"Actually, you know I think we took a wrong turn. That animal shelter we volunteer at is this way..." Fink declared, grabbing Gums arm and turning to skate away.
"Hold it!" Onishima barked, his Buntline special flashing upward to draw a bead.
"Run!" Fink yelled, the two taking flight around the corner away from the cops. The Buntline roared its displeasure behind them. Gum actually watched a bullet go by close to Fink's head. Twangs echoed as the rubber bullets bounded off the brick wall behind them. They couldn't get around the corner fast enough for Gum's liking. They blazed down the street they'd just come from.
"He could really hurt us with that thing!" Gum complained.
"Well yeah girl, it ain't a squirtgun," Fink replied. Just before they could pass a second side-street, three squad cars fish tailed and shuddered to a stop, their drivers piling out to join the rudie chase. Maneuvering as though he were trying to walk backwards, Fink crossed his skates over as though he was side-stepping to put his momentum into a sudden, tight arc to turn around. As he whirled around Gum he grabbed her arm and swung her around him 180 degrees as though playing crack the whip, so she was facing the right direction.
"This way!" Fink demanded, dragging her behind him into an alley. Before heading in, Gum could briefly see the horde of cops from their previous direction running after them. "Damnit! We should have been paying attention instead of messing around!" The two turned up their radios to listen to the police scanner playing over FF Field's "Yellow Bream".
"Reckless skaters have entered alley between 551 and 552 Midpark. Expected to exit midway on Uematsu, Hamauzu, or Mitsuda."
The two faced each other, "3/4 Mitsuda?" Fink suggested. Gum nodded. The alley was a clean 4 way intersection, so improvisation was necessary. They climbed their way up a fire escape to the second floor. Opening a window, they climbed into a surprised couple's bed room, through the kitchen, flung open the door to the hall. Fink kicked in the opposite door and they went through the living room of a seemingly oblivious old woman, and out the window of her bathroom.
"There they are!" a private cried, pointing down the street as the rudies jumped down from the second story. The pair increased their speed as the cops took off to pursue.
"Damn 'Urban Renewal' movement," Fink griped. These crackdowns are ridiculous. The cost of these projects must be absurd. This is why I don't pay taxes." At the end of the street they prepared to turn left as more squad cars whirled around the corner. To Gum's horror, one almost clipped her and sent Fink rolling over the hood to land in a pile on the other side, cracking the windshield and sending the car careening into a lamppost.
"Are you ok?" Gum gasped as Fink got to his feet remarkably quickly but visibly dazed.
"Yeah," he nodded. "I'm used to it. Come on!" he shouted, grabbing Gum and dragging her along right as the cops caught up with them. One dived to grab Gum's thigh to be dragged behind her. The officer cried out as Fink turned and sprayed paint into his eyes, the policeman letting go and curling into a ball.
"You better not have gotten any of that on me," Gum warned him.
"You're so compassionate," Fink rolled his eyes.
"Attention all officers," the dispatcher clamored. "Police dogs are being released as reinforcements. Exercise of extreme caution is encouraged." Up ahead, cops pored out of the upcoming alley.
"What's the plan?" Gum shrieked.
"Up!" Fink pointed to a bent, twisting gutter. Wheelmarks lead Gum to guess it was regularly used for this by Fink and the Noise Tanks. He let her grind up first before following. A cop grabbed Fink's ankle as he leapt but let go as he banged him jaw on the gutter and fell down as Fink grinded up it. It slowed him down though, he only made it 3/4 of the way up before he ran out of momentum and started to slide back downwards. Fink planted a foot and jumped upward, Gum grabbing his arm to help pull him up onto the roof.
"This is Onishima," the shrimp's voice squawked over the scanner. "All motorcycle units are to apprehend the suspects at all costs!" The rudies jumped to grab the rail of a roof balcony on the second story roof of the building behind theirs. They jumped down into the other street and followed it down around the corner into an alley. Exiting the alley, they turned onto a new street. As they did, a van swung around the corner, it's back to the skaters. The twin doors popped open and half a dozen snarling rottweilers jumped out.
"Back!" Fink shouted. They glided fast as they could down the street, pursued by the enraged mutts. They turned into an alley that had a barbed wire fence with two 15 foot fiberglass poles leaning against it. The two struggled to grind up the poles, which rolled in opposite directions as they went up them, uniformly falling to the ground just as the pair cleared the fence, making the 9 foot fall difficult. Fink grimaced as he banged his knee, but quickly, silently got to his feet and swung his one arm up and under and behind Gum's knees, bracing her back with the other to catch her in his arms. The dogs leapt against the fence snarling as he began to skate and continued to carry Gum, as a groom would carry his bride, until he had accelerated to a decent speed before putting her back on her feet. Gum made a mental note to punch Fink later under less dire circumstances in case any of the incidental ass and leg grabbing was intentional on his part.
"A swat team is en route," the dispatcher declared. "All officers on site should equip riot gear or leave immediately."As they headed toward the main street, they became increasingly aware of approaching sirens. As they rounded the corner they were faced with motorcycles blowing by. All except the last, which could prepare to strike, heading right toward Fink.
