AN: Apologies once again for the huge delay in updates. I hope this long chapter makes it up to you wonderful readers! Please note that after this chapter the story rating will turn to M and therefore will not show up on the main page. Please favourite the story to keep up to date! Thank you to the reviewers, please keep them coming!

Chapter 10: Homecoming

PART ONE

The tunnel was dark and long. His footsteps echoed off unseen walls and the steady pump-pump of his heartbeat rang in his ears. He could see his own pale hands in front of him, as though he himself were the only source of light in this foreign place, and even they seemed unfamiliar to him.

"Hello?" His voice trailed through the night, bouncing off surfaces and coming back to him. "Ello…ello…ello?" He sensed no one else in the darkness but his heartbeat picked up, thudding incessantly through his ears. "Hello?" There was no answer but he carried on walking, his arms spread out, waiting to touch something…or someone in that cold strange place. He didn't have his skates on…the echoes of his feet were all wrong.

He carried on walking for what felt like a century and then "Hello?" rang back, so faint he wondered if he were imaging it. "Yoyo? Is that you?"

At this he ran, down the long long space, to that voice, so faint and scared in the dark. He recognised the voice.

"Rush?" He called, pausing to catch his breath, bending over and clutching his cold knees, unsure if he would get an answer in reply.

"Yoyo? It's me." She replied. Her voice high pitched and trembling. "Come and get me!"

He straightened up and ran towards the source of the voice, trying to see her in the shadows but failing, all he could see were those pale hands in front of him. His own strange hands that, in this eerie soft glow, didn't seem his own at all.

"Rush? I'm coming!" As he chased the voice he became aware of something in the distance. A strange glowing thing like himself stood in the black. He was so close to her. He urged himself to hurry, as though the figure may disappear at any moment, and felt a stitch splitting and spreading up his side. He fought on through the pain…knowing now that something else was in the darkness with him…he felt it's presence behind him, keeping its distance but he could almost smell its rotten breath, both metallic and milky, in the cavern around him, and now his heart was pumping so fast, he was sure it was going to spill out of his body at any moment, over his tongue and onto the pavement below. He wouldn't see it…but he would hear it thud onto the ground. He was sure of that much.

The figure was much closer now and he could just make out the clothes. Navy and teal. Now he could see the blue bob surrounding her face. As he approached the girl he felt his stomach drop into his bowels. She was unmoving…blocking the passageway to Rush. He recognised her…of course he did…hadn't he thought of her as he slipped his hand into his sweat-pants and called out her came as he came? He slowed to a halt.

"Rhyth?" She was looking away from him into the darkness. Even as he called her name she remained unmoved, like a ghost from another life. She was as she was on the day she left…young, beautiful…her days of waitressing years ahead of her yet. But something about her scared him. She knew he was there and yet she didn't move.

"I missed you so much." The words spilled out of his mouth before he could stop himself. Like his strange white hands, these words didn't to have come from him at all. "All I wanted was for you to stay." He continued.

"Then stay here." She replied. Her voice was distant, as though she was calling him through the wind. "Stay here with me."

She was as he had remembered and yet he was terrified. He couldn't stop himself from talking and he felt that thing in the darkness behind him.

"I want to Rhyth…Jesus you know I want to but..."

"Don't think about it hon…I want you to stay." The thing that was not-quite-Rhyth replied in her wind-torn voice. "We could be happy…just you and me."

Yoyo felt himself fading, or was it her that was fading? He felt less substantial…less there. "I thought I loved you." He heard himself saying, his voice barely a whisper in the unseen mist. "I thought I knew what love was. I was so young, you know? And I saw Corn and Gum and they looked so sad…" He found his thoughts slipping away from him, and he felt comfortable and warm…the darkness was surrounding him and embraced it.

"Just let it." She replied, as though reading his thoughts. "Just let it all go."

He felt himself reaching out to her. Just a few more steps. "I wanted you to love me too."

Another voice called in the darkness. "Yoyo!" It was Rush. Why had he come here? Why was Rhyth here? Hadn't he been looking for Rush? Just then he felt himself snap. It was as though his mind had crashed back into his body at the speed of light. He remembered why he was here. He had heard Rush calling to him in the darkness…crying for help.

"Rush!" He heard himself calling back, his voice once more echoing off the walls of the tunnel and he felt the breath of that monster behind him. "I have to find Rush." He said to the Rhyth-thing. "That's why I'm here isn't it?" As the words left his mouth the thing in front of him changed, morphing in the glow of their bodies. It grew and shortened and plumped out. It was both Rush and Rhyth and neither of them. It wore teal and red and white and green. It screamed out to him in the mist.

