Everyone laughed at Fink's joke. It was a lazy sort of day. They were all lying about as Guitar Vader's 'Magical Girl' played in the background. Someone called out, catching Gum's attention. Someone was outside their big window. They'd said something, but she hadn't been able to make out what it was. Many of the others turned their heads to look at their disturbance, but Gum was closest to the window and the only one to go check it out herself. The two strangers greeted her in more words she didn't understand as they came face to face. Seeing them, she understood why.

They were occidental. She couldn't understand what they were saying because they were speaking some western language. Probably English, they were probably American. She thought she could make out a few scattered words, but not enough to make sense of anything they said. Gum had slept through most of her English classes in school, barely passed each year. She never had known much and she'd forgotten what she had known. So all of this was gibberish to her.

It was a guy and a girl, rudies. The guy was a very large black man, in black pants, overshirt, and fisherman's hat and a yellow undershirt. He had a gold chain around his neck with a big golden yen symbol hanging from it. His skates were black and gray with yellow wheels. He was carrying a big, ghetto-blaster boombox on his shoulder.

The girl had dark hair with a white clip in it, in black capris and haltertop. On her exposed midriff, it could be seen she had some symbol tattooed around her naval in black, and another red symbol tattooed on her biceps. She had a black belt with silver studs and a skull buckle and black fingerless gloves. Blue lipstick drew visual interest to her beautiful features. Her skates were black and light grey with red wheels.

The girl said something to her, maybe asked her something.

"Um... ok..." Gum looked off to the side. Fink got up and skated over to her, grasping her around the waist and spinning around her before coming to a stop looking out the window at the rudies. He held Gum close as he opened his mouth and said what Gum recognized as "You speak English?". The strangers' faces lit up. They started speaking quickly in English, Fink talking back to them. Most of the others made their way over to the window. Everyone started talking in English, leaving Gum confused and in the dust. Some of the others were speaking slowly in broken sentences, but everyone was at least conversing a little. Except Gum.

What surprised Gum the most was Fink... He talked quickly and fluidly. It seemed as though he was totally fluent. She wasn't sure, but it seemed to Gum that he was even speaking with an American accent (or lack of accent, or whatever). Everyone was laughing periodically, particularly the Americans and Fink. Fink was telling jokes, like he always did... Humor was one of the hardest things to interpret when speaking in a foreign language, and he wasn't skipping a beat more than he usually would. Gum suddenly felt alienated... and she was getting annoyed that Fink didn't seem to notice. She felt a pressure in her chest. Tab said something and motioned toward the side of the building the door was on. He must have been inviting them in, because they said something before skating away toward the entrance.

"Fink..." Gum held onto Fink's arm and remained still as he tried to skate over to the door with the others.

"Yeah hon?" he stopped to look at her.

"What's going on?" she frowned.

"What now?" Fink blinked.

"What's everyone saying?" Gum tugged on him.

"Oh..." his eyes got a little wider. "You don't speak English?" Gum shook her head. "Aw... I'm sorry sweety..." he put his hands on her shoulders. "Their names are Combo and Cube. They're from America. The Rokokku have been skulking around their turf lately, covering up their graffiti. The goons started trying to kill them on sight. Then their friend Coin disappeared, and they found his record collection all smashed up. They found a tag they think was from him before he got kidnapped saying to go to Tokyo-to. They just got into town and thought they'd need some help so they're looking to set up some connections. They came to us first since we don't really have a theme they'd need to fit in with. Come on..." he span around her and tugged on her arm now. "We need to talk to them some more," he pulled her toward the center of the room where everyone was congregating now that Combo and Cube were in the door.

"Do YOU really have to talk to them some more? Can't you let the others handle it?" Gum tried to remain planted where she was.

Fink furrowed his brow, "Why are you being like this?" He was starting to get visibly irritated.

"I... I just feel left out is all..." Gum pleaded.

Fink glared at her silently for a minute before his expression lightened up to a smile, "Hey, don't worry about it." He tugged on her more gently. "I'll be your interpreter."

Gum continued to frown for awhile, staying where she was before her expression softened as well, "Ok," she smiled.

