[ooc] Ok, action scene time. I really don't like the way I write fights, but I hope this worked. I'm glad someone's wondering about Melanie, it's nice to have someone take an interest in my chcarachters. This chapter is a littlelonger than others, so that probably means the next few will be shorter. Anyway, read on.[/ooc]
Beat sat lazily with his back resting up against a wall while Gum stood, ever alert it seemed, leaning against the same wall. The two of them were going to go on a quick run, checking and tagging any irresistible targets at Dogenzaka hill, but had then decided that they just couldn't be bothered. It just proves that laziness exists in all walks of life.
The two of them were slacking at the top of the hill, behind a couple of billboards. To their left was the start of the run that curled down hill, and to their right, beyond the billboards, would lead them up to the road.
Beat was nodding his head to some sort of music. Gum glanced at him briefly before going back to looking around to make sure everything was as it should be. She had really felt like doing something active, but she didn't mind just hanging around doing absolutely zip with Beat either. She would have liked it better if he had been talking to her.
"Hey," said Beat suddenly.
"What?"
"DJ professor K says there's a new gang hanging about," said Beat.
"The DJ's freaky," said Gum. She didn't like the way he always seemed to know exactly what every member of the GG's was doing all the time. It was very disconcerting for her to have a 24-7 narrator.
"They've been sighted a few times. Either that or they're just a few rouges and it's coincidental that they're showing at the same time. Been seen around the outskirts."
"So?" said Gum. "Any clue where they are?"
"Out of range according to the radio. Nothing to worry about." Gum looked up from watching Beat again when she heard the indignant shouts of the civilians, who were apparently only there to scream at any disturbance. She could hear the consistent grating of skates. It sounded like two or three different sets.
"Get down," hissed Beat, who hadn't moved, but tugged hard on Gum's skirt to pull her below the billboard. Gum obliged, although her descent was a little indignant. The new skaters hadn't noticed them. Beat suspected that they hadn't even considered jumping over the billboards. They could both hear the cries of exhilaration, and two different thumps as skates hit and rode the billboards. They weren't voices Gum or Beat recognised.
"Out of range eh?" said Gum angrily as she stood up again, Beat did the same.
"Just shows ya can't always believe what ya hear on the radio," shrugged Beat, carefree as always, and started moving. Gum beat him to the grindable pole and took off, the invaders clearly in sight. One was presumably a girl, judging from the long black, silky hair. It was too well kept to be a guy. Her outfit was dark blue and blacks, with a fast moving glitter of silver. The other was a short guy, pale brown hair cut close to his head, a light grey t-shirt and black sport pants with a white stripe. Gum couldn't see their faces. She could hear Beat behind her, not too far back. They were gonna teach these two just who's territory they were playing on.
The girl turned her head over her shoulder to look at who was following in them, making it clear that she definitely was a girl, as Gum landed on a rail, jumping off just in time to land easily behind the boy and unload paint onto his shirt.
"Sparky look out!" shouted the dark haired girl. The boy didn't turn. He didn't shout anything. He didn't try to spray paint into Gum's face. He just stopped. And ducked. Gum didn't respond in time, and tripped over him. She cursed, fluently. The boy was already up and moving away when she struggled upright. Beat paused to lend a hand.
"Come on!" he urged. The invading pair were already half way down the first curve Beat and Gum took the steep shortcut, and caught up with them again. Beat shook up a can, and focused in on the boys back, the slower of the two. Putting more effort into speed, he caught up with the boy, apparently called Sparky.
"Eat this midget!" Sparky turned just as Beat started to unload his paint, and grabbed the Ruddie around the neck.
Beat was taken completely by surprise.
He was even more shocked when he realised that the boy was dragging him down the second steep short cut, heading straight towards a hard concrete wall with his, Beat's, head in the lead. Apparently, this boy didn't care about paint.
Gum figured this out too. Being faster, she managed to catch up the little lost distance, and used her spray in a previously unthought of way.
She whacked Sparky over the back of the head with her can.
Sparky cried out and let go of Beat to protect his assaulted skull. Gum grabbed Beat's arm and pulled, spinning the both of them slightly but stopping momentum splattering Beat's brain against the wall. That would have been some very bad graffiti.
"I'll get the little bugger!" vowed Beat, but didn't get a chance to. The girl that was accompanying Sparky skated past, shoving Beat into Gum and into the wall before grabbing her friend's arm and urging him on. Gum found herself cushioning Beat from the wall.
"Those buggers play for keeps!" breathed Beat, slightly in shock, knowing very well what the wall could have done to him. True, compared to tanks a concrete wall wasn't much, but at least the tanks stopped when you sprayed them. The boy hadn't. Not that it was terribly surprising; it was just paint after all. But still, most rudies had the decency to play by the rules.
"Beat?"
"What?"
"We should be chasing them, you stupid bug-eyes freak."
