(A/N: Hey again. Welcome to chapter 6 of The Devil's Contract. I hope you enjoy this, because many sleepless nights (Ok Ok, it was only 1:00 and I had too much soda) went into the making of it. On with the chapter.)

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Jackal.....it had been.....how long? Years. But yet here he was. Smiling down at him from the rafters of a mostly abandoned Rokkaku Construction Site. But his face...his clothes....they were different. He now wore all black. Even his skates were totally black. And his face....his expression.....he couldn't explain it. He looked......evil.

"What's wrong Rio? You don't greet your big brother after all these years? All I get is a shocked face and your mouth hanging open. You look like you've seen a ghost." Jackal leapt from the rafters, the wooden boards creaking under the impact as he lands inches away from Rio, staring down at him with a twisted smile on his face.

"But....you died. The Inferno Jets killed you." Rio backed up a few steps as he said it, looking at Jackal in disbelief.

"Hey, whas goin' on here? Who the hell are you?" Garam stepped forward, looking defiantly at Jackal.

"Your friends aren't too polite are they, Rio?" Jackal gave his brother a grin before skating in front of Garam, looking him straight in the eyes. "Please take those stupid goggles off, they really annoy me."

Garam lifted his goggles, revealing his bright blue eyes, a sneer on his lips, "I won't ask you again, fool, who the hell are you?"

The black-clad rudie stepped even closer. "My, how impolite. I don't appreciate rudeness." His arm thrust forward, and Garam let out a groan, stumbling back and revealing a red knife handle protruding from his stomach. "Please try to improve your manners next time, GG." He turned his back to Garam and the other GGs, slowly walking back over to the Inferno Jets.

"Garam!" Piranha rushed forward, catching him clumsily as he fell backwards. "Oh my god, are you alright?" She placed her hand on his chest, tears welling up in her eyes.

The other GGs stepped forward, ready to charge Garam's attacker, stopped only by the three pistols drawn and aimed at them by Grimm, Rock and Dante. "Don't move," the Inferno Jet leader grinned evilly at them, "or I'm afraid my boys and I will be forced to kill you before we had planned."

"Now, if there are no more objections, my brother and I will take our leave for now." Jackal placed his hand behind Rio's neck and gave it a light shove towards a nearby door as he leaned in and whispered into Dante's ear quickly, before leading his brother through the door.

"What's this all about, Dante?" Beat spoke up, practically reading the other GG's minds.

"Oh, I'm sorry Beat," he lied, "I sure wish I could tell you, but until Jackal gets back, you and your little gang are going to have to wait. Oh, and don't think I was kidding when I said we'd kill you if you try anything."

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"Where are we going, Jackal?" Rio asked from behind his brother.

"You'll see." They skated down the seemingly never-ending hallway in silence until they reached yet another door. It was made of what looked like bone, with two huge tusk-looking things that crisscrossed, barring any entrance. The black-clad Jackal skated up to the door and placed a hand below the crisscrossing bones. The area around his hand glowed a bright crimson and the tusks slowly became untangled, withdrawing to separate doors.

"What? How did you....?" Rio stared on in awe. "How did you do that?"

Jackal chuckled giving him another shove, this one harder than the last. "You'll know soon, brother, you'll know soon."

As Rio entered the room, he was nearly instantly hit with a blast of hot air and a sour, acrid smell that almost knocked him off his feet. It was a cave.....sort of. The walls were made of jagged brown rock, , and there were pits where fires raged, the flames so strong they were almost blue. Within seconds, Rio was sweating so much his shirt began to get damp. It was like hell.........

"Wh....What the..." Rio fumbled through the many questions that wizzed through his brain, finally coming to a single one. "Where are we?"

Jackal was silent at first, simply pacing around deliberately, before turning to face Rio, his arms outstretched as if presenting it as if he would abrand new house. "Welcome, brother.....welcome home."

Rio recoiled, a look of disbelief spreading across his face. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm not surprised that you don't recognize it. It's been too long. Even I had forgotten abut it......before Dante showed me the light. He reintroduced me to what I was put here for." Jackal skated up to Rio, leaning in close and whispering almost vengefully, "He reminded me of my mission." Rio began to speak but was silenced by a raised hand from his brother. "Don't say it. I know what you're going to ask. But our mission is something you must see for yourself. Come, brother, and see the light. Just as I have...."

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"Where the did they go anyway?" Cube whispered into Beat's ear. Combo and Beat were tending to the unconscious Tab's gunshot wound. Mew had sacrificed her striped socks to be torn up and made into makeshift bandages for both Tab and Garam.

"I don't know." Beat replied darkly, still shocked by Tab's injury and how quick Dante was willing to shoot him. "Just....just keep an eye on the Inferno Jets."

Cube nodded, moving over to stand once again by Piranha and Yo-Yo who were tending to Garam, who insisted weakly that he was alright, though he was burning up and his eyes were starting to glaze over.

