Chapter 9 – by Tei/Disk

"Disk is gone, Slate is gone...there's something about this that we're missing," Garam murmured, running his hand over his chin. "Yo-Yo--how long was it between the two of them disappearing?"

"I dunno," Yo-Yo shrugged, closing his eyes and putting his head against the roof of the car. He laid the porno over his face, his voice came back muffled. "It was long enough for Scorn to snatch both and confront us--we'd had Kell cornered, you know?"

"He could have done it to prove a point," Tab admitted, nodding. He flipped the TV off, deciding he'd had enough for one day.

"But that makes no sense," Gum said, standing up and wrapping her arms around her stomach. She glared down at the tiles beneath her skates. "If he was trying to keep himself innocent, why'd he kidnap two Rudies just as we were nailing someone?"

"It just doesn't fit, all right?" Piranha burst. "Yes, I think he and that Love Shocker did it, but you know what? Who else could it have been?"

"It could have been anyone!" Garam said, coming to Gum's defense. "For all we know, it could be--could be Onishima..."

"You don't think," Tab said, looking at Garam and snorting. "Could he be keeping his mook squad in the park and jumping us when we don't suspect it? Pfft, yeah right."

"We can't rule it out," Gum said. "See? There's no way that we can limit it to Kell and Scorn! For all we know, it was the cops, the Rhinos, or even Professor K!"

"Then why are you two just standing here instead of proving it wasn't those ass holes?" Yo-Yo said. "I'm sorry, but I'm with everyone else on this one." Piranha nodded in agreement, slowly. Tab looked doubtful, but remained silent.

"What about you?" Garam asked, turning to Mew. The girl's lip trembled, and she shook her head.

"I think it was them," she muttered, curling up tighter into herself "I really think it was them."

Garam threw his hands up into the air. "Then I guess it's just you and me again, Gum. Come on--we'll go terrorize Shorty for a bit."

"What do you plan to do to him?" Gum inquired, once she and Garam were out of the garage. Rain fizzled down around them, but it was dying out, and thankfully so--Gum had had enough rain for one day.

"Well, he's obviously a suspect nobody seriously considered before," Garam explained. "So he'll be surprised if we get the jump on him no matter what, right? I figure, we lure him into a mini-trap, corner him, and press him for information."

"Garam, it won't work."

"Why won't it?"

"Don't you remember when we saw him yesterday?" Gum sighed. "He said he didn't dare go into that park, for the same reasons that we do--it's no fun there! The Keisatsu and the Rudies are practically old chums!"

Garam sweat dropped. "Shit. Okay, so what if it isn't Onishima? Should we just go torment him anyway?"

"We've got to help Scorn and Kell," Gum said, shaking her head. "As much as I don't like them for being such pains in the asses even before the park was finished, we've got to stop the Poison Jam from doing something they'll regret."

"That line about guts coming out someone's ass like toothpaste comes to mind," Garam murmured, shuddering. "Right. Okay. Right. Let's go save them."

Gum smirked. "That's more like it."

---

The door burst open and Thrash marched in. She cast her glance left and right, peered through the darkness; two lumps, one black and one red, lay against the far wall. She gestured with a hand, and two more burly Poison Jammers came in after her. They advanced on the still-sleeping Rudies, each one pulling a knife from their overalls, rusted and bent but still deadly. They lunged and felt their knives sink deep into the...pillows? Thrash stopped and tossed her knife away, turning over the lump she had been killing; it was a bunch of pillows and trash stuffed into a Love Shocker's shirt and pants...

"We been duped!" one of the others yelled, showing her the similar collection of crap that had been stuffed into the other Rudie's clothes. The door slammed shut behind them, the lock bolted shut, and something dragged in front of it. With a roar, Thrash charged to the door and shoulder-tackled it. The door wobbled but didn't break, and Thrash passed out when something in her shoulder popped.

"Shit."

---

"Scorn, your plan was brilliant, but did we have to go in our underwear?"

"Would you rather go naked or be dead? I think the underwear's a damn good trade-off all things considered!"

Kell flinched as something crashed into the door from the other side. She glanced at the refrigerator nervously and hoped it could stand up to an enraged Poison Jammer. She and Scorn headed to the exit of the sewers, stopping at the TV room; the rest of the Poison Jammers were hypnotized by the TV. The other two Rudies peeked around the corner just in time to watch a kid bury a hockey stick into the back of some woman in a robe.

"Dude, it's Dogma," Scorn hissed. "That's not a scary movie as much as a fucking funny one..."

"Who cares?" Kell rolled her eyes. "We're getting out of here, but I want to find some clothes first. Kogane is a huge center for rapists, and I refuse to step foot topside unless I've got something less revealing to wear!"

"I could probably go and get you something," Scorn smirked. "Boxers are better then panties any day. On a guy, at least."

"Fuck you, it's people like you that help make my gang."