"Oh yeah." Beat pushed himself away from Gum and the wall and waited for her to move too. Gum didn't say anything, but skated past him, jumped onto a flat roof rather than skate down the third steep shortcut and then over the next roof. She didn't make it onto the rail, but she was close. She quickly jumped onto her missed target to continue the chase. Beat was after her, although didn't sound as pleased as he had previously.
The next stretch was one of the few uphill pieces of the Dogenzaka run, and really took a chunk out of a skaters speed. Gum tried her best to keep her speed by grinding any available rails, but the two attackers were getting too far ahead. Beat boosted and overtook her, landing a solid punch in the back of the boy's head as he rocketed past as his own little revenge. He cried out in anger. Gum knew Beat wasn't going to let the jerk get off easy, after all he had tried, and nearly succeeded besides, to kill him. But it was the girl Gum was worried about. She didn't know where she had gone. It was like she had disappeared.
There was a hiss as Sparky unloaded paint, into Beat's face. Beat veered off to the side, knowing that if he got paint in his lungs it could be dangerous. He had to slow down, being poisoned wasn't worth the chase. Gum slowed down briefly to see if he was alright, but decided he was and went after the invaders again.
"Leave him alone!" shouted the girl, and Gum realised too late that she was behind her. The wind was knocked out of her as she fell to the ground, gasping for breath after the deft blow the girl had dealt. The girl caught up with her friend and the two of them sped off, putting distance between them, and Beat and Gum as they disappeared around the corner. Gum coughed for breath.
"You alright?" asked Beat coming to a halt next to her. His face was covered in black paint, except where he had wiped it away from his goggles and mouth. He looked like a sort of angry, inverse panda.
"Yeah, fine," panted Gum.
"Good. Let's go." Beat grabbed Gum's arm and dragged her after him, the shattering of glass indicating the location of their foes. Gum didn't need to be told how or where to skate, but nevertheless let Beat lead the way along the tops of walls and out of the building near the sewerage pipe.
The boy and girl were keeping to the street, avoiding the sewerage pipe.
"Come on!" yelled Beat, ignoring the indignant civilians as he and Gum chased after them. The two intruders turned the corner, Beat and Gum gaining on them. And then.....
....they were gone. Beat and Gum skidded to an unspoken halt and looked around. The boy and girl had literally disappeared; the only thing left to confirm their existence was the paint on Beat's face.
"Where are they?" asked Beat, as though Gum just might know the answer. She didn't.
"I don't know!"
"Well where the heck could they have gone?"
"I don't know. Let's go check Shibuya, even if they're not there, Combo might be able to help," suggested Gum.
"Yeah, alright. Let's go."
Beat sat lazily with his back resting up against a wall while Gum stood, ever alert it seemed, leaning against the same wall. The two of them were going to go on a quick run, checking and tagging any irresistible targets at Dogenzaka hill, but had then decided that they just couldn't be bothered. It just proves that laziness exists in all walks of life.
The two of them were slacking at the top of the hill, behind a couple of billboards. To their left was the start of the run that curled down hill, and to their right, beyond the billboards, would lead them up to the road.
Beat was nodding his head to some sort of music. Gum glanced at him briefly before going back to looking around to make sure everything was as it should be. She had really felt like doing something active, but she didn't mind just hanging around doing absolutely zip with Beat either. She would have liked it better if he had been talking to her.
"Hey," said Beat suddenly.
"What?"
"DJ professor K says there's a new gang hanging about," said Beat.
"The DJ's freaky," said Gum. She didn't like the way he always seemed to know exactly what every member of the GG's was doing all the time. It was very disconcerting for her to have a 24-7 narrator.
"They've been sighted a few times. Either that or they're just a few rouges and it's coincidental that they're showing at the same time. Been seen around the outskirts."
"So?" said Gum. "Any clue where they are?"
"Out of range according to the radio. Nothing to worry about." Gum looked up from watching Beat again when she heard the indignant shouts of the civilians, who were apparently only there to scream at any disturbance. She could hear the consistent grating of skates. It sounded like two or three different sets.
"Get down," hissed Beat, who hadn't moved, but tugged hard on Gum's skirt to pull her below the billboard. Gum obliged, although her descent was a little indignant. The new skaters hadn't noticed them. Beat suspected that they hadn't even considered jumping over the billboards. They could both hear the cries of exhilaration, and two different thumps as skates hit and rode the billboards. They weren't voices Gum or Beat recognised.
"Out of range eh?" said Gum angrily as she stood up again, Beat did the same.
"Just shows ya can't always believe what ya hear on the radio," shrugged Beat, carefree as always, and started moving. Gum beat him to the grindable pole and took off, the invaders clearly in sight. One was presumably a girl, judging from the long black, silky hair. It was too well kept to be a guy. Her outfit was dark blue and blacks, with a fast moving glitter of silver. The other was a short guy, pale brown hair cut close to his head, a light grey t-shirt and black sport pants with a white stripe. Gum couldn't see their faces. She could hear Beat behind her, not too far back. They were gonna teach these two just who's territory they were playing on.