"Help me!"

He shot awake, shielding his eyes from the pale morning glow of the sky above. He checked his old beaten Timex…4:17am. He had fallen asleep on the battered old sofa in the corner of the Garage and something had awakened him. He thought of the unseen monster in the tunnel, that thing that had lurked behind him, and felt a shudder whisper down his spine. He listened once more to the still morning air. THUD THUD THUD. Someone was banging on the Garage door…the secret entrance to Shibuya. He stood up drowsily, a part of him still scared of the nightmare he had awoken from. What if it was the monster at the door? Or the metal things that had taken Rush? He pottered down to the ground floor, found the latch on the metallic plate and pulled the door open.

"Yoyo?" The female voice, spoken in an uncertain tone made him jump as he thought of the Rhyth-Rush hybrid in the tunnel under the earth. He looked into the dark space behind the entrance and saw Gum, biting her short nails and a man who he had never seen before. Behind him a smaller figure lurked, Gum's daughter who looked half asleep herself.

"Yoyo? We need your help."

He stood aside and let them into the Garage; the girl who knew where she was going and the man who did not. He heard the creek of the underground entrance opening and Trixie came out, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

"I heard knocking." She said in a low voice.

"It's okay." Yoyo muttered half-heartedly, feeling his body waking up. "It's Gum. She used to be a GG."

"Jesus, this place is turning into a fucking B and B." Trixie muttered, stumbling over to the sofa and plonking herself down. Yoyo turned back to Gum.

"It's Jazz." She said. "She's gone missing."

The sleep fading from Yoyo like a drunk dipped in water. He felt his senses coming back to him and was reminded of that strange sensation within his dream. That rushing back into himself. He saw Trixie sit up from the corner of his eye, paying attention to the two figures.

"Missing?"

"Yes. This is James" She pointed to the man who looked around the Garage awkwardly. "He's Jazz's husband. She didn't come home yesterday and we've been searching everywhere for her. We think she had been taken."

Yoyo massaged the temples on his head, trying to understand the connection. "Taken? Like abducted?" He sighed.

"Yes." James spoke, a blush rising to his cheeks. His hair was a reddish-brown and his chin dotted with stubble. He wore a straight legged pair of blue jeans and a gingham shirt. He couldn't have looked more out of place in the Garage in his ordinariness. "We were looking after Molly…Gum's daughter." He motioned to the toddler who stood rocking on her feet, wiping her eyes. "I had the day off work and Jasmine works at the cinema down Chuo Street, but she didn't come home! I got a call from one of her colleagues saying she had run out on them after her lunch break. That's so unlike Jasmine! She was looking forward to running a bath for Molly and reading her a bedtime story."

Yoyo took in a deep breath before letting it out. He could see Gum chewing her nails next to James. She rocked from foot to foot, just like her daughter. "Abducted?" He repeated. James seemed to deflate, as though he were accusing him of something awful. "My team-mate Rush was taken just after I left you the other day." He replied quickly, sensing Gum's discomfort. "By something that looked like a Noise Tank." He paused, letting the implication since in.

"A Noise Tank?" Gum replied in disgust.

"Yeah…at least that's what it sounded like. It broke into the Garage using an old entrance and took her. Boogie and Garam say they saw the same thing take another Rudie…her name is Tame."

Gum removed the hand from her mouth, her eyes widening. "Boogie and Garam are here?"

"Yeah. I'll get to that later. Like Trixie said it's been like Grand Central Station around here the last few days…Rudies left right and centre. The point it…something has been taking these girls and we don't know why."

PART TWO

Felix scanned the area for Rudies, eventually recognising that he was alone. The slender girl murmured something and he kicked her to shut her up. She was pretty, that was for sure. Her hair was flayed in a fan pattern around the pavement…a blue bob, so unusual for a waitress, but that was none of his concern. He waited penitently until the sun rose above the satellites, casting a radiant orange glare in his vision. He heard skates approach and waited. A few moments later the robot came into view, alone.

"I've brought your exchange."

The figure looked at the figure lying on the floor and nodded. "Good."

"So where's Rush?" Felix said, feeling the fear rise in his stomach. He scanned the skyscrapers, the beam below in Pharaoh Park. The woman underneath him stirred, her cheekbone bruised.

