AN: Thank you to those who are reading and reviewing. Please keep doing so, I love to hear feedback…good or bad.

Chapter 6: The Nightwatch

As the sky began to darken, Yoyo dawdled down the old familiar routes of downtown Hikage and the entertainment side of Chuo street. The de-tour was unnecessary, but the gentle breeze of evening air was helping to clear his thoughts which felt scrambled in the aftermath of seeing his old friends after such a long time, and hearing the disturbing fragments of hysteria from the living room. He shook his head as he felt a rush of nausea pass over his body at the thought of Corn and Gum alone in that small basement room. They had both appeared so broken. Corn had hid his pain better, but it was still there; the cabinet of liquor in the corner which he couldn't drink, the three day growth of beard, the way he seemed to look through Yoyo at Gum as they had stood on his doorstep. The pain was present in both of their eyes as they had sat in awkward silence, avoiding each other's gaze.

Even now, walking along the clean streets of Chuo, vaguely enjoying the gentle wind on his face and in his hair, he couldn't imagine what could have happened between them to have caused so much anger and pain. Back when Corn was the leader of the , Yoyo had been the youngest, and he had always somehow felt it. The others had always treated him differently, as though they had to keep certain information from him in order to protect him. Back then he didn't mind so much most of the time, it meant there was more time to tag and chill out rather than worry about the Rokkaku, but sometimes he'd hear a hushed conversation from the upper story of the Garage, Corn and Combo perhaps, or Garam and Cube and Gum, and he'd wonder why their tone of voice sounded so urgent, or why they isolated themselves from the rest of the group when they had these talks. Sometimes he'd wonder how much about being a Rudie he actually knew, and how much was being held secret from him.

He was no longer a child, he was the oldest in the by a few years at least, and he felt the stress of leading a group, however small, when they all relied on him to keep them safe, but what had happened at Corn's apartment; the somehow prestigious level of emotion and drama which had obviously stained Corn and Gum's time in the , that he couldn't relate to. Sure, he'd been in love before. With Rhyth, he had adored her in the simple and unapologetic way that wide eyed teenagers often did, and since leading the he'd fucked around a few times with members of other gangs, but the sincere and tight jawed love which had clearly existed between the ex-leader and his once second in command…that kind of love Yoyo felt completely lost and confused by.

The bright and sickly coloured neon lights of the little American-style diners, cinemas and theatres had just began to turn on as the sky turned navy and Yoyo left the district for Shibuya. From here it was a short walk to the Garage, and as Yoyo twisted and turned down the small, narrow back-streets which led to the secret panel of the G.G garage, he began to feel uneasy once again. The fumes of spray paint were particularly strong down here and he had to resist the urge to gag as he turned the corner of a seemingly dead-ended alleyway to unlock the steel panel which concealed the Western part of the Garage. He paused as he turned, sensing immediately that something was not right. The hair on the back of his neck immediately stood on end and a shiver consumed him as he realised the panel, smeared with freshly sprayed paint, was wide open and he could hear the faint sound of a girl crying from somewhere inside.

He bolted inside the door, pushing the steel behind him until he heard the click of the lock, and ran towards the sound. He could see two figures on the upper level of the Garage, where Corn and Gum had once frequently hung out alongside a battered old Robot - what had happened to him? He didn't hold onto the thought as he crossed the orange mesh bridge which ran over the underground walkway, and shot up the stairs, his heart racing as he confronted two of his gang members.

Felix, the only male member of the gang besides Yoyo, was relatively small, blonde and confident. He gave a concerned glance at Yoyo as he reached the upper level. Now Yoyo was closer he could see the source of the weeping. Cassie, Felix's lover, had her head buried in the boy's chest, her short red hair sticking out at all angles. At the sound of Yoyo's footsteps she pulled away from Felix to look the leader in the eye; she had mascara running down her pale cheeks and her eyes were puffy and red.

"Yoyo, it…it's…" She tried to speak but her voice hiccupped through the tears and Felix interrupted, looking urgent and scared.

