DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters here that I didn't make up myself. I don't own Lizzie McGuire, but she's not actually born yet at the time of this story, anyway.

"This neighborhood looks scary," said Jo.

"OK.. you girls stay in the car, with the doors locked, while us guys go out and change the tire," said Eddie.

"That sounds sexist," said Jo, "but I think I'll stay in the car anyway."

"I don't mind helping with the tire," said Sam. "My aptitude test back in middle school said that I have untapped mechanical ability."

"Mine said that I was fit to be a rock 'n roll diva with a world renowned shoe collection," said Jo.

"You're making that up," said Sam. "That's not a category on that test."

"What, you don't trust me?", said Jo.

"I trust you for most things," said Sam, "but for that one I'd really like to see the test results form before I believe it."

"Guys, we've got a tire to change," said Eddie.

"Here's another case where one of those future portable phones would be useful," said Larry. "You could use it to call the auto club to get help."

"Yeah, if I were a member of an auto club," said Eddie. "But we can take care of this ourselves without any space-age technology."

The young men got out of the car and got the spare tire and jack out of the trunk. Some people down the street, possibly dressed in gang colors – Sam and the others weren't really familiar enough with gangs to be sure – seemed to be watching them but didn't do anything so far. Soon, the car was jacked up and Sam tried and failed to take off the lug nuts; they were screwed in too tight for him to budge. He handed the wrench to Eddie, who had little trouble getting them off.

"OK, the test said I had mechanical ability, not arm strength," said Sam.

As they were taking the flat tire off, the gang down the street finally walked towards them. One man, who looked like he was in his upper teens or possibly early twenties, came up and said, "You kids are up past your bedtime, ain't ya?"

"We're just on our way home from a movie," said Eddie.

"Hey, you look Mexican," said the gang guy. "Are you in one of those Chicano gangs? We don't like them too much around here."

"I'm not in any gang," said Eddie. "Gangs are stupid."

"Now you're calling us stupid, are you?", said the gang guy.

"I didn't mean…", said Eddie, but he was interrupted before he could finish.

"Well, you're in our territory, so you'd better show us the proper respect while you're here," said the gang member.

"Hey, look at the babes in their car!", said another gang member, who had walked over, and now noticed Daniella and Jo.

"You leave the girls alone!", said Eddie.

"And just how are you planning on stopping us?", said the first gang member.

By now several gang members were gathered around. They looked big and strong, and some of them clearly had knives. Sam was getting pretty scared by now, but tried to keep from looking that way.

Everybody stood there for a minute, not certain what to say or do. But before either the gang or the kids took any action, they were under attack from a different direction. Another group of young adults, dressed in gang colors different from the first gang, had snuck up and surrounded everybody.

"It's an ambush! Fight!", said the first gang member as he led the rest of his gang into battle against the rival gang. Soon a full-scale gang war was in progress, surrounding Sam and his friends, who quickly went into the car (which was still not going anywhere, with one of its tires off on the ground) and locked the door; they didn't think this would be much protection from the violence outside, but it was better than nothing.

Fortunately, the members of the two gangs were more interested in fighting one another than attacking non-gang bystanders. However, being in the middle of all the action involved some risk of becoming collateral damage purely by accident.

Just then, sirens could be heard, and several police cars arrived. The police came out with guns aimed at the gang members, who immediately stopped fighting and scrambled trying to get away. A few of them managed to run away, while others were caught and arrested. After a while, once the situation was under control, two cops came up to the car, where Eddie had opened the door again.

"What are you kids doing here?", asked the first policeman. "You're not with any gang, I hope."

"No, we're not," said Eddie. "We were just fixing a flat tire when the gangs started fighting around us. We had nothing to do with them."

"Well, you really shouldn't be out here at this hour. Our town does have a teen curfew law, you know."

The other cop, partner to the first one, interjected at this point: "That's an old law… it's been decades since it's really been enforced."

"Well, these kids' parents ought to know what they're up to, and how they put their lives in danger getting into the middle of a gang war. So I think we should bring them in."

"Are we going to jail?", asked Sam fearfully.

"No, just to the station, where we'll call your parents so you can be picked up," said the first policeman.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Is this enough action for you, hotchic12?

Teen curfew laws were passed in many places in the early part of the 20th century, often announced by a bell or siren that could be heard all over town. By the middle of the century, the laws had fallen into disuse and weren't enforced, though most hadn't been formally repealed. In the late 1980s, teen curfews suddenly were back in political vogue, and many such laws were passed and enforced. Since then, they've gone in and out of favor several times, and are sometimes argued to be unconstitutional, though the Supreme Court hasn't ruled on the issue.