(A/N: There is a character in this story, appearing first in this "scene," who bears the name of Speed. Speed was also the name of a character in a few works by Jessi a.k.a. Crash, in which this Speed was female and had several other different qualities. The character Speed in this story is in no way related to Jessi's Speed. All right, then, on with the story…)
Blaze was immensely displeased.
That boy was in Hikage Street again, her enemies had been hanging around her turf, and her makeup just would not look right. On top of all that, she was getting a horrible headache, but that was probably a result of her other problems.
The boy, at least, was taken care of for the moment. Blaze and her two friends, Blare and Flare, had found him asleep in one of the dead ends of the giant maze that was Hikage Street, the home of the Love Shockers.
Now the annoying boy was sitting in front of her, arms tied behind his back and the back and front wheels of his skates tied together. He was fully conscious and, at the moment, uninjured, but Blaze had plans to change that soon.
Speed glared up at the girl in front of him, long strands of black hair escaping his ponytail and hanging in his eyes. He hated this helpless feeling, hated being at the nonexistent mercy of the Love Shockers. They had warned him numerous times to stay out of their turf, but he had of course ignored them. Now they had caught him off-guard, and, though he despised himself for it, Speed had to admit that he was a bit afraid of what they might do to him. He tried to push away the unwelcome possibilities that crept into his thoughts.
"Tell ya what," he suggested, addressing the one that seemed to be the leader. "How 'bout you let me go now, and I'll leave here and never come back?"
"I've got a better idea," Blaze told him, her face showing no emotion. "How 'bout we kill you now, and you'll be gone and never come back?"
"I like my idea better," Speed muttered.
"Do we have to kill him?" Blare piped up. "Right away, I mean?"
"Yes," Blaze snapped. She nodded at Speed. "He's a tricky one. We let him go before, remember?" Looking down at her captive, she gave him a cruel smile. "You should've left while ya had the chance, kid."
Blaze gripped a paint can in her right hand. "I don't particularly enjoy this, you know. Not most of the time. But you… ya just had to come back." She drew the paint can up over her shoulder, aiming for Speed's head.
"Aw, man…" Knowing what was about to happen, Speed closed his eyes to escape the picture.
He didn't need to.
* * *
(A/N: This scene, as well as some following it, contains characters from "The Romantic Energies," a JSRF fic by the Quiet Soul. They kind of jump in quickly, so it might be hard to understand. If you haven't yet, read "The Romantic Energies" it's a good read anyway and maybe this will make more sense.)
"What?" Black Rose asked. A concerned look filled her black eyes as she stared at her friend. "Are you serious?"
Blue Flame nodded. "That's what Star told me."
"The Love Shockers caught someone?" Hand asked, coming up from the behind Black Rose, who was sitting on the rail. His arm slipped around her shoulders, and she leaned back into it.
"Yeah," Blue Flame confirmed. "Star says it's some guy who's not even part of a gang… and we all know what they do to guys they catch alone."
Black Rose looked away. Hand pretended he hadn't heard.
"See. I don't know what he did, but I think they're gonna kill him… at some point in time, at least. If he's lucky and they're in a good mood."
Hand coughed uncomfortably. "Uh, I think I'll be leaving."
"Wait," Black Rose said, catching Hand by the shoulder of his long-sleeved green shirt. She looked at Blue Flame. "When was this?"
Blue Flame shrugged. "A couple minutes ago. Why?"
"I think we should go check it out. Maybe we can help, or at least see what this kid's doing in Hikage. This's our home, too. He might be trouble, and he might deserve whatever those Love Shockers have planned for him, but we should at least find out."
"No one deserves what the Love Shockers…" Hand began.
"So you agree." Black Rose kissed him on the cheek. "Great."
"I'll go," Blue Flame decided. "I might as well."
"Hey, Blue Flame, where're Snap and Star?"
Blue Flame rolled her blue eyes. "I don't know where Star is now, probably still spying on the Love Shockers. As for Snap, I'm just glad he stopped following me around."
"What?" Snap was coming up the steps to the small group. "Are you talking about me, Blue Flame?"
Blue Flame closed her eyes and tried to pretend she was somewhere else.
"There he is," Black Rose pointed out helpfully. "Snap, where's Star?"
"How should I know?" Snap replied, not seeming to care much.
"I can look for her," Blue Flame volunteered.
Snap looked disappointed for a moment, then brightened and said, "I'll help!"
"On second thought…" Blue Flame began, but Black Rose cut her off.
"Perfect. You two go find her, then we'll go see the Love Shockers. We owe 'em a visit anyway."
Blue Flame shot her friend a dirty look and mouthed a couple of equally dirty words, but Black Rose just smiled. "Have fun."
"What's this about the Love Shockers?" Snap asked Blue Flame as she skated off, him just behind her.
