Deus Ex Machina

Chapter Eight

By Jason Winter

Author's note: This fic has been long long overdue for an update, I know. I don't think I've written anything new for it since about this time in '03. My writing has not been what it used to be, and I only have short bursts of inspiration when it comes to writing stuff these days. But anyway, enough of my blabbing… Here's the long awaited (yeah, right!) next chapter in the JSR25YL storyline. Enjoy!

Kogane-cho

"Well, THIS is convenient…." Vix sighed, raising her hands in the air along with everyone else.

"Hehe, very good…" chuckled the guy holding Takaishi at gunpoint, this squad's leader. He pulled out a comlink. "I have the traitor, repeat, I have the traitor. You'll inform the others? Excellent."

He then turned to the rudies, but not before klonking Takaishi over the head with his gun. He fell unconscious on the rooftop.

"Now then… We all have an entire day to wait before we… oh, kill you, regardless of whether your friends surrender or not. So, let's aaaaall get nice and comfy, sit back, shut up, and enjoy the last 24 hours."

The comlink sparked to life yet again.

"Yes, what is it now?" Uh huh… A ha… Yes, I'll do it right away." he now looked down, and pointed to Zrex "You, come forward."

"How about… NO." Zrex replied, standing firm and defiantly.

"Do it, or you can watch your friends' brains splatter all over the street. Haha, friends… what a concept for a robot, eh?"

Zrex growled, and began to walk forward… A plan had come to mind, all he had to do was provide the distraction to let his friends get away. He continued to walk toward where this nut was now pointing him to… One of their cars. His skates scraped along the road, and just as he was nearing the door, one of them waving him towards the door to get in, and he began to do so, and suddenly kicked out with his leg, knocking the guy backwards.

"What?! FIRE!!!" the commander yelled. At the moment of the kick, everyone had hit the dirt, and kicked out knocking these guys over, their balance off when they had raised their guns, and then they made a run for it, bullets whizzing by, hitting objects "Aaargh! Forget them! Get the robot, he's the one that's important!"

Zrex had already made a mad dash behind the car, bullets struck him, but being a robot, that did not really matter. Suddenly, the commander reached for something on his belt, a small device, and pressed it. There was a hum and a loud bang. Electronics went blank, lights burst, and Zrex fell, completely motionless.

"What was that?!" Yo-yo asked, looking from an alleyway.

"Could have been only one thing." Oni replied "An EMP blast… takes out anything electrical in a specific radius… Tried using it against the Nose Ta-- er, the Virtua Crush sometimes…"

"Meaning?!" Vix responded.

"Zrex's functions have probably ceased… I don't think he could have gotten out of the radius… Look." Onishima's digital watch had stopped dead. "Pretty damn big radius."

"So Zrex… is… dead?"

"No, just completely nonfunctional… They could reprogram him when they fix his electronic devices… I don't think they'll just trash something so important to whatever they're doing."

"So he's still pretty much dead." Yo-yo sighed "We need to get outta here, and tell the others, yo."

Meanwhile, the Jade Cobras picked up Zrex's body, and tossed it into the car. As for Takaishi, they left him laying there unconscious.

"Weren't we supposed to kill them?" asked one of them.

"Yes." the commander replied "But the robot is much more important… The next time those kids see him, if they live through this… They'll get to watch their own… hehe… friend slaughter them all like cattle."

With that, the cars screeched off.

Shibuya-cho

Tab and Piranha looked for a way out, but all the paths were blocked by either the Cobras or their cars.

"Trapped." Tab sighed.

"Going somewhere, boys and girls.. Or rather boy and girl?" laughed a voice, as they got out of one of the cars. A man stood there. Like Kell, he seemed to be partially robotic, only it was his feet (and probably his legs), along with most of the left side of his face and his right arm. He had a very evil grin, one of his teeth shined gold. He had black waist-length hair that was tied back in a ponytail, and carried a short sword on his belt. He was skinny as a rail as well.

"And who the hell are YOU?" Piranha scoffed.

"I am High Commander Jirachi." the stick of a man replied "And you shouldn't scoff at me… Or you'll be real dead real fast. But… that's not on our agenda yet."

For a stickman, he seemed really threatening, a very malicious aura about him. He'd probably kill anyone without any hesitation, and laugh while doing it. So these guys actually had ranks… The only one they had really known was the Assassin kind, but this guy was a High Commander.. They wondered in their minds if this was Kell's rank, too, but this was not the time to be thinking of such things. They were trapped like rats by some dude that was probably a psycho. Once again, he spoke.

