Again. It happened again. The Underlords. Failed. Riot Case. Missed. Tag Machine. Shot. Noise Tanks. Crashed.
"Why me?" I asked, gazing up at the starry Benten sky, "Why, of all people, did I have to be cursed with this....this shitty luck? Haven't you put me through enough? Haven't I suffered through more than anyone should?" I was yelling now, breathing through gritted teeth, tears welling up in my eyes. Tears of rage, of fear, of loneliness.... "You took everything from me, and still you won't let go. You won't let me live my life in peace! Why do you not just kill me now? Kill me now, and get it over with!" I waited there, glaring up at the twilight, my breath coming in short, ragged gasps. "Hmph......just as I thought."
My back hurt. A lot. But I guess that's what you get for sleeping up against a dumpster. I smelled paint. Damn Noise Tanks. I'd have to get a new shirt now. I climbed to my feet slowly, grabbing on to the lip of the dumpster for support. I skated to the edge of the alley, peeking around the corners. All clear. I made my way down the sidewalk, ignoring the random curses and shouts from the pedestrians. Next stop, Kogane-Cho and Poison Jam.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beta sat, squinting at the monitor in front of him, hitting keys at breakneck speed. Mostly the BACK button.
"Damnit, Beta, how many times do I have to tell you," Data scolded, "Get some damn glasses."
"Shut up!" he shot back irritably, "I'm working. And I already told you, I don't need glasses."
Data skulked away, mumbling something about too much polymorphine being bad for your eyesight. (A/N: ::giggle, snort::)
"Ha! Finally!" Gamma grinned triumphantly, the light from the computer casting a pale blue reflection off her face, "I got a signal from that tracer we put on Dreg! He's leaving Benten."
"Excellent," Beta stood, looking over Gamma's shoulder. "Where's he headed?"
"Looks like Kogane-Cho." she focused on the screen, watching the small red blip move slowly across the map.
"Good..........."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lost again. Figures. "Excuse me, sir?" I yelled over to an elderly Japanese man sweeping off his front porch. I started to skate over to him, but didn't make it 2 feet before he had bolted inside of his house. I heard about seven locks click.
The good news was, I was out of Benten. That I was sure of, because there was actually a sun here. Well, sunset anyway. Hmmmm....was it Shibuya or Kogane that was sunset? Ah, who cares. At least now those psycho Noise Tanks couldn't get me.......
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
Finally. A recognizable feature. Never in my life had I been so happy to see Poison Jam graffiti. After three hours of aimless skating, that scary-ass clown face made me ecstatic. Now to find Poison Jam....
"Hraar! Hraarr!" a voice boomed from above me. Well, that was easy.
I looked up to see the sewer-friendly powerhouses glaring down at me, cans of spraypaint in their claws. It looked as if I'd have a repeat of last night. "Poison Jammers," I called up to them, "I've come to join you. IF you can beat me in a race."
The leader grinned down at me. He was missing about 4 teeth. "Agreed," he said, "I am Mortis. You and me, noholdbar race from here to sewer. First to tag winner. If you win, you Poison Jam. But you lose," here his dumb grin turned to malicious," and you Poison Jam chase toy."
I suppressed a groan, still staring up at them smugly. "I won't lose."
"See that you don't. Follow us."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm not a big guy. Not small, but not big. Maybe about 5'9. It had been a long time since I'd measured myself. I couldn't be more than 150 pounds, but when I was up close and personal with the Jammers, I could see that every one of them were around 200, easy. I knew what Mortis meant by "noholdbar". I had to be careful.
"ON MARK!" one of the others yelled.
"SET GET!"
"GO!"
I took off, speeding through not-so-crowded streets of Kogane. I could hear Mortis behind me. Pretty fast for a big guy. As I raced past kids, kats and dawgs
(A/N: ::cough:: sorry Disk, had to do it), I started to hear him more clearly. He was gaining. I poured all my energy into my feet, dashing for dear life. I was tired already, and we were only about a quarter of the way there. If he caught up with me, I was gone.
~~
I had a killer stitch in my side, my legs were numb, and sweat was dripping into my eyes. But I had finally reached the entrance to the sewer, and Mortis was far behind me. I saw the tagging area. A long, blueish-greenish panel that stood on the opposite side of where I was. I hopped onto a nearby rail, and began grinding my way to victory. I began imagining how my life would be different with a gang, albeit smellier. I was so lost in my daydreams that I didn't see the Noise Tank painting arm clothesline me off the rail, sending me crashing into the water below.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beta watched smugly as Dreg's body hurtled into the sewage. He moved his painting arm horizontally along his waist, bowing to his sniggering comrades. "Too easy.....now one of you go fish him out."
Gamma and Data looked at each other dubiously. "Megabyte, Gigabyte, Virus?" Gamma asked.
"Yeah."
The two stood huddled together for a few seconds, each throwing a different hand signal. In the end, Data got stuck with it.
"Terrific," he muttered, slipping off his skates before diving into the sewage. It was a couple of minutes before he came up again. "I can't see him!"
Beta quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Did you use your goggles?"
"Of course. I swear, unless he can turn invisible, he aint here. The only other explanation is...."
In unison, the three Noise Tanks looked toward the open sewer grate. "Son of a...." Beta trailed off, eyes narrowing in anger.
"HRAAR!"