The two skated over to where the others were talking and Fink joined the conversation. He translated what everyone was saying, and occasionally translated a comment from Gum into English. At first this kept him too busy to have time to say much himself. But as the conversation went on, he started to make time. At the expense of translating everything for Gum. Cube said something long and Fink said something back. Cube went into a long string of words again.

"Fink..." Gum tugged on Fink's arm again. "What did she say?" Gum whined.

"Oh... she said the Rokokku probably were looking for a particular record, Cube and Combo only have one piece," Fink explained. Gum felt an aching pang in his heart.

"She said more than that..." Gum frowned disapprovingly. "What else did she say? And what did you say back?"

Fink opened his mouth to tell her, but he stopped and turned to add a comment in English to the others' conversation, prompting a laugh from everyone.

He turned back to Gum, "Oh... nothing important. Just pleasantries, chatty stuff." Before Gum could comment, Fink jumped back into the conversation again. Gum waited for him to go back to translating, but he didn't. He started to take an active part in the conversation. Gum realized he was forgetting about her... or ignoring her. Fink said something to Cube, and she said something back, and they both laughed. They continued back and forth like this for awhile. As it continued, Gum realized it... he was being charming. And then...

A sharp pain was building in her chest. It could have been nothing. It could have been her imagination. It could have been something else. It could have been just kidding around. But for whatever the reason, Cube smiled and said something to Fink in a sultry way, and she shot him a look with bedroom eyes as she said it.

Gum started to work herself up, "Fink!" she yanked on him hard.

"What?" he was startled.

"You're ignoring me! You said you'd be my interpreter!" she huffed.

"Oh..." Fink looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. "I was just getting caught up in the conversation, and my mind sorta wandered. I'm sorry sweety..." He looked genuinely embarrassed and sorry. But that wasn't enough for Gum anymore. "We're pretty sure Coin smashed up the records himself, and he maybe sent the one the Rokkoku were looking for to Tokyo, to somewhere where Cube and Combo would be able to find it that the Rokokku wouldn't.

"Ask them exactly what they want from us," Gum demanded. Fink turned and asked, and Cube replied at great length with a pleading look on her face.

"They want us to help them search, and help them 'vade the police and Rokokku if things get ugly," Fink explained.

"Tell them it's none of our business," Gum crossed her arms.

Fink frowned and turned to say it. Cube and Combo looked disheartened, as did some of the others. Cube replied sheepishly.

"She said they were hoping we'd help our brother rudies in need," Fink replied. It was clear how he felt about that from his expression. Whose side he was on.

"Tell her that rudies help their fellow gang comrades, not just any rudie off the street," Gum spat coldly. Fink turned and translated. "Tell them that Americans aren't even real rudies," Gum narrowed her eyes.

Fink scoffed and shook his head, "I'm not saying that."

"I want them to hear my opinion!" Gum shouted.

"You're being really rude in a bad way and I'm not going to have any part in it!" Fink shouted back with authority, a stern look in his eyes. Gum's angry expression broke to one of obviously being hurt. Never in the whole time she had known him did Fink argue with her like that. Fink shook his head again and turned to go back to talking. Gum waited for a long time as they talked till Fink turned back to her.

"Tab's decided that we're inducting them into the gang," Fink informed her.

"And how do you feel about that?" Gum looked at him sadly.

"It's not my decision, it's Tab's," Fink defended himself.

"But you want to help them, don't you?" Gum whispered.

Fink looked pained for awhile before responding, "Yes," he finally said.

"So you're against me," Gum bit her lip. Fink hesitated again. "If it were up to you, you'd induct them too."

Fink had to think for awhile before he could speak, "No," he finally said. "If it were up to me I'd do what you wanted."

"But this is what you want, isn't it?" Gum was trying not to cry at this point.

Fink, was silent a long time as he looked away from her, "Yes," he finally looked her in the eyes.

Gum looked away and tapped her foot, "If we're going to induct them, they have to be initiated. We have to test them," she finally stated calmly.

"Gum..." Fink sighed. "Is that really necessary? They seem really cool..."