"Gum, look out!" Fink yelled to Gum's surprise as the cycle slowed. For as he had correctly guessed, she was the true target. The cop turned abruptly, then rose up on his back wheel, attempting to ram Gum and knock her down without running her over. Gum leaned forward and grabbed the bars adjoining the wheel, being pushed back by the bike, to the rider's surprise. She swung her leg over the wheel once it was on the ground between her legs and rolled off to the side, spraying paint on the rider's visor as she did, causing the officer to slide out and crash into some trash cans. Fink dashed over to help her up. Gum reached out toward his extended arm and expected an 'Are you ok?' as he began to open his mouth. "GUM, LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!" Fink screamed instead.
It felt as though the world was moving in slow motion as she turned to look behind her. Onishima and a veritable firing squad were marching toward them, launching grenades in front of them to create a defensive perimeter. Gum could see Onishima's five o'clock shadow and wicked glare through his gas mask, through the smoke, as he raised his Buntline. Gum felt herself being pushed to the ground as Fink stepped in front of her. In an intense moment, she watched him spasm and fly backward, blown off his feet and falling onto his back behind her. Gum and Fink shambled to each other, both desperate to see if the other was ok, when they entered effective strategic range of the grenade launchers, and seconds after the familiar "doop", they were engulfed in a storm of tear gas.
Gum hacked and choked. Nothing in her life had ever been so painful. No car collision, no fall, no bullet, no crash, no beating, nothing had ever been worse. Her eyes screamed, her throat burned. Her whole face howled in agony. She couldn't breath, she couldn't see, she couldn't feel.
"Come on!" she heard Fink cough. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the cloud.
"Prepare a squad car for transit," the dispatcher said calmly, simply. As they staggered, wheezing, blinded by bleary red eyes out of the cloud, Fink was shot close range in the stomach with a grenade itself as soon as they were once more visible, knocking him down. Toronto's 'Electric Toothbrush' was finishing up.
"Sounds like our rudie contestant friends are finished folks," Professor K lamented as he came back on the air. Gasping for air, Gum grabbed Fink's arm and literally dragged him on his back into an alley. "But hey, our hearts go out to ya guys. It musta been a long fight." The rudies stumbled out of the alley and looked down the street either way, having lost all sense of direction. At one end, a long road with a dead end. The other, another riot squad. "Sounds like the soul of the street is losing two of its best tonight," Professor K continued. There was a collection of 'doops' as they shot more gas grenades to rain down on and behind them. "Cause as we all know, the true rudie willingly stops for no one," the Professor mused.
"YAAAAH!" Fink screamed, unexpectedly charging the police. Gum unassumingly followed. The middle police fell as he tried to jump between them. The entire squad dogpiled him with their batons.
"But a brother can only take so much..." the Professor sighed. Fink groaned as he tried to claw his way out from under the living pain heap. "Well, I'll catch the rest of y'all, minus 2, tomorrow on... JET SET RADIO!" Professor K howled. Fink braced one knee as he felt a familiar hand grasp his hand and wrist. He surged forward with Gum's help, cops still hanging all over him.
The bridge was just a few feet away...
Fink struggled forward, "Come on Gum!" he gritted his teeth. They got to the bridge and jumped. One cop let go of Fink as he banged his head on the bridge railing, and the other as they hit the ground 20 feet below. Fink staggered up, looking questionably shaky and haggard. "We have to get away..." he instructed, running to leap onto a railroad track and grind, followed by Gum. They ground downhill before the cop who fell with them could get to his feet or any of the others could scurry down the bank. The incline brought the rudies some good distance as they slid into the train-car depot. They remained on the track and slid into the subway tunnel. The churning sound of an oncoming train drew Gum's attention hindward. Thankfully it was on an adjacent track. Into the tunnel, there was a 9 foot wall separating the tracks. As they skated along, the train about to overtake them, Gum heard the echo of another subway train in front of them. Around the corner up ahead, she could see the headlights of another train growing against the wall.
"Oh God, Fink, the train! We have to turn around!" Gum shrieked.
"No time!" he yelled back resolutely, clearly thoughts racing for a plan.
"What're we gonna do! We'll be-" she screamed frantically.
"Come on!" Fink demanded, interrupting as he jumped over to the next rail. "One chance... make this count!" Fink leapt to grind the wall outer wall, did a wallie, then leapt across the track to grind the divider wall, did another wallie, leapt across the track to grind off the outer wall again, did yet another wallie, and landed on top of the divider. Sliding with the awkward landing, he accidentally banged his head on an I-beam. Visibly dizzied, he wavered momentarily, but regained his stature less than a second before falling; his hand shooting up to grasp the beam and heft himself into place. Gum followed behind and grabbed his free hand to pull her up into place, just an instant before the trains roared by simultaneously. Gum slid hard into Fink, who held tightly to the I-beam with his one hand while he quickly released her hand and wrapped the other arm around her waist.