PART THREE

"I don't want anyone to panic." A crowd of Rudies had gathered around Yoyo. Jazz's husband, James, had gone to lie down in one of the spare beds underground, Gum had reassured him that Yoyo would know what to do. Yoyo didn't feel like he knew what he was doing. He felt like he was about to drown. Garam, Boogie, Trixie, Beat and Gum looked up at him. Cassie hadn't left her bedroom since they had come back from the Skyscraper District and Gum's daughter, Molly, lay sound asleep on the old sofa in the corner; a soft blanket pulled up to her chin.

"Panic?" Boogie said sarcastically. "At least three Rudies have gone missing in the last week…probably more…and you don't think we should panic? If these damn skates weren't so heavy I'd be jumping around, screaming my head off."

Yoyo sighed. "I don't think that's true Boogie. I just don't want everyone scattering to the four winds and not keeping track of each other. Now, none of you are under formal contract or anything…I can't keep you here if you don't want to be…but I think it is a far better option for us all to sleep here in the Garage, in case those things come back."

"But we don't even know what they are." Beat said. "If we can find out for sure if they are Noise-Tanks or something else we'll have a much better idea of what we are dealing with here." Trixie looked at him curiously, impressed.

"I think you're right." Yoyo replied, easily enough. "I don't have anything against us splitting up during the day…maybe it would be a good idea for us to ask other Rudies…especially the old-timers, if there are any left…see what they say." He found himself thinking suddenly of Cube and Combo once more…and Clutch and Soda…where were they now? Still in Tokyo? Still alive even?

"There's a group of girls who hang around the Hill." Trixie said. "Maybe I should go through the sewers and see if they know anything. I don't know for sure if they will, Kibogaoka is a little out of the way after all, word reaches there late."

"I know who you mean. They are a branch of Love-Shockers. I don't think any of the originals are left, but it's worth a try." Boogie said.

"Okay." Yoyo said. "But don't go alone…I don't want anyone wandering off alone right now…can we all agree on that?"

Everyone nodded easily enough and Beat put his hand up, like he was the only kid in class to know the answer to the teacher's question. "I'll go with you Trix."

The taller girl raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you can keep up? It's pretty hard to skate down there…the buildings are old." She teased. Beat didn't rise to the taunt but he nodded nonetheless.

"Okay…so that's agreed on." Yoyo sighed once more. "We should figure out…" Yoyo was interrupted by a soft knock on the metal panel which shielded the Garage from the outskirts of Dogenzaka. Everyone turned in the direction of the secret gate, apprehensive. Garam paused, looking to Yoyo who nodded slightly. He went to the entrance and yanked at the latch, opening the gate slowly, his body blocking the newcomer. Everyone strained to see but Garam stepped aside, closing the plate behind him. Yoyo saw Gum tense up out of the corner of his eye as Garam and Corn joined the group. Everyone else seemed to relax, slumping down into themselves.

Corn looked around the group, from face to face, a soft smile playing on the corners of his mouth. "I guess I'm a little late to the party." He'd had a shave and his hair had been tamed considerably since the last time Yoyo had seen him. Corn turned to Garam and Boogie. "I figured I would find you both here after you left me the other day."

"How did you know?" Garam asked, curious.

"Intuition." Corn shrugged, his gaze passing briefly over Gum and the small girl asleep on the sofa. "I heard there was some trouble." He turned to Yoyo for an answer who simply nodded.

"I'm glad you came." Yoyo said.

PART FOUR

Yoyo, Garam and Boogie clustered in the corner of the Garage, by the old crumbling blue tiles and the broken pinball machine, talking in a hushed tone. Beat and Trixie had waved goodbye and skated off in the direction of the Heights a little while before…Trixie in the lead and Beat following behind.

"We found him barely conscious on the floor Yoyo…I'm scared for him." Boogie said, gazing over at Corn who was stood by the entrance to the underground flats. "We shouldn't have gone chasing that Noise Tank…we shouldn't have left him alone."

Yoyo glanced at their ex-leader. Gum had approached him slowly, her toddler holding her hand. The Garage was quiet and he heard her say "So you made it?" Corn bent down to Molly's level and said something to her. She replied, Gum watching this exchange curiously.

"He looks fine now." Yoyo said, turning back to the duo, feeling as though he had witnessed something incredibly private between Corn and Gum, and wanting to give them some privacy. "I mean…not fine, you know what I mean." He shrugged. "He clearly wants to help, and I could really do with someone like him to help me right now."

