Author's Introduction:
When last we left our heroes (I've always wanted to say that *smiles*), things weren't looking so good. The weather was awful and so were Joey's chances of getting away from the Rintama gang alive. But this chapter it's Yami to the rescue! Here we go--Chapter Seven: This Time It's Not Chapter Six!
*giggles and shakes head.* I'm so silly.
**
Chapter Seven, Twelfth Duel: In the Rain
I don't feel a thing
And I stop remembering
The days just like months turned to hours
Mother used to say
If you want you'll find a way
But Mother never danced through fire-showers
In the rain
I walk in the rain
In the rain
Is it right or is it wrong?
And is it here that I belong?
(Rain)
(Cowboy Bebop)
**
Lightning unzipped the sky outside the J'Z window as Joey dodged the first punch, slamming his knee into his assailant's jaw. However, Hirutani's gang wasn't going to be faked out a second time. The tallest one took Joey down with a brutal hammer-fist to the back of the head. Dazed, Joey dropped to one knee for a second, but it was long enough for the gang to close in. Joey ended with his cheek pressed to the floor and a dogpile on top of him. "Let me go, ya jerks!"
Hirutani was still smoking, apart from the melee. He exhaled, ribbons of smoke trailing from his nostrils. "We need a little change of scenery, boys. Why don't we show Joey the...torture chamber." A small grin curled Hirutani's thin lips.
Joey didn't like the sound of that. Oh fuuuuuuuuuuuck.
**
The stairs down to J'Z yawned as Tristan bounded down them with Yami on his heels. He wasn't too fond of Yami's "all guns blazing" tactic, but he admitted to himself that they didn't have a better plan. He kicked the warped door open and Yami charged in. "Heads up!" Tristan called, hoping the element of surprise might save Yami a few hits.
"Give Joey ba--" Yami stopped short, and Tristan bumped into her. "Uh--!"
They faced an empty room. Barstools covered in torn leather were overturned onto the stained blue rug. One more thing was lying on the floor--an unconscious boy by the bar, his cheek already swollen. It would be a hell of a bruise soon.
Yami shifted her weight nervously from foot to foot as Tristan felt for a pulse. "He's fine," the tall boy said, looking back up at Yami. "He's just knocked out."
"Joey's in trouble," she said thinly. "Oh Tris, he's got to be in trouble..."
"Split up," was the only idea Tristan could come up with. "We'll cover more ground that way, and we don't have much time."
Without words, as if it were choreographed, they returned to the street. Yami went left, Tristan right. They quickly lost sight of each other in the driving rain.
**
Joey couldn't tell if his nausea was from the beating or from dangling like an obscene piñata on a fraying rope fastened to the leaky ceiling of a cave-dark warehouse. Enormous rats scampered across packing materials that littered the floor. They seemed eager to see the show. Rain beat through the rotting roof, pooling on the ground.
Joey counted the remaining members of the gang. There were five--Hirutani, the kid with the spiked crop of hair, the one with the slicked-back dark hair, and the two largest guys in the whole gang, both looking like immovable mountains. Even if he managed to get down from the hook, he'd never be able to fight them all off. He'd have to buy some time until he could think of a better plan…
Joey spit at Hirutani and missed. The bigger boy chuckled. "I like this view, Joey."
Joey grinned back, although it was a bloodier and weaker grin than his opponent's. "The view from here ain't so bad either." He hurt all over but felt strong enough to tease them. " 'Look! It's a red-assed boss monkey and his pack!' "
The answer to this was a knee to Joey's gut and a fist to his jaw, courtesy of Hirutani. Worth it, thought Joey even amidst the pain.
Hirutani stepped back and let his goons continue the beating. "Joey, you've been like this since middle school--always thinking you were my equal!"
"Ain't yer equal," Joey panted. "I'm your better. And I'll prove it--I've got a real good memory, boss monkey! I remember all you jerks' faces, remember every time each one of you hit me--and I'm gonna pay you back with interest."
"Is that so?" Hirutani wasn't nervous. "Why don't we blow his mind, boys?"
Like a bad magic act, the rest of the gang produced tazers from beneath their jackets. The kid with the spiked hair--Joey was pretty sure his name was Jacob--teased his tazer in front of Joey's face. "Know what this is, funny guy? It's a 200,000-volt stun gun! It's gonna blow your memories right out of your head...and maybe your life, too. Feel lucky?"
