A/N: Let the villains hit the floor! Tajeri Lynn the Extremo Luchadore welcomes you back to the bizarre world of "The Life Before the Party", starring the members of the J-Team.
If you read the previous chapter, then don't expect any additional news until further notice. But always remember; JCA still comes to you live at the Toonami Dome from Kids WB and Sony Entertainment Television.
Now let's rev it up, amigos!
Chapter XIII: Cognizance A
Tohru slumped reluctantly in the cockpit of the 13th Gear. Donning an oversized plastic helmet, and putting a weak grip on the massive levers, the 600-pound sumo couldn't believe he had to undergo this critical task while his friends were to be digital passengers. The 13th Gear, in fact, resembled a burly android with a squarish core and cylindrical extremities. As he practiced motioning the metallic arms, the arms moved very freely and effortlessly. Dr. Kepler originally intended the 13th Gear to have armaments and missles installed in the arms, but since there was no time, that left the arms largely hollow in its centers, but they kept firm due to the perfected titanium alloy mold.
Thanks to the doctor's instructions, Tohru finally connected a laptop into a plug for the first time in his life. That laptop, without a mite of a doubt, would monitor Jackie's signal via the X-3 Comm. He had raised the volume on the laptop to keep track of any clues that the still-operable cell phone could receive. Tohru listened to the whole track over his adjustment on the seat of the 13th Gear, and so far found nothing. He now had to rely on the recordings that were to come, if Jackie, El Toro, Viper and Paco were to be rescued from the grips of the global menace Necrosis.
Tohru, shivering from the vibrations of the android as it was warming up for release, simple-mindedly pressed a taped button marked with the word "Talk". Instantly, a small screen appeared with five, thin, motionless wires projected.
"I am ready," spoke Tohru as he bent his oval head before the screen.
"Pleasant," came the top wire, which began waving in synchronization with the phonetics. The voice was male and had to be Kepler. "Being the rational being that I am, I suggest you make your way to the Pacific before we lose complete chance of determining their proper location. My timepiece indicates, provided it was not discovered by the unscrupulous, that the X-3 phone will expire in 1800 seconds. 30 minutes."
"Do not fail us now, Tohru," came Mama Tohru's voice, which was visualized as the lowest wire. "I am here to comfort you whenever you need it. How about I sing you a song, maybe one from Kare Noke and the Yodelling Kabukis?"
"Eww!" came out Jade from the wire right above Mama Tohru's. "That song could bust an ear drum or too. I mean, wouldn't a little hip-hop give you a better time, Chilly T?"
"Tohru is MY son, and he is no Chilly Willy T!" yelled Mama Tohru, who spoke so loud at the "MY" that her wire bounced up and collided with Jade's wire, shaking it like a fork shakes gelatin.
"OW!" said Jade in reply, taking pause as if to recover, and then speaking again. "What was that for?"
"Little girl must not decide for Tohru. All youths should respect their elders. Oh, I forgot. You've got a billy goat for an uncle. What's that make you, a lamb?"
"I AM NO LAMB!" Jade expelled at the edge of her lungs. The wave rose and rapidly whacked Mama Tohru's wire, but since sound waves have vertical pitches, Jade's wave also struck the above wire with equal force.
"Uhn! Jade!" said Xu Lin's wire in sober annoyance. "Please quit that!"
"I am terribly sorry, Xu Lin," muttered Mama Tohru with some guilt. "I didn't want to hurt you… unlike Jade. Little lamb bleats loudly without knowing her shepherds."
"Urrr!" spoke Jade, anticipating anger in her voice. "Take THIS!"
Her wire once again hit both Mama Tohru and Xu Lin. Mama Tohru began cursing in deafening Japanese to counteract Jade's verbal arsenal. Soon, Xu Lin joined in and yelled desperately in Mandarin. The restless cacophony caused the wires to bounce onto each other, building audible aftershocks that were severely jarring the top wire; Kepler's wire.
"Ouch!" Kepler spoke. "Impede everyone, impede, impede! Tohru", he addressed the bewildered Sumo urgently. "I bade the best of luck to you. Now turn off the speaker. Turn it off. Turn it OFF!" The last word hit Xu Lin's wire, and so she began the deliberate assault on him. "Ouch, ouch, ouch! What are you stalling for?! Ple-"
Click!
Tohru sighed, raised his eyes to the oceanic horizon ahead and fixed his face in red-blooded determination. "I must go now, but how must I be sure I'm in the right path?"
"Necrosis!"
"Huh?" Tohru reacted immediately, as he noticed the source came from the laptop.
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"What is it now?" said Necrosis as he turned behind to see Kenzo walk up to him.
"The ship is boarding over near Sri Lanka, where the 'Higher Odor' awaits."
"Excellent, although you should detract from that language of yours. That will not be appropriate once we reap for him the bounties he has craved most; the necessary technology to concentrate the Horse Talisman's power, and the chance to witness the fall of Jackie Chan."
"Will he?" Kenzo rose back his skepticism. "The technology only works in theory, and Chan's got more lives than nine cats, if you ask me."
"That's why I won't ask you," Necrosis retorted. "By
the way, is Jackie being situated as I have demanded?"
"Yup," smiled Kenzo. "It is the perfect trap for all of them. If they manage to escape, it won't be worth it."
Behind the gargantuan safe, Viper, Paco, and El Toro Fuerte were locked in hundreds of chains suspended above the ceiling.
"Okay", spoke Paco. "NOW we can play Tic, Tac, Toe!"
"You know, we could only do so much with our hands tucked beneath this mess," bemoaned Viper.
"I don't understand," said El Toro Fuerte as his masked face angled everywhere he could move. "Where is senor Jackie?"
"Below us," replied Viper.
"What did you say up there?" came Jackie's worried voice, which sprung from below. "Don't try to escape. Please. I don't want to be your landing cushion!"
To Be Continued….
A/N: That's it, huh? Well, Extremo Luchadore made this quick chapter because nobody but one read Chapter XII. Hope this got your attention. Adios, amigos!