"We haven't even seen them skate. Rules are rules, we have to have standards," Gum insisted quietly.

Fink sighed and looked away and was silent for awhile again, "Ok," he finally agreed. "Fair is fair."

"Ok," Gum nodded.

"So Gum..." Fink looked at her out the corner of his eyes as they skated along. "What do you have in mind for the test?"

"You'll see soon enough," she didn't look back at him as she led the way.

"We're letting you choose the test for us," Fink turned his eyes back to looking in front of him. "It's only fair to tell us what you're planning."

"You'll see soon enough," she repeated coolly. After skating awhile, they came to a stop on an overpass. They were above the playground directly below it next to the busy street. "Ok," Gum started, "I want them to jump off the highway rail to land on the swingset, then grind across that to jump onto that other swingset, then jump off that to land on that traffic light bar, then jump off that to grind up the walkway bridge stairs rail, then jump across that to cut the corner halfway up to land on the bridge fence." Fink crossed his arms and stared at her. "What?" she asked.

"That's a hard run Gum," Fink said calmly. "A lot of sharp turns and at one point going uphill is going to slow one down a lot. It'll be hard to maintain enough speed to make the final jump."

"It's too dangerous to protect them if their lack of skill leaves them a liability," Gum straightened herself out and tried to look poised. Fink stared at her a long time in silence again.

"You go first," he finally said.

Gum's mouth dropped open a little, "W-what?" she stammered.

"I want to see you do it first," Fink explained simply. "Demonstrate it, so they know exactly what you want them to do."

Gum's heart started to race. She stood frozen for a good while. Finally, she collected herself.

"Ok," she nodded, looking determined. Fink gave her a dirty look, but she skated away before she could see it. She turned and prepared herself to take off.

"Gum..." Fink sighed. Gum started skating. "Gum!" Fink shouted. Gum jumped up to grind across the highway rail. "Gum don't!" Fink outstretched an arm towards her. Gum made the jump to land on the swingset. She heard Fink curse behind her as she made the second jump. She transferred over to the traffic light, then jumped at it's end to land on the bridge rail. She was slowing down a lot. Gum gritted her teeth and made the final jump. She touched the rail... but only with her left foot, and only between the first two wheels. She tottered and fell backwards, downwards. Down toward the busy street 20 feet below. She grabbed the rail and hanged on for dear life. There was a whooshing sound as each car sped by below her. The rail was not good for this task and her grip was slipping...

Finally, she started to fall. Gum closed her eyes and tried to prepare for whatever was about to happen to her. She was snapped back into the real world as a hand grasped her wrist hard and she jerked to a stop. She looked up. Fink was on the rail, squatting and reaching down to grab her arm, to catch her. He wavered trying to balance the counterweight as he tried to pull her up. Gum reached up and grabbed his arm with her other hand. Then she felt someone else grasp her other arm. It was Cube... She was balancing on the rail next to Fink, helping him haul her back up. She'd made the jump Gum couldn't pull off...

Fink and Cube fell backwards to land on their asses as they towed Gum back high enough to pull herself up. She climbed onto the bridge to look down at Fink and Cube lying on their backs panting. Gum reached down and Fink grabbed her arm as she helped pull him back to his feet. Fink turned to help Cube up. Then he turned back to Gum. His eyes were burning...

"Stupid Gum! That was really stupid!" he yelled.

"I'm sorry..." she looked away and rubbed her elbow.

"You could've died!" Fink lectured angrily.

"I'm sorry..." she repeated herself. "I guess I'm not in peak condition yet since my leg injury..."

"You couldn't have made that jump in your prime and you know it!" Fink prodded her in the chest with a single finger. He was furious... He turned away, disgusted, and skated off, followed by Cube, who looked behind her at Gum, stunned, before turning back to look ahead of her.

Gum didn't say a word all the way to Kogane. Fink, on the other hand, had been talking to Cube the whole way over. He didn't once look back behind him at Gum. Fink and Cube smiled and laughed. He'd cheered up quickly, but only by putting Gum out of his mind...

They were heading for the dump... Poison Jam's home base. It was the most logical place to get rid of something, and Poison Jam kept anything interesting they found. They looked down at the yard in front of the maintenance building. Six members of Poison Jam were skating around outside.