Joey did; he used the rope to swing forward, kicking Jacob in the face with his beloved Air Muscle sneakers. Jacob landed on his back with a groan and was still.
"Bastard," Hirutani growled, grabbing a tazer from one of his thugs. "I'll teach you!..."
Joey willed himself not to scream as the tazer flickered to electric life, but as it touched him his voice broke free of his control.
**
A scream jerked Yami's dark head around. A familiar scream--
"Joey!!" she shrieked, instinctively running across the intersection in the direction of the sound, but she had no idea where to go next. Every rain-soaked sidewalk looked the same, and she'd turned so many blind corners already...
Gritting her teeth, she waited. Do I want Joey to scream again so I can follow the sound, or do I want those punks to stop hurting him?
A sickening thought slammed into her--Joey might not be able to scream again.
It was enough to make her curl into a sodden, desperate ball on the curb. What else could she do?...
Her Millennium Puzzle was heavy and comforting in her hands. "You're magic," she told it. "I know you're magic. Be magic now--tell me where Joey is!"
The Puzzle seemed to twinkle, even under the greying sky, and Yami's wet lashes slid down over her eyes. The rain melted away for a second, and a jumble of pictures was pressed to her mind, as if being seen behind her eyes.
Rooftop--leaking rooftop. Oil drums. Loading hook. Oil drums next to a boy holding a scary-looking--something. Rope tied to loading hook. That wicked something again. Rope tied to--
"Joey!" Yami's crimson eyes flew open, but not before she was already running, new determination in her stride.
**
Hirutani was enjoying his fun. It was about time someone taught that whelp Joey Wheeler a lesson...
"Hey, Hirutani, he can't even talk anymore!" the large boy with the flattop interrupted hesitantly, speaking for the first time. "He's just twitching now! Should we stop?"
"No. Do it," Hirutani ordered, pale angry eyes on the still-spasming Joey.
Flattop earned points for bravery--he pressed on. "B-But...if we keep going, he'll...die..."
"Do it!" Hirutani roared, baring his teeth.
"Stop!" a new voice yelled over the crackle of the tazers. A girl's voice--she stood, a shadow in the doorway, as they turned.
She stood as tall as she could, hair a wet mess of light and dark. She was drenched, white blouse clinging to every line and curve, blood-colored eyes promising murder. A large golden pyramid hung from her throat, shining in the dim light.
"Nice entrance," Hirutani quipped, smiling the smirk of the unimpressed.
"Wait till you see the death scene," she answered with a smirk of her own. "It'll be murder."
The rest of the gang looked to Hirutani for orders. He waved one big hand in a dismissive motion. "Don't worry about it, boys. It's Joey's brat chick. If this is all the help he has coming, he's done for." He chuckled, and everyone else quickly laughed with him, except the girl.
"We'll see who's done for," the girl challenged, and bold as brass, tried to throw a clumsy punch at the leading goon. He easily ducked it and sent her spinning back to land near the fallen Jacob. They laughed as she struggled to get up, using him for support.
"What a lame excuse for a rescue!" Hirutani guffawed.
The girl was busy. She had taken off her strange pendant, fastening it to a chain above her head. Wiping her bleeding mouth, she hopped onto a rubber tire, smirking. "Oh, it's not over. In fact, it's time for me to start--a game!" Her smile confused the gang. "I challenge you four to a game!"
"A game?" Hirutani gave ground to her pointing finger.
Her grin was bloodstained as she snickered. "I know something youuuuuuu don't know..." she purred to the four remaining thugs. "There's a time bomb hidden at your feet! The seconds are already slipping away, the switch poised to activate!"
"What are you talking about, little bitch?" Hirutani growled. "A bomb?!"
"You're sooooo smart, though, aren't you, my dear? You're smart enough to find the switch." The brunette looked almost dreamy as she explained her game. "If you do, you win! And you can have me as your prize." She posed briefly, but then the dreamy look was gone as if it had never been. She was deadly serious. "But if you can't, the bomb will explode, taking you with it!"
"The little bitch is bluffing, Hirutani!" one guy yelled. "That cute little mouth's writing checks her body can't cash..."
"We can make her body cash its checks," another snickered. "Want to have some fun with her?"