"Don't worry, this will all be over soon… In just a little less than a day all of you will be dead. Oh your friends THINK we're gonna just stop when they give in, but what's a takeover without the loss of precious.. And I say precious as an exaggeration… Lives."

He suddenly got a call.

"What? You got him? Excellent! Huh? The boss wants us to leave? But-- Can I at least kill the Rudies in my capture? What do you mean no?! Alright, alright. Jirachi out."

"So you're just gonna let us go?" Tab asked in disbelief.

"Eh…. Kill 'em anyway."

"But you heard the boss!" one protested.

"I don't care. Get rid of them. Kill them both."

And suddenly, Jirachi cried out in pain, his mechanical parts sparking.

"Urgh, fine… This is what I get for defying.. Orders! Ouch! Move out…"

With that, he got back in his car, as did the rest of the Cobras, and they drove off.

"That was lucky." Piranha said.

"Yeah, but they'll be back… sounds like all this was a recon mission. They must've… found Zrex or someth--"

And that's when a loud explosion sounded. From a familiar direction.

"The Garage!" Tab yelled in panic, as he and Piranha burst forward towards the familiar area, just to see the now burning hulk of what used to be their hangout. There was a moo, and Potts trudged over to them, looking no worse for wear. He also had a note slipped into his scarf.

"Shit, this.. This.. Really.. SUCKS!!!" Piranha shrieked, and looked at the now burning garage.. Their home… gone.

"Verily…" Tab sighed, picking up the dog and headed back towards the central complex. He looked back for a moment before moving on.

Benten-cho

And no sooner did the Cobras advance on the girls did they turn back. They looked on in disbelief…

"Something must be up…" Marie muttered.

"Definitely…. They wouldn't leave unless it was something REALLY important…" Gum replied "Let's get back to TDA central on the double."

TDA Central

The leaders of the three gangs continued brainstorming and planning their next move, when suddenly Tab carrying Potts, and Piranha skated in.

"How… did you guys escape?!" Beat asked, quite surprised.

"We didn't…" Piranha sighed "They left us, but not without sending us a little message first…"

"Message?"

"They blew up the Garage, man… They blew it to hell." Tab said uneasily "And.. They gave this letter… I haven't opened it yet, but they had put it on the dog…"

"The Garage… is… gone?" Garam asked, his mouth agape and staying there."

Piranha nodded sadly.

"We've also got a new problem" Tab said "A new guy… a High Commander named Jirachi… Stick thin, but completely creepy… and a real Kell vibe to him… he's part robot, like she is… He was gonna kill us instead of letting us go, but whoever rules these guys now put him in his place via overloading his robot bits… And he left…"

Beat shook his head "The Garage…gone… These guys knew exactly what and where to strike… They never intended on staying…"

And once again, the radio was interrupted, by a familiar voice.

"Too true… I do wish I coulda had a nice mass slaughter slash barbecue, but.. Hehe… We have the treacherous unit… That's all the master wanted… for now…"

"That would be Jirachi." Tab said.

"Oh yes… how did you like our little garage renovation?! Hee hee hee!"

"You'll pay for this, you hear?" Beat growled.

"Just read the letter already… Ta-ta!"

And with that, their interrupting broadcast shut down and Jet Set Radio began to play once more.

Beat ripped open the letter and read it.

"Dear Rudies,

If you're reading this, we've got what we wanted. Oh yes, and we blew up the GG Garage… just consider it payback for what you did five years ago… We will return soon enough and this time it WILL be an assault on the cities… next time, you won't live… Too bad, we wish we could let you watch as the planet became ours. Also, Grind City… We're gonna destroy it today anyway. So it would be a good idea to mourn your friends there… After all, it was they who led to our first… downfall.

Farewell,

The Jade Cobra Emperor"

"Shit.. They're gonna destroy Grind City today…" Beat stammered "I just hope the C's can handle 'em…"

"They will." Charla said "I don't doubt 'em for a minute. Just you see, they'll be calling us any time now."

Everyone in the room hoped so. Soon enough, Marie and Gum came in and were filled in, and then Yo-yo, along with Vix, Onishima, and the unconscious Takaishi gave the news about Zrex's capture. This was a sad day for the Rudies.

A bit later, Combo called up and told them that they had managed to chase the Cobras out of Grind after a long, hard battle…

"Fill us in." the three leaders said.

"Alright…" Combo began.

End Chapter 8

Next Time: Combo tells the story of the battle of Grind City! Stay tuned.