The girl turned her head over her shoulder to look at who was following in them, making it clear that she definitely was a girl, as Gum landed on a rail, jumping off just in time to land easily behind the boy and unload paint onto his shirt.
"Sparky look out!" shouted the dark haired girl. The boy didn't turn. He didn't shout anything. He didn't try to spray paint into Gum's face. He just stopped. And ducked. Gum didn't respond in time, and tripped over him. She cursed, fluently. The boy was already up and moving away when she struggled upright. Beat paused to lend a hand.
"Come on!" he urged. The invading pair were already half way down the first curve Beat and Gum took the steep shortcut, and caught up with them again. Beat shook up a can, and focused in on the boys back, the slower of the two. Putting more effort into speed, he caught up with the boy, apparently called Sparky.
"Eat this midget!" Sparky turned just as Beat started to unload his paint, and grabbed the Ruddie around the neck.
Beat was taken completely by surprise.
He was even more shocked when he realised that the boy was dragging him down the second steep short cut, heading straight towards a hard concrete wall with his, Beat's, head in the lead. Apparently, this boy didn't care about paint.
Gum figured this out too. Being faster, she managed to catch up the little lost distance, and used her spray in a previously unthought of way.
She whacked Sparky over the back of the head with her can.
Sparky cried out and let go of Beat to protect his assaulted skull. Gum grabbed Beat's arm and pulled, spinning the both of them slightly but stopping momentum splattering Beat's brain against the wall. That would have been some very bad graffiti.
"I'll get the little bugger!" vowed Beat, but didn't get a chance to. The girl that was accompanying Sparky skated past, shoving Beat into Gum and into the wall before grabbing her friend's arm and urging him on. Gum found herself cushioning Beat from the wall.
"Those buggers play for keeps!" breathed Beat, slightly in shock, knowing very well what the wall could have done to him. True, compared to tanks a concrete wall wasn't much, but at least the tanks stopped when you sprayed them. The boy hadn't. Not that it was terribly surprising; it was just paint after all. But still, most rudies had the decency to play by the rules.
"Beat?"
"What?"
"We should be chasing them, you stupid bug-eyes freak."
"Oh yeah." Beat pushed himself away from Gum and the wall and waited for her to move too. Gum didn't say anything, but skated past him, jumped onto a flat roof rather than skate down the third steep shortcut and then over the next roof. She didn't make it onto the rail, but she was close. She quickly jumped onto her missed target to continue the chase. Beat was after her, although didn't sound as pleased as he had previously.
The next stretch was one of the few uphill pieces of the Dogenzaka run, and really took a chunk out of a skaters speed. Gum tried her best to keep her speed by grinding any available rails, but the two attackers were getting too far ahead. Beat boosted and overtook her, landing a solid punch in the back of the boy's head as he rocketed past as his own little revenge. He cried out in anger. Gum knew Beat wasn't going to let the jerk get off easy, after all he had tried, and nearly succeeded besides, to kill him. But it was the girl Gum was worried about. She didn't know where she had gone. It was like she had disappeared.
There was a hiss as Sparky unloaded paint, into Beat's face. Beat veered off to the side, knowing that if he got paint in his lungs it could be dangerous. He had to slow down, being poisoned wasn't worth the chase. Gum slowed down briefly to see if he was alright, but decided he was and went after the invaders again.
"Leave him alone!" shouted the girl, and Gum realised too late that she was behind her. The wind was knocked out of her as she fell to the ground, gasping for breath after the deft blow the girl had dealt. The girl caught up with her friend and the two of them sped off, putting distance between them, and Beat and Gum as they disappeared around the corner. Gum coughed for breath.
"You alright?" asked Beat coming to a halt next to her. His face was covered in black paint, except where he had wiped it away from his goggles and mouth. He looked like a sort of angry, inverse panda.
"Yeah, fine," panted Gum.
"Good. Let's go." Beat grabbed Gum's arm and dragged her after him, the shattering of glass indicating the location of their foes. Gum didn't need to be told how or where to skate, but nevertheless let Beat lead the way along the tops of walls and out of the building near the sewerage pipe.
The boy and girl were keeping to the street, avoiding the sewerage pipe.
"Come on!" yelled Beat, ignoring the indignant civilians as he and Gum chased after them. The two intruders turned the corner, Beat and Gum gaining on them. And then.....
....they were gone. Beat and Gum skidded to an unspoken halt and looked around. The boy and girl had literally disappeared; the only thing left to confirm their existence was the paint on Beat's face.
"Where are they?" asked Beat, as though Gum just might know the answer. She didn't.
"I don't know!"
"Well where the heck could they have gone?"
"I don't know. Let's go check Shibuya, even if they're not there, Combo might be able to help," suggested Gum.
"Yeah, alright. Let's go."