"Yoyo, it's Rush. She's been taken." He took a few steps forward. Now, Yoyo could see the fear in his brown eyes as he spoke quickly. "We're not sure how it happened, I was spraying up there-" he pointed to the ledge where the Garage joined with the long highway which eventually passed over 99th Steeet, "Cass was takin a shower, she didn't see a thing. I was practicing my tag when I heard a crash…that metal door being forced open from Shibuya. I ran down as fast as I could, but I didn't have my skates on…Trixie saw it all…she's out there now, chasing them down. It was these things…metal…like robots, she saw them clearly…I didn't really have time to ask her. They just grabbed Rush, she must have been playing pinball or something down over there…and Trixie just went straight after them. I wish there was more I could do but like I said, my skates weren't on, and I needed to stay with Cass…in case they came back."

Yoyo stood open mouthed, trying to take in all that had been said. Cassie had managed to calm herself down a little in the time it had taken Felix to explain. Her shoulders were no longer shaking and she wiped the tears absently from her face.

"I just don't understand…" She started. "Rival gangs have never used robots before to do their bidding. And why Rush? What did she ever do to hurt anyone?"

Yoyo shook his head, finding it hard to think logically. "When did this happen? How did they break in? No one but me uses that old door anyway…there are better ways into Shibuya."

"They broke in about half an hour ago. I honestly don't know…I just heard the crash….I guess if they are as strong as Trixie says they are then they wouldn't find it too hard to break into any of the openings, if they know where to look." Felix turned to look in the direction of the Shibuya opening but failed to see in the dark.

Yoyo felt a wave of panic. His head hurt, it had been a long day, but now his adrenalin had spiked and he looked around the dim corners of the Garage frantically, trying to think, trying, desperately to form a plan in his mind. As if on cue, the faint sound of skates against tiles filled the air from the direction of the 99th Street overpass. A tall, dark figure came into view as Trixie, her black hair tied into two pigtails, grinded along a rail on the far side of the Garage and, moments later, appeared next to Felix and Cassie on the upper floor.

Trixie, who was the second oldest in the gang after Yoyo, was broad and strong looking; she towered over the others at 6ft 2 and gave the impression, although Yoyo didn't know her well enough to judge her truly, of being completely confident and comfortable within herself. Right now she didn't look so strong. Her caramel coloured skin glistened with sweat: her dark hair clinging to her wet forehead in sticky strands and her tank top stained with damp patches. She was out of breath and looked as though she was about to collapse at any moment with exhaustion. Instinctively, Yoyo and Felix led her over to the battered blue couch which still rested in the far corner of the upper garage level, and made her sit down. Cassie, who looked more worried than ever, went to fetch her a bottle of water.

"Trixie…are you okay? What happened?" Felix asked, moving closer to the couch. Yoyo's mind was still racing and he could only listen in horror, open mouthed and dumb as the G.G explained.

"There were three of them…like robots, with all these flashing lights, I've never seen anything like it..." She gasped, trying to explain in between deep intakes of breath. "They'd knocked out Rush when they first grabbed her…I could tell as much from the way they carried her, she didn't fight back."

Cassie returned with a large plastic bottle of water and handed it to the older G.G who thanked her quietly and gulped a few times before continuing. "I followed them through Shibuya and along the highway, past 99th street and to the Skyscraper district. I tried to keep up…and they didn't turn around to fight me, but I lost them up there in the satellites…it's so hard to navigate them in the dark, and it's so high up…I'm sorry…" She turned to Yoyo, her dark blue eyes full of sorrow, as though she had failed him personally. "I couldn't find them. So I turned back." She took a few more sips of water, before standing up and walking over to the edge of the platform, slamming her fists violently on the rail in anger.

Yoyo found himself at a loss of words. The look she had given him was one he recognised but had never received before personally. He remember how himself or one of the other members would look at Corn when they failed to complete a tag or lost a game of Flag or something stupid with a rival gang, as though they had completely let him down. He remembered, nostalgically, how he would have done almost anything to receive a positive ounce of recognition from Corn. How he yearned for his approval and praise.

He walked, slowly, over the Trixie, and placed an arm heavily on her shoulder, squeezing it lightly. She turned around, her brow creased and tears forming in her eyes as Yoyo sighed heavily.