"If the Rokokku want this thing so bad, why don't we just burn the piece we have and call it done with?" Gum nagged.

"We don't even know what they want it for, and we may have to use it to barter for Coin's freedom," Fink explained. "So-" he turned to the others. "Are we clear on the plan? You and Combo distract Poison Jam while Cube and I search their pad-"

"Actually, why don't Cube and Combo distract them while we search their pad. Unless you're afraid of 3 to 1 odds. Think you can hack it, honey?" Gum goaded Cube. Cube had no idea what she said, and Fink gave her a more pleasant translation, but Cube clearly caught the real tone, looking confused, not knowing what had brought such animosity upon her. Once Fink had finished, Cube nodded, and her and Combo took off. Gum and Fink watched as they skated right by Poison Jam, who looked at each other, stunned, before dashing off after them, grunting, growling, and howling like animals. Gum started heading over toward the facility once they were out of sight.

"What the Hell is your problem?" Fink demanded. Gum turned and tried to look innocent, though it was obvious what he meant. "Why are you being so antagonistic?"

Gum crossed her arms and turned her nose, "Don't know what you're talking about."

"That jump was way too hard. You picked the hardest trick you could think of. You WANTED them to fuck it up!" Fink prodded her solar plexus.

"So?" she was indignant.

"So?" Fink ground his teeth. "So you're being a bitch!" Gum's jaw dropped, her heart sank. Never, ever, had he even shown a sign of thinking of calling her that. "And you coulda got someone killed!" Fink scowled and skated into the building. Gum stood frozen for awhile before she slowly followed him in.

The building was a mess. It was annoying that Poison Jam never cleaned any of their trash up, considering that all they'd have to do is shovel it outside. There was an innumerable amount of crows, ravens, and cats hanging around. There was a huge stack of tapes and DVDs stacked by a massive plasma-screen TV and deluxe entertainment system with surround sound. They must have had every horror movie, B and otherwise. There was also an unsettling amount of porn.

They looked in uncomfortable silence. Suddenly, they heard voices outside. Gum opened her mouth and looked to Fink for a plan. He had already jumped into action, grabbing a sheet and skating over to Gum. He draped it over them and they dropped to the ground. Gum started to yelp as she fell on a beer can, but Fink muffled her mouth with his hand.

A rudie with a werewolf mask and gloves skated in, "I don't see anyone Jason," he growled.

A skater dressed in a Freddy Kruger costume but with a Scream mask skated in behind him, "I'm telling you, I heard about some Americans in town looking for GGs. Their showing up has to be part of a GG plot. I know they're around here somewhere."

"So you said," a rudie in corpse makeup with his hair done up and bolts in his neck skated around the room, plowing through the trash as he went. "But we came back in case they were in cahoots to see if they were a distraction while GGs crashed our pad, but we're here and I see no cahooting," he muttered.

"They could be hiding..." one in a 700 yen cape and plastic fangs noted.

"Better look around..." one with a fake arrow in his head and fake blood all over decided. The rival rudies started to graze the area, kicking trash around.

"Now what?" Gum whispered.

"Don't know..." Fink tried to stay still as he could. They lay frozen. Gum bit her lower lip.

"You don't like her better than me, do you?" Gum breathed. Fink moved his eyes to look into hers without turning his head.

"You don't trust me..." he was aghast. Gum took her eyes away, but gave no response, ashamed. "That's what this is about? Sixth months we've been together, and you don't trust me?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Gum started to cry. "You won't leave me, will you?" Fink looked away, and didn't respond. "Please don't leave... you won't, will you?"

"Now isn't the time to talk about it," he muttered.

"Will you?" she persisted. As she did, a skate rolled over her hand. The white sheet rose up, shrieking and flailing in the rough shape of a person.

"GHOST!" Poison Jam all shrieked in unison. By the time Gum and Fink emerged confused from the sheet, Poison Jam was long gone, having fled it terror.

Fink cocked an eyebrow, "What a bunch of tools," he murmured. "Come on, let's leave now before they realize no one would haunt this dump and come back," he started to leave.