"You guys make yourselves, we just give you the starting push. Now, leaving you down here isn't going to help either of us; if you get caught, then I'm alone again and you're dead. We need to stick close if we gonna prove we're innocent. And I don't think the Jammers keep any spare shit around here, so we're gonna have to steal the shirts right off their backs."

"Why would we nick something so...gross?"

"You wanna go up in the silky pinks, it's fine by me."

"...fuck. Okay, gotta plan?"

"Quite so. Kell, it's time to use what your momma gave you."

---

"YES!! GO!! Jay rules you, man."

"FUCK NO!! Silent Bob can kick Jay's ass any day! Lookadim! He's built like me!"

"Rufus would kick all ass! He's got the biggest dick, he said so himself when he showed up!"

"Not to mention that Jay thinks of guys when he jacks!!"

"SCREW YOU!!"

A very lithe, very female leg thrust itself out into clear view of any Poison Jammer that would look its way. Nobody noticed, they were too busy watching the movie. A low whistle rang through the air, still nothing.

"Uh...Kill. Slap. Uh...what are good Poison Jam names??"

"Try Crash and Dice, and be sexy!"

The whistle sounded again, and a seductive voice called, "Oh Crash...Dice..." two Poison Jammers looked up and saw the leg, and a hand running along the top slowly; they exchanged quick glances with each other before hefting themselves off the floor and crossing to the door way. The leg and hand retracted, and when the two Jammers got there, they saw Kell—and then saw nothing but bright stars.

---

Scorn tossed his pipe away into the sewage and dragged Crash out of sight. He grabbed Dice next and proceeded to undress each one. He tossed one costume to Kell, and she sneered.

"This stuff smells like armpits and crap," she said. "And sweat."

"Put it on. And don't forget the mask. And take off your eye patch."

"Picky, picky..."

The two got dressed, and headed surface-side.

"We look ridiculous in these things." Kell rolled her eyes. "They're about ten sizes too big."

"We don't have a choice. We're somewhat inconspicuous like this because nobody wants to mess with the Poison Jam in the first place, and any other Rudie will be looking for a black Love Shocker and a renegade with a bucket hat, not a pair of Poison Jammers."

"Good poi—uff!"

Kell found herself tumbling over Gum. The pair rolled to a stop at the bottom of Kiboagoka, crashing hard into the old warehouse. Garam and Scorn dashed down after them.

"Fuck, stupid bitch!" Kell screamed. "Watch where you're going!"

"Wait, hold it!" Garam said. "We weren't trying to cross you guys, it was an accident!"

Scorn snarled. "Get the fuck away from us."

"Wait, hold on." Gum shoved Kell away and climbed to her feet. "I'm not a dumbass. I know who the two of you are."

"Fuck. Gonna turn us back over to the Poison Jam now?" Scorn rolled his eyes.

"No," Garam said. "We were coming to save you. The PeeJays might be our allies, but they're a bit over-the-top to keep prisoners."

"Then what do you plan to do?"

"We haven't quite gotten there yet," Gum said. "But we don't think it's you. We don't think you kidnapped the Rudies, I mean. As much as I don't like you."

"Well, that's mutual," Kell said. "But please—just let us go. We'll lie low until this entire thing is cleared up, we promise."

"That's the thing, while we don't think it was you, everyone else in the world does, even some of the cops. If you want to get proven innocent, you'll have to come with us and stay as our prisoners."

"Bullshit. We just escaped, we are not going into captivity again—"

"We've gotta," Scorn said. His voice was husky. "Yeah, we avoided certain death just now, but what good will it do? If they don't catch anyone, we'll be dead, but going back makes us just as dead. If we get locked away in a place we can't escape from and get care from these two, then we're still oodles better off than in any other situation. I don't think you want to leave Tokyo, do you? Abandon your gang, Akina?"

"N...no."

"Then we've got to put up with it."

Kell heaved a sigh. "All right. Fine with me. I'm sick of caring. As long as I can get something decent to wear, I'll be the happiest little girl in the world."

---

"This place ain't the grandest, but it'll do." Garam made a sweeping gesture with his hand to the dank, shadowy old room that really didn't seem any different from the one the Poison Jammers had kept them in. There were a few dirty old windows here and there, illuminating the floor with patches of dim light. There was also a rickety table set against one wall.

"We'll come to you as often as we can to bring you food and stuff," Gum promised. "I'll try to smuggle a Game Boy out here to you."

"Won't me much use in this gloom," Scorn said, looking around.

"And we'll be back with something for you to wear in a bit," added Garam. "But right now, we gotta check on something...we'll be back soon. Just try not to screw each other too hard, hear me?"

Gum slapped Garam on the shoulder. He laughed as he closed and locked the door loudly, leaving the two suspect-Rudies alone once again.

"Back to square one." Kell sighed and flopped back against a wall.

"We made some steps. Now we don't have to worry about getting gutted—hey, look above that table..."

"Huh?"

"It's a broken window..."