"You did all you could Trixie." He said, surprised at how steady his own voice sounded despite his racing heart and mixed up thoughts. "Thank you for following them…at least we have a general idea on which part of Tokyo they could be hiding Rush."

"Hiding?" Felix piped up. "We don't know who, or what, these things are…how do we know what they could possibly want with Rush? She's just a kid."

At the word kid, Yoyo's thoughts suddenly snapped back to when he was taken, all those years ago, by the Noise Tanks. He didn't remember being kidnapped, they blew him a good one over the back of his head and kept him sedated for god-knew how long. Eventually he had been rescued of course, Combo and Boogie had found him locked up in one of the residential districts on the West side of the city with his hands bound and his sunglasses smashed. The atmosphere upon his return to the Garage had changed. Everybody was glad to see him back, he could see the relief in their eyes as they greeted him or tended to his needs, buying him drinks of pop or making him lunch, but little was said to him about what had happened whilst he was missing or about the multiple rescue attempts which had surely taken place.

One day Clutch, who had joined the gang in his absence and was already well known for being a little too lose tongued at times, sat him down and told him how worried everyone had been. He had been missing for well over two weeks when they eventually found him, and Corn had organised different search parties every day, scouring every district in Tokyo and fighting the police at every step of the way. He made himself ill. Clutch had revealed. Corn was driving himself to near insanity, not eating, not sleeping, in order to track you down. Nobody else would admit it, they don't want you to feel guilty or nothing….but everyone…the whole gang was beginning to feel real stressed out about Corn…worried that he'd end up killing himself in the process of finding you…you caused some real panic kid…

He began to feel nauseas once again….

Corn had acted like a real leader when he had been kidnapped. God knew what kind of strings he had pulled behind the scenes to get him back safe again. And now he was faced with the same situation, the first real crisis of his leadership, how could be possibly do himself any justice? How could he be as efficient, as passionate, as good as Corn?

His thoughts winded back to the previous morning, how long ago it felt now…and the way Rush had smiled sweetly when Yoyo, feeling guilty, had asked her if he could borrow some money for that poetry book of Corn's. He had left the book back in the apartment, he now remembered, feeling more ashamed than ever. He held the image in his mind, her hair glowing softly in the golden morning light, the dimples in her cheeks…the way that, for just a moment, she had reminded him so strongly of Rhyth his heart had ached for the first time in almost four years. And now, how could he just give up on her?

He turned to what remained of the , the three youths gazing back at him, expectantly, waiting, for perhaps the first time in their lives, to be told what to do. To have someone to rely on. Yoyo inhaled deeply, looking from one face to another, his gaze finally falling on Trixie who looked completely exhausted.

"First thing." He said, calmly. "We'll go after her first thing in the morning. I don't know how…but we'll find her. We'll bring her back. Trixie...you need to get some rest, you've burned yourself out today, I need you to be refreshed for tomorrow morning. Go now."

Trixie moved to interrupt but failed, feeling her eyelids growing heavy and suddenly becoming aware of her own state, dirty and tired. She waved goodnight and skated slowly down the rail and into the underground section of the Garage where their bedrooms were. Yoyo turned to Cassie and Felix who both looked wide awake and eager to take some kind of action.

"I didn't want to say it infront of her in case she protested and insisted on staying up, but there's nothing stopping those things from coming back. If they can get in that metal door without so much as a struggle then it means they can enter the Garage from any entrance, and we don't yet know what they want from us. How are you both feeling? Think you can stay awake a few more hours?"

They both nodded.

"Good. We might be safer underground but if they catch us off guard while we're asleep then we're screwed. We need to stay alert. We can take it in shifts if you want…if either of you get tired…but we need to keep an eye on the entrances, just in case they come back, and just while I figure out what to do next. We have to get Rush back but it's pointless sending out a search party in the middle of the night. Protecting ourselves needs to be our top priority for tonight…so we can be there to find her and bring her back." Yoyo grits his teeth as he walks down the tiled stairs to the main level of the Garage.

"I'll watch the Shibuya side…keep alert…"

AN: Thank you for reading this chapter! Please review and tell me what you think.