, but you gotta remember, they're just like kids
with marker pens."
Gum forced herself not to get into a fight about this. It was difficult, but
she managed to simply nod.
She looked round, studying the table. "Why are they all in different
colours, anyway?"
"Didn't they teach you that?"
"I was put through in a hurry," Gum said, hoping that would sound
enigmatic enough to be convincing.
"Oh, well, the green ones are from the Poison Jam gang…"
As she explained, Gum surveyed the tables, looking for a sign of GGs.
She picked out Slate, one eye blacked, and Piranha, but where were all the
others?
She put this question to the guard. "I thought there were more GGs?"
"Oh, well, four are in Block A, and two attacked officers tonight and so
they've been put in the hole to cool off a bit. A dark-haired girl, and a guy who
built a radio in his cell."
Beat and Cube. Gum felt jealousy rise up her throat. Those two.
Alone. Together. Again.
And how the hell was she meant to get them out of there?
Suddenly Piranha glanced up from her conversation, and gave both
guards a scornful look. And recognised Gum. Her mouth dropped open.
Shit. Gum marched over to her and grabbed her up by one arm. "What
do you think you're doing?"
Piranha caught on. "Let go of me! You've got no right!"
Gum dragged her away from the table and into the corner. "You and I
need to have a talk," she said, loudly, and then, whispering, "Well, I'm in. Any
ideas?"
"I'm impressed," Piranha hissed back. "Look, you can get us out easy,
but Beat and Cube are downstairs, and there's a ton of guards there. And they
don't come out for a week, that's an unbreakable rule."
"When do you guys go back to your cells?"
"Soon as mealtime's over. Then we're there till next morning."
"Right. So, how's this for a plan – I go and unlock all the cells, get you
guys out, head over to the other block and do the same, and then think about
Beat and Cube after that?"
"It's got that GG style, hasn't it?" Piranha said, grinning. "The Love
Shockers'll be on our side. They all support Cube since she mashed their
leader –"
"Of course." Was there anything the Gothic wonderwoman couldn't
do?
"The Noise Tanks are on Beat's side cos he tried to help one of them –
something to do with a radio – the Poison Jammers'll help anyone who gets
them out of there, and everyone else doesn't have enough unity to be a
problem. It could work."
"Okay. Let's roll." Piranha grinned. "You can sit down now," Gum
said loudly. Piranha skulked back off to her place, and the guard walked over.
"Wow, you're tougher than you look! Did she give you any trouble?"
"No. These rudies are all the same." Gum looked at her watch, hoping
the guard wouldn't notice the radio equipment on it.
Sooner or later the sleepers in Dormitory B would wake up, and then
they'd notice a uniform had gone. Gum glanced at her ID, and swallowed. It
didn't look in the least like her.
So she had a time limit. Okay. Fine. She'd just have to move fast, that
was all.
A bell rang, and a guard yelled, "Okay, get moving!"
As the rudies filed out of the dining hall, Piranha glanced back, but Gum
was too busy watching the guards. She was gonna have to fit in or be fitted for
one of these pretty grey uniforms herself.
The other guards were walking with the rudies, keeping them in line.
Gum watched Slate and Piranha. The first lot of rudies were shepherded out of
the line and put back in their cells. Slate was among them. Piranha was in the
next group, on the second floor.
Gum walked slower and slower, until she was right at the back of the
line. When she was sure no one was looking at her, she left the group and
strode down the stairs again. Where did the guards go once the prisoners had
been locked up again? Surely they didn't have any other duties tonight.
Oh, well, she'd just have to chance it. Gum rubbed her suddenly
sweating hands on her skirt, clutched her bunch of keys, and set off down the
corridor.
Cube could hear Beat breathing slowly, evenly, and figured he was asleep.
Good.
She hadn't meant to be that angry. But being taken away from Coin
again – being hurt – and then being stuck with Beat – it had all fused into a
boiling lump which stuck in her throat. She wanted to hurt. And she wanted
out.
She wasn't counting on Gum. Why would that bitch want to come help
her? Maybe she still fancied Beat, but even if she did want to help, they were
in max security and set to stay there.
Suddenly she heard the click of the door unlocking. Surely it couldn't
be another rudie being brought in?
It wasn't. Cube squinted and made out a guard's uniform. He was
alone. He walked inside, and said, "How're you doing?"
"What's it to you?" Cube said.
"I thought you looked kinda run down. Wanted to see how you were."
"Oh, really." Like hell you do, she thought.
Then she noticed the thin golden line that was marking the edge of the
door. The open door. Well, well, well.
"Come on. What've I done to you?"
"Oh, nothing, I suppose. They just treat you like dirt round here." She
spoke a little louder.
"Keep it down. I'm not supposed to be in here."
Cube looked over at Beat. She couldn't just run and leave him in here.
"Then why are you?" she asked. "Oh, and sit down. You're making me
nervous standing up there."
He did so, sitting close to her, and said, "I've heard a lot about you.
Always fighting, right?"
He gently took her hand in his, and then she heard a click, and felt the
pressure of the cuffs on her wrists vanish.
"I hope you won't turn violent now. I heard you're pretty tough."
"You could say that." She addressed her remarks to Beat. He turned
over in his sleep, but didn't wake up. "I'm not afraid to get what I want. If you
see what I mean." Geez, I sound so cheesy, she thought.
"I think I do." And he leant over her, and kissed her.
Cube forced herself not to shove him off and then spit. Think of
tagging, she told herself as his tongue slid around in her mouth. You're
tagging the bus terminal. The buses. First the purple, and then the blue, but no
red otherwise it'll look like a Love Shocker tag…She felt his hands make their
way under her shirt. But how far was she going to have to go? Wake up, Beat!
she yelled silently.
She could shove him off her, try and overpower him. But he was a big
guy. If she lost the fight, he'd lock them up again, and the noise would
probably alert the other guards. He'd stopped now. But she had no other
option.
"Oh…" she gasped, taking deep, fake breaths, "Kiss me again!" This
she did yell. Beat muttered something.
"Ssh." He laughed, and this time pushed her down onto the mattress.
Every muscle in Cube's body was trying to struggle against him, and she had to
force them to keep still. She closed her eyes – not that that changed much –
and felt his hands all over her skin, touching her hips, her stomach, her
thighs…She wouldn't be able to keep this up. Even as she gasped and moaned,
she knew it wasn't going to wake Beat. And she couldn't run without Beat.
Could she?
As his tongue brushed her ear, she considered doing just that. But she
was a GG now – and she wasn't going to abandon Beat. Even if he had done
the same to her.
If she yelled for help, that door would be locked again, and they'd have
lost their chance. What they'd do after they got out she didn't know, but at
least they'd be in the light.
He'd got her shirt half off now. If she didn't do something in the next
few seconds, then things were going to get really gross.
(Please r + r! Part Five coming soon.)