"I can't take this," Slate whispered more to himself than anyone, though he was far enough from the Inferno Jets that only his fellow GGs could hear him, "they're gonna kill us, and I don't know about you guys but I'm not goin' down without a fight...."

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Rio breathed laboriously, staring hard at his brother, as if looking for something. "What do you mean 'see the light?', he asked, his face a mix of anger and confusion, "and how can you be alive? I.....I heard the gunshot....Dante shot you....and, and even if he didn't, why are you with him now? Why?" he choked back tears, all of his questions coming tumbling out of his mouth at once.

" Why must you continue to bring that up? But as for your other question....actions speak louder than words, brother...." Jackal began to breathe hard. He doubled over and put his hands out in front of him, clenching his fists. Finally, he let out an inhuman cry of pain. Two black wings tore out of his shoulder blades, and claws grew out of his fingertips and elbows. Out of his forehead came two dull-colored horns, blood dripping down from the spots where they had grown......the blood was black.

Rio stood, frozen in shock, looking on at....his brother? "What are you?" he said in an almost inaudible whisper.

"Don't act so surprised, brother." Jackal's mouth moved, yet it didn't sound like him. His voice had gotten deeper, edgier even, and it seemed to fill the entire room. "You, too, are like this on the inside. We aren't human, brother, not even close. We were sent here by Lucifer himself to recapture the Devil's Contract after it was stolen. Those ragtag Inferno Jets were sent here before us, but they couldn't get the job done. So Lucifer sent us. And we did it, Rio, we did it. We had recovered all three pieces within a month, but something happened. To this day, I'm not sure what happened, but we lost our memories. We forgot everything. All we remembered was where the pieces of the record were. Now the Inferno Jets have one, I have one...." he grinned over at his brother, "and you have one. And I will take it upon myself to see that it is returned."

Rio still could not move. His eyes looked pained, and his brain felt fried. This was too much information to absorb. He....was a demon? He was simply a pawn, sent only to recover something for...Lucifer? It couldn't be true. It just couldn't. "No, Jackal. You're lying. I am not....what you are. I'm no demon."

Jackal let out an unamused chuckle, walking slowly over to him, letting a clawed hand rest on his brother's shoulder. He leaned forward, whispering into his brother's ear.
"I'll prove it to you...." Jackal drew an arm back, his clawed fingers facing toward Rio's stomach. "Now watch closely, this may hurt a bit..." The hand flew forward, toward the young rudie's midsection. At the last second, Rio grabbed the projectile, twisting it back towards it's sender.

He heard the scream before he dared to look. But when he did, what he saw was horrible. The hand-turned-weapon was protruding from Jackal's neck, midnight colored blood pouring out. Rio didn't wait any longer. He dashed for the exit. He threw the door open, sweat pouring off of his face. Keep running. Keep running. Don't stop. There's the door. Don't stop.

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"That's it," Slate whispered to the GGs, "I'm goin' for 'em. Give me the word, Beat, and I swear I can at least take down one of 'em."

"Slate. Don't. Move. You're gonna get yourself killed. We'll think of a way out of this."

"No, man. I can't. I'm goin' at 'em. I'm goin." Slate tensed up, staring hard at Dante's grinning face.

The door burst open, slamming against the wall. It sounded like a gunshot. Sounded like. Wasn't. Dante's head whipped around, his and his gang's gazes and guns turning to the sweating, out of breath Rio. That was enough for the GGs. The eight uninjured rudies charged the Inferno Jets. They were outnumbered. But they had the element of surprise. Slate and Combo lashed out at anybody near them, using all their strength and nearly striking their fellow GGs on more than one occasion. Beat, Piranha, Cube, Gum, Mew, and Yo-Yo simply helped out, punching and kicking at the remaining Inferno Jets until they were all sprawled out on the floor, groaning or unconscious.

"Let's hurry up and get the hell out of here. Come on." Beat skated towards the door, trying to open it in vain. It was still locked. "Combo, a little help here?"

The huge rudie nodded, taking a few steps backward before running towards the door and kicking at it with his skate. The door refused to budge at first, but after several joint attempts of Slate and Combo, the door finally succumbed, crumbling into a pile of splinters. Quickly, Combo and Slate lifted their injured brethren, slinging them over their shoulders.

"OK, let's go. Rio, c'mon." Beat stared over at the young Rio, who was sweating uncontrollably and breathing in short gasps. Beat skated quickly over to him, grabbing him by the shoulders and practically pushing him out. They skated as fast as they could towards their garage, the sun still bright in the sky of Shibuya-Cho. They never looked back.

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((A/N: WHEW! I'm done. But thats ok, I've still got plenty of energy 'cause I'm totally stoked. I WON MY FIRST WRESTLING MATCH TODAY (real high school wrestling, not WWF crap) AND I AM OH-SO-HAPPY. ahem. anyway....yeah. well, please R&R.))

P.S. Please be honest in your reviews....I have a feeling that there is something amiss with this chapter. Thanks a lot in advance.