"Fink?" Gum called. He turned. She was still on her knees, tears streaming down her face.

"I said now. Now let's go!" he barked. They rolled out the door, and were immediately pulled behind cover by Combo and Cube. They peered out from behind their hiding spot of piled up barrels. Men in black suits and sunglasses had beaten Poison Jam badly, and were loading them into big black limos.

"Eh! You like that Count Chocula! Want some more!" one yelled as he savagely kicked the vampire on the ground. He kicked him in the stomach and back before he balled up, then stomped him across the face repeatedly, breaking his nose.

Another had overalls and a lizard mask with foam-rubber claws covering his hands and skates. A suit pulled off his full crash helmet and tossed it to the side in a pile of ripped off masks. A jagged impression in the back of the mask caught Fink's eye. The men tossed the last two boys into the limos in a pile and closed the doors. One walked over to an Arabic man in the same clothes as the others but with white head-wrappings.

"None of them had it on them. Shall we search their hideout?" the suit asked the Arabic man. The Arabic man was leaning, his back against the nicest limo, a cigarette in his hands. He worked the cigarette between his wrappings and took a drag, then blew out smoke.

"Nah," the foreigner muttered. "If they've hidden it, we'll find out where from them later." He flicked his cigarette away and uncrossed his legs to stand, walking over to the passenger side of the limo. "C'mon, let's go." The black garbed men piled into their limos in twos and drove away. The rudies emerged cautiously. Fink picked up the crash helmet and wedged his fingers between the helmet and the mask, removing a shattered record piece. Cube held it to theirs. It matched perfectly. They put both in their pack and prepared to skate off.

"Fink?" Fink turned. Gum was still in the hiding spot, now sobbing. "Please... Tell me you're not mad... Tell me we're ok..."

Fink narrowed his eyes, "It's not safe here. We've got to go," he responded. The two Americans gazed confused, not comprehending the Japanese couple's conversation.

"Please..." Gum repeated. "I need you to tell me... Please... Fink..."

"Let's go," he instructed, turning his back on her.

"Fink..."

"I'm sorry, I feel bad," Cube told Fink. "Is she ok? Did you and your girlfriend have a fight?"

Fink shook his head, "Don't worry about it," he answered her in English. "And she's not my girlfriend."

Gum opened the door to the office slowly, carefully. Fink was looking through the blinds into the other room. The others were drinking and partying and celebrating their new members. Fink didn't turn to acknowledge her as she came in. As she shut the door. She stood there sheepishly, Fink paying her no heed.

"Are you sleeping here tonight?" she finally squeaked.

"That depends. Are you sleeping here?" he asked, still not turning to visually acknowledge her.

"Fink, I-"

"I know how insecure you are Gum," he turned to pierce her with his stare. "I know that better than anyone. If you were just jealous, even very jealous, it would be one thing. But that's not it. You don't trust me Gum. And if you don't by now, you never will. You don't trust me, you don't believe in me. You don't love me. I'm just security to you. I'm just a possession." He looked down at the ground. "You don't care about anything but keeping me. What I mean to you, what you're losing, isn't really important to you deep down. You just want to keep me. I thought you loved me Gum. I thought we were two parts of the same whole, that we shared one heart. But you didn't really love me, and if I were really connected to you, I would have known that. So I guess I must not have loved you either." He shook his head and looked out the window. "So what I'm saying is, I was wrong. I'm sorry," he choked. A tear ran down his face. "I thought I loved you, but I didn't. I was wrong, and I was wrong when I said I loved you. I fucked up. It's all my fault, really."

Gum mouthed his name.

"It's over Gum. I don't know what to say other than that there are no words for how sorry I am that I hurt you," he whispered, still staring out the window.

Gum's eyes welled with tears. She sniffed and choked, then began to sob loudly. She left the room and quickly made her way over to the van to shut herself alone inside it to cry. Combo watched her go by, then looked to Fink. He was leaning against the wall, staring off vacantly into space. He skated over to him.

"Hey, are you ok?" he asked, worried.

"No," Fink shook his head. "No, I'm not."