Gum pressed snuggly against Fink, quickly flattening herself against his chest, grabbing her and holding on for dear life. They sucked in their breaths and tried to hold as still and be as flat as possible while maintaining the difficult balancing. Fink could feel his left sleeve flapping madly as it brushed against the passing sub. Looking down he saw that sparks were flying as Gum's right skate barely abrased the train. Below, peering at a sharp angle he could barely see the faces of astonished passengers as they whizzed by. The first train passed then immediately after the second. They roared off away into the distance, and, in that moment, a casual observer would have seen no sign of the near-fatal accident. Fink looked back at Gum. She was shaking violently, eyes still clenched shut. He eased his grip and gently brushed his fingers against the small of her back.
He gently nuzzled his face slowly against her cheek and brushed against her ear, "It's over..." he whispered. She cautiously opened her eyes and stared deep into his as he retracted his head so they were nose to nose. Her eyes were hazy with moisture, as her supple lips gradually parted, still adorably quavering.
"You ass," she scowled, backing away (keeping a hand on him to keep her balance) and punching him squarely in the chest. "You nearly got me killed! I'd rather be in jail than dead." It was then that she noticed his face was clenched and he was stamping and cursing since she hit him. "What's your problem?"
"Bruise! Bruise! Ow! Ow!" he winced. "Pip-squeak shot me, remember?"
Gum gasped, horrified with what she had done, "My God! I forgot! I can't believe you took a bullet for me..."
"Calm down," he said, grabbing the collar of his T-shirt and stretching it down. "They're just rubber, remember?" Gum saw the biggest, worst welt she'd ever seen. It was split and bleeding all over. He looked down and frowned. "Damn blunt impact. Come on." He backed away and let go of her, then carefully hopped down onto the rail. She cautiously followed him down as he casually ground down the line. "Shouldn't have to worry about another train. Not for awhile anyway. We can take the tunnels. Where you headed?"
"GG garage," Gum replied.
Fink bit his lip, "S' long way." Gum thought and knew he was right. She was utterly exhausted. Skating back would be Hell. "Where's home? Can you crash there?"
"Center Street in Shibuya-cho," Gum sighed.
Fink winced, "Even worse."
"I can take a train!" she piped. Just then, they slid into the station. It was empty. "Oh no! That was the last train!" There was silence as they hopped up onto the platform and sat down on a bench to ponder the dilemma.
"Well..." Fink reluctantly began. "You could crash at my place if you want."
"Yeah right..." Gum scoffed. They were silent again as she considered. "You live closeby?" she finally asked.
"I'm just squatting, but yeah, it's close, and there's some semblance of a bed for you."
Gum looked around the loft. A bed was about all there was. There were three mattresses stacked on each other, some chairs spread throughout the room, and a ghetto-rigged TV.
"You can have the bed. I don't mind," Fink said as he skated over to a corner. He threw his hat to the side and took off his overshirt and balled it up to lie down on it as a pillow.
"Oh no... I couldn't..." Gum frowned.
Fink waved dismissingly, "Trust me, it's not so comfortable that it's a big thing. You're my guest, and a lady no less." He tried to look dignified. "I wouldn't feel right with having you sleep on the floor."
"Well..." Gum thought. "Why don't we split the mattresses?
Fink shook his head, "The bottom two are broken, the top one is the only one you can lay on." They both laid back down as Gum tried to think of a solution. She sighed. She felt hesitant, embarrassed, but rude enough to overcome it.
"Well maybe we could share the bed."
Fink lifted his head, "You'd feel comfortable with that?"
"No," Gum thought to herself. "Sure, you haven't tried to rape me yet, right?" she replied instead. Fink shrugged and went over next to her. It was a single bed, so it was going to be unavoidably cramped. Gum scooted over to make room. Though she tried not to, she conceded to lie against him, as she was afraid she'd fall off the bed otherwise. She turned to look at him. He was lying with his back turned to her, which comforted her a little.
Gum shifted and tried to settle. Gum had long ago lost interest in guys and had since come to avoid any advancing on her. Now here she was lying next to a man she barely knew. Why did she feel so strange? Because she was getting close and he might be interested? Or was it something else? What was she getting herself into... Sleep overcame Gum as she subconsciously struggled with questions she didn't really want answers to.
Gum awoke, or at least half awoke, late in the morning. At some point they had both flipped sides. She was now lying against his chest, cradled, intertwined in each other's arm, cuddling. Like lovers. Gum had always been a restless sleeper, it would be easy to assume the same of Fink. So why did it seem like something more? Gum closed her eyes and snuggled against him. It felt so good, like an emptiness alleviated. She felt warm. Comfortable. Safe. Complete. Happy. She hadn't felt this strange foreign feeling she could not name for a long time. Since back in the day, back before she was a rudie. Since back in high school, since she was just a little girl...
Small tastes of joy, like those she felt with Beat, with Rick; tastes that promised something great and substantial, but had never delivered. Ignorance was bliss, and Gum had never known emptiness till she tasted those false promises of fulfillment. The pain of such disappointment was so strong; Gum had pushed her lust, her ambition as a woman, to the recesses of her being. She had avoided these tastes and feelings for fear of being hurt again. But it had happened again, and there was no helping it. Gum lapsed back into slumber, peaceful in Fink's arms, insecurities tossed aside. She had that old taste in her mouth again, and she liked it.