"I wonder if they'll make a trade," she mused to herself, jumping on the rail and grinding toward the bottom.
"Hey, wait, Blue Flame!" Snap called, trying to follow her but tripping and ending up in a slow grind. "I can show you my new back move!"
Black Rose sighed as she watched them go. "If he mentions that move one more time, I swear…"
Hand shrugged. He hadn't seen Snap's new back move, and didn't want to. "So, what do ya think? About that kid, I mean."
Black Rose turned to look at him. "I don't know, but I plan to find out. If we can get rid of the Love Shockers, then we'll see for ourselves. I just don't trust the Love Shockers' judgment on what 'punishment' he deserves for trespassing."
"Neither do I," Hand agreed. "But I guess we'll see."
* * *
Cat's skates slid softly along the bottom of the sewer pipe. She was still in the lead, and planned to stay that way. She thought of Tip and Spark, of her home in Kibogaoka, of that strange kid Poison Jam had intended to kill. She knew she had to win… it would just be a good bit harder than she had thought.
Cube was faster than she had anticipated, though still not as fast as Cat. Cat knew she could beat Cube in a fair race, but she didn't trust Poison Jam's leader to play fair.
As if on cue, something hard and heavy struck her in the back of the head.
"What in the—?!"
Cat fell to her knees and placed both her hands on the ground, the world around her spiraling uncontrollably. She closed her eyes and then she knew.
A paint can. Cube had thrown a paint can at her, and hit her target right on the mark. Cat winced as her fingers found where the edge of the can had hit, at the base of her skull. She pulled her hand away and looked at it, her vision clearing somewhat. It was red and sticky.
Blood, she realized.
Cat took a deep breath as Cube went past her, laughing.
"Hit your head on something, did ya? What a pity. See you at the finish line… or maybe when you're packing to go find yourself a new home."
* * *
Tip was shaking her head. "I got a bad feeling about this."
Spark looked up. "About what?"
"Cat. Cube's gonna cheat, I know it. I hope Cat doesn't get hurt. But if Cube does cheat, it'll be her word against ours, and I don't think the three of us can take that freak show," she nodded at Poison Jam, "plus Cube. And if Cat's hurt, well…"
"It's too late to do anything now," Spark pointed out. "We just gotta wait and hope Cat pulls through."
* * *
"Star!" Blue Flame called nervously. "Are you here?"
"Shhh," came the reply. "Over here. Quiet."
"What's going on?" Blue Flame asked as she slid down behind some garbage cans next to her friend. Snap, realizing that there was no room for him next to Blue Flame, sat down behind the two.
Star pointed upwards, toward the giant staircase that occupied a huge, otherwise open area in western Hikage. "Look for yourself."
Blue Flame inhaled softly. Star was right; the Love Shockers had someone.
"I can't see who it is," Star was saying. "I don't think I've ever seen him before… does he look familiar to you?"
"No. Are they gonna kill him, do ya think?" Blue Flame asked.
"How should I know, and why do you care? It's a guy, Blue Flame. One less to fall all over you, huh?"
"But, I don't even know who he is yet…"
"Whatever. Where are Black Rose and Hand?" Star inquired.
"We left them back at the garage. We don't have time to get them," Blue Flame noted. "That kid's not gonna last that long."
"What's that about us?" Black Rose asked as she skated up behind them, Hand at her heels.
The three friends jumped, then turned. Blue Flame breathed a sigh of relief. "What're you guys doing here?"
"We checked around our side of Hikage, but we figured you guys'd end up over here," Hand explained. "I mean, this is the so-called Love Shockers' side."
"Good thing. We wouldn't have had time to get you," Blue Flame told them. "Look for yourselves."
Black Rose and Hand obeyed, gasping at the sight. "Let's go," Black Rose decided after a moment of silence. "We might not be too late." She and Hand took off in the lead, followed by Blue Flame, Snap and Star.
* * *
Speed woke up with the nauseating feeling that his feet weren't touching the ground. Opening his eyes, he discovered that he was very much correct.
He looked down at his skates, now untied, dangling high in the air, much too far away from the ground. He tried to move, testing the ropes that held his wrists to the rails. They were easily too strong for him, though he wasn't sure if that was good or bad. Nevertheless, he wrapped his fingers around the metal bars and held on so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
Female laughter could be heard above him, followed by a voice saying, "Well, girls, looks like he woke up."
Looking up, Speed saw what he expected to see: the three Love Shockers, grinning down at him. "Having fun down there?" the leader taunted.
He did not answer, instead looking down at the ground and trying to calculate the chances that he would survive the fall. The wind blew his hair in front of his face, and he was annoyed by the fact that the Love Shockers had freed it from his ponytail.
Blaze smiled at his silence. "Would you like to try and beg for mercy, or do ya just want us to kill you?"