Slowly, the Benten rudies turned to face three irate Poison Jammers. "Noise Tanks in base! Noise Tanks must pay!" Mortis roared.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Why me?" I asked, gazing up at the starry Benten sky, "Why, of all people, did I have to be cursed with this....this shitty luck? Haven't you put me through enough? Haven't I suffered through more than anyone should?" I was yelling now, breathing through gritted teeth, tears welling up in my eyes. Tears of rage, of fear, of loneliness.... "You took everything from me, and still you won't let go. You won't let me live my life in peace! Why do you not just kill me now? Kill me now, and get it over with!" I waited there, glaring up at the twilight, my breath coming in short, ragged gasps. "Hmph......just as I thought."
My back hurt. A lot. But I guess that's what you get for sleeping up against a dumpster. I smelled paint. Damn Noise Tanks. I'd have to get a new shirt now. I climbed to my feet slowly, grabbing on to the lip of the dumpster for support. I skated to the edge of the alley, peeking around the corners. All clear. I made my way down the sidewalk, ignoring the random curses and shouts from the pedestrians. Next stop, Kogane-Cho and Poison Jam.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beta sat, squinting at the monitor in front of him, hitting keys at breakneck speed. Mostly the BACK button.
"Damnit, Beta, how many times do I have to tell you," Data scolded, "Get some damn glasses."
"Shut up!" he shot back irritably, "I'm working. And I already told you, I don't need glasses."
Data skulked away, mumbling something about too much polymorphine being bad for your eyesight. (A/N: ::giggle, snort::)
"Ha! Finally!" Gamma grinned triumphantly, the light from the computer casting a pale blue reflection off her face, "I got a signal from that tracer we put on Dreg! He's leaving Benten."
"Excellent," Beta stood, looking over Gamma's shoulder. "Where's he headed?"
"Looks like Kogane-Cho." she focused on the screen, watching the small red blip move slowly across the map.
"Good..........."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lost again. Figures. "Excuse me, sir?" I yelled over to an elderly Japanese man sweeping off his front porch. I started to skate over to him, but didn't make it 2 feet before he had bolted inside of his house. I heard about seven locks click.
The good news was, I was out of Benten. That I was sure of, because there was actually a sun here. Well, sunset anyway. Hmmmm....was it Shibuya or Kogane that was sunset? Ah, who cares. At least now those psycho Noise Tanks couldn't get me.......
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
Finally. A recognizable feature. Never in my life had I been so happy to see Poison Jam graffiti. After three hours of aimless skating, that scary-ass clown face made me ecstatic. Now to find Poison Jam....
"Hraar! Hraarr!" a voice boomed from above me. Well, that was easy.
I looked up to see the sewer-friendly powerhouses glaring down at me, cans of spraypaint in their claws. It looked as if I'd have a repeat of last night. "Poison Jammers," I called up to them, "I've come to join you. IF you can beat me in a race."
The leader grinned down at me. He was missing about 4 teeth. "Agreed," he said, "I am Mortis. You and me, noholdbar race from here to sewer. First to tag winner. If you win, you Poison Jam. But you lose," here his dumb grin turned to malicious," and you Poison Jam chase toy."
I suppressed a groan, still staring up at them smugly. "I won't lose."
"See that you don't. Follow us."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm not a big guy. Not small, but not big. Maybe about 5'9. It had been a long time since I'd measured myself. I couldn't be more than 150 pounds, but when I was up close and personal with the Jammers, I could see that every one of them were around 200, easy. I knew what Mortis meant by "noholdbar". I had to be careful.
"ON MARK!" one of the others yelled.
"SET GET!"
"GO!"
I took off, speeding through not-so-crowded streets of Kogane. I could hear Mortis behind me. Pretty fast for a big guy. As I raced past kids, kats and dawgs
(A/N: ::cough:: sorry Disk, had to do it), I started to hear him more clearly. He was gaining. I poured all my energy into my feet, dashing for dear life. I was tired already, and we were only about a quarter of the way there. If he caught up with me, I was gone.
~~
I had a killer stitch in my side, my legs were numb, and sweat was dripping into my eyes. But I had finally reached the entrance to the sewer, and Mortis was far behind me. I saw the tagging area. A long, blueish-greenish panel that stood on the opposite side of where I was. I hopped onto a nearby rail, and began grinding my way to victory. I began imagining how my life would be different with a gang, albeit smellier. I was so lost in my daydreams that I didn't see the Noise Tank painting arm clothesline me off the rail, sending me crashing into the water below.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beta watched smugly as Dreg's body hurtled into the sewage. He moved his painting arm horizontally along his waist, bowing to his sniggering comrades. "Too easy.....now one of you go fish him out."
Gamma and Data looked at each other dubiously. "Megabyte, Gigabyte, Virus?" Gamma asked.
"Yeah."
The two stood huddled together for a few seconds, each throwing a different hand signal. In the end, Data got stuck with it.
"Terrific," he muttered, slipping off his skates before diving into the sewage. It was a couple of minutes before he came up again. "I can't see him!"
Beta quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Did you use your goggles?"
"Of course. I swear, unless he can turn invisible, he aint here. The only other explanation is...."
In unison, the three Noise Tanks looked toward the open sewer grate. "Son of a...." Beta trailed off, eyes narrowing in anger.
"HRAAR!"
Slowly, the Benten rudies turned to face three irate Poison Jammers. "Noise Tanks in base! Noise Tanks must pay!" Mortis roared.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~