"I don't want to hold her down, though--let's stun her so she's nice and quiet."
The girl simply stood atop her tire, smiling, waiting. If the news of her impending rape upset her, she didn't show it. One guy raised his tazer--
--and Hirutani realized what would happen. "Don't use the stun guns!" he roared suddenly, startling his gang. His eyes slitted as he stared down the still-smiling girl.
"What's up, Hirutani?" one thug gasped.
Hirutani snickered. "This chick's more than just a cute little toy. She's not just bluffing." He stamped his foot, splashing in the puddle they were standing in. "See? We're all soaked with rain, and the little bitch let us hit her so she could lure us into this puddle! If even one of us turns on a tazer, the 200,000 volts will go right from his hand to the puddle, and her little 'bomb' will blow us to kingdom come!"
The girl looked mildly impressed. "It speaks. Be still my heart."
"We don't need the stun guns to show you a good time, baby," Hirutani purred, stepping towards her. "Time for us to claim our prize!"
"But you didn't find the switch," she corrected smoothly, not missing a beat. "I'm the winner. The switch is about to activate...right...now."
Like an audiovisual aid, a groan drew Hirutani's eyes to the fallen Jacob, who was still lying semiconscious on the floor, with one significant change--his arm was propped up by a piece of metal, the tazer still sparking in his hand...
"The switch is his arm!" Hirutani burst out. His eyes raced from his fallen friend to where the girl's pyramid was hanging, dripping cold rainwater onto Jacob's eyes. He remembered the girl hauling herself up from the floor, using Jacob as support...or...
"She set all this up when she got hit!" The pieces were all coming together too late for Hirutani. "Jacob! Don't wake up!"
Too late. Jacob groaned and shifted, the metal bar clanking to the floor and the hand clutching the tazer dropping to the puddle of rainwater.
The girl's angelic smile was the last thing Hirutani's frightened eyes saw.
"Switch on. It's lights out for you!"
**
Everything hurts...
He first realized his eyes were closed by noticing how hard it was to open them. His wrists were sore, but he couldn't remember why. His eyelids were so heavy, and their backs were so dark!...
"Joey! Joey!"
Someone was calling him, a girl's voice, a voice he knew. Joey. Was that his name? Who was he? He couldn't remember.
"Joey! Come on, Joey, look at me!"
Oh. She sounded sad. Maybe I should tell her I'm okay.
"Please, Joey. Please? Open your eyes." Her voice broke.
Don't cry. It's okay. I'm here. Who was she? His hand was reaching for her before he could force his eyes open, feeling his fingers tangling in soft hair. When his vision focused, he saw how dark that hair was against his hands, all except for bright bangs that were dripping rainwater down her face, into the most unbelievable eyes...
It all came rushing back. She was Yami Motou, his best friend. And he had a best friend, he, Joey Wheeler.
He had a self again.
"Y...Ya...Yami..." he choked out, and then she was hugging him, curling around him, smelling of rain and the remains of cherry almond perfume. Everything was all right.
**
A startling crash didn't faze the students of 12:10 chemistry, although Dr. Hanson was jumping out of her skin every five minutes. The death toll so far: two beakers, a test tube, a shattered stirring wand, and a puddle of melted metal that had once been part of Tristan's project for shop class. The rest of Tristan's shop project was currently adorning Yami's head as she played Sasuke for the second month in a row.
" 'Now he has a plan?' " She snorted. " 'Hmf...so, it's time for some teamwork?' "
Joey, as Naruto, picked up his cue right away, stamping his foot on his lab station. " 'Ok! Let's get busy!' "
All Zabuza had had to do for the last three pages of the manga was glare, so it was okay for Tristan to break character to smile at his friends. "Now this is more like it."
**
Author's Notes:
If you want to know why Yami's playing Sasuke and not Sakura, it's because I've already delegated the part of Sakura to someone in a later chapter. Besides, I just love it when Sasuke says, "There's someone I have sworn…to kill." I felt bad sticking Tristan as Zabuza, but somebody had to be the bad guy.
Starting next chapter, things start to get serious in terms of storyline--like the first sighting of the spirit living inside Yami-girl's Millennium Puzzle. And if you thought Yami-girl was difficult to deal with, wait till you meet her ancient counterpart…