"Is there any chance I can get you to spare my life?" Speed asked, not in the least expecting an honest answer.
"I don't know… depends how far you're willing to go, I guess," she replied. "Why do you ask?"
Speed flinched. "I'd prefer you kill me… I don't think I'd go nearly far enough for you."
"Too bad," Blaze said, sounding disappointed. "Come on, girls. He gave us his answer." Pulling a pocketknife out of her skate, she reached toward the ropes.
"Hey!"
Standing quickly, Blaze let out a string of curses. Speed looked in the direction of her gaze. Five or so people were grinding up the rails on either side of the stairs, coming closer by the moment to the Love Shockers.
"Time to split, girls." Blaze reached back down and, in a single motion, cut both the ropes.
Speed's fingers tightened around the rail bars, though he knew he could not hold himself up for very long. As the Love Shockers made their escape, Blare turned and kicked Speed's right hand as hard as she could. The pain made him let go, leaving him hanging by one hand. The Love Shocker laughed, blew him a kiss, and skated off to join her fleeing friends.
It was then that Speed made the rather foolish mistake of looking down. He wasn't normally afraid of heights, but the idea of falling that far was making him sick. He glanced around for the gang who had chased off the Love Shockers, but they did not appear to be anywhere in sight.
Speed closed his eyes, feeling his fingers slip farther down. He caught a slight glimpse of the ropes hitting the ground far below and shut his eyes again, wishing he'd never opened them. The wind blew more harshly, and his hair obscured any view he might have had. He muttered a vague, generic prayer.
His fingers were slipping. A few more seconds…
And someone grabbed his wrist.
"Hang on," a male voice encouraged, as another hand covered the first and the two pulled him upwards to apparent safety.
Speed grabbed the rail with his other hand as soon as he could, trying to see his rescuers. There were two there at the moment, a girl and a boy. The girl had long black hair in a ponytail and was dressed in black and grey, with long grey gloves. The boy had fairly short light-brown hair and was wearing forest green and black. Both were looking at Speed with interest.
Speed, for his part, pulled himself up as far as he could, swinging his body forward over the rail. He landed hard on his back between his two rescuers and backed up, resting against the rail bars as the other three members of the gang arrived and stopped to catch their breath.
Speed was breathing hard as well. When he was pretty sure he could speak, he asked, "Who're you?"
The girl and the boy looked at each other for a moment, then the girl spoke. "My name's Black Rose. This's Hand." She indicated the other three. "That's Blue Flame, Star, and Snap. We're the Romantic Energies. Who are you?"
For a moment Speed said nothing, and Black Rose wondered if he was going to answer her. Finally he responded, "My name's Speed. Why'd you…" His voice faded into nonexistence, as though he couldn't find the right words.
"Help you? 'Cause we hate the Love Shockers," Black Rose told him. "What'd you do to make 'em want to kill you?"
He shrugged. "I was messing around here. Why do you hate them?"
Hand made a sound suspiciously like a snort. "Hikage Street's our turf, and they keep fighting us for it. But what're you doing here?"
"Pretty much just annoying the Love Shockers. I didn't even know there were any other gangs here." He looked from Black Rose to Hand, then back to Black Rose. "Can I go, or are ya not finished?"
Black Rose and Hand traded glances again. He seemed harmless…
Blue Flame, who had been watching the exchange along with Snap and Star, spoke up. "I think we should let him go."
Black Rose turned to look at her. "What?"
"We should let him go," Blue Flame repeated.
Speed stared at Blue Flame. He didn't know why she was helping him, and he didn't really care. He had things to do…
Black Rose looked back at Speed. "If we let you go, where're you going?"
He laughed shortly. "Not sure, but I'll get out of Hikage, I guess."
Black Rose stared down at him, wondering who he really was, and what he was doing. She looked to Hand for help.
He shrugged. "I don't see why we shouldn't let him go."
Black Rose sighed. This wasn't a position she wanted to be in. She didn't particularly not want to let Speed go, but she didn't want to endanger her gang by doing so. "You can go," she conceded, "but don't come back here."
Speed almost smiled. "Sure." He pulled himself up and faced Black Rose and Hand. "And thanks."
The Romantic Energies watched as he skated off, an image of shadow with his completely-black clothing and hair. He had gone twenty feet when he stopped and turned around.
"Hey," he called, "ya don't happen to know a girl named Spark, do ya?"
Black Rose looked at Blue Flame, then at Hand, then at Star. She didn't bother to look at Snap; he was staring at Blue Flame. All three of them shrugged.
"No," she called back. "Why do you ask?"
He turned back and continued on. "No reason," he called over his shoulder as he jumped on the rail and started grinding down, loose black hair flying behind him.
Standing with her friends, Blue Flame sighed. "Now I really wish they would've traded," she whispered to herself.