Garam shook his head. "He's not the leader anymore Yoyo, you are. Your team are relying on you to guide them…just like we used to rely on Corn, and Beat before that."

"Yeah and look what a great job I'm doing." Yoyo said sarcastically, feeling himself blush. "Cassie won't come out of her room…Felix has gone haywire and Rush has been kidnapped, all under my watch!"

Boogie sighed. "We'll find Rush." She said gently. "And Jazz, if she really has gone missing too, and Tame. We'll find all of them, I promise."

A sliding sound made the three of them turn around to the direction of the underground panel. James had awoken from his nap and approached Gum and Corn. An exchange of words was made, too gentle for Yoyo to hear, and Corn walked over to the old couch, sitting down, giving the pair their own privacy. Yoyo tried not to watch but couldn't help it as Gum dropped to her knees and said something to Molly. The girl started to cry and Gum soon followed, wiping the tears away briskly, not wanting to show her pain in front of her daughter. James looked down at the two of them gravely, eventually taking Molly's hand and leading her back towards the Shibuya entrance. Corn watched on from a distance.

As the metal panel slid closed behind them Gum let out an audible sob, covering her face with her hands as she wept. Yoyo looked to Corn, half expecting him to embrace her but he kept his distance on the couch, clearly troubled by her pain but knowing she needed to do this alone. Yoyo understood. Of course he did. The Garage was no place for a child, especially with people being abducted, but for whatever reason, Gum felt the need to stay. Yoyo felt a strange sense of pride towards her. Perhaps he had underestimated her character for all those years. The troubling scene was interrupted by the sound of the Dogenzaka entrance opening once more, and once again everyone spun around, on edge. The sun was low in the sky now and its glow reflected off the metal plate, shielding the new intruders from view. Yoyo and Boogie intuitively grabbed a spray can from their back pockets as two figures came into view.

Something was wrong, Yoyo could see that straight away. The taller figure, male, was limping and seemed to almost drag the smaller, slighter figure into the Garage. It took him a few seconds to recognise the pair and as realisation struck him he almost leapt over the mesh bridge which connected the entrance to the main section of the Garage, rushing forwards.

"Felix?" He gasped, both in shock and horror. He looked down at the smaller, female figure. "What's wrong with her?"

The younger male gritted his teeth. "She's been drugged…it's wearing off but she can't walk yet." Rush was barely standing. Her short red woollen dress was covered in blood and stains, she had a deep cut running down her right leg from the bottom of her thigh to her calf. Her eyes were barely focussing on him as she said his name in a raspy voice. Boogie and Garam were quick to follow over the bridge. Corn and Gum watched from the other side of the Garage, her tears still falling down her face, wetting her cheeks and making them glow in the pale dying light.

"Quick." Yoyo called to Boogie and Garam. "Get her on the couch." Felix seemed less than reluctant to let her go as the others supported her under both armpits and around her back, over the bridge slowly, and lowered her down onto the couch by the underground section. Yoyo bent down, wiping strands of black hair from her forehead, grasping her pale hand. Felix followed slowly, cautiously.

"What happened?" Yoyo gasped, looking into her blue eyes. "Where did they take you?"

Rush shook her head. "I don't know." She replied weakly, turning to look at Boogie and Garam. "Who are these people?"

"Friends, they're here to help." Yoyo whispered. "Don't worry about them. What I need to know is what happened to you. There may be others in danger. We need to know."

She shook her head once more, a little harder, her strength was coming back. "I don't know." She sighed. "They must have knocked me out. I remember being here and then I wasn't." She saw the look of disappointment in Boogie and Garam's eyes. "I'm sorry." She said.

Yoyo kissed her hand briefly before turning back to Felix. "Where did you find her?" He insisted, edging closer to the younger man.

"In the Skyscraper District." He replied.

"Yes, but where." He said urgently.

"Easy, easy." Felix put out his hands in defence. "There's no need to get pushy with me."

"I'm not Felix…we just need to know where. We searched the whole district and couldn't find a trace of anyone ever being up there for years."

Felix frowned. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"No Felix, I'm not calling you anything. I just want to know the exact place you found her." Yoyo sighed, sensing that this exchange wouldn't be easy. Not when Felix was involved.

"Hey, you should be thankful that I found her." Felix shouted, looking from Yoyo to the others. "You should be welcoming be back as a hero, not calling me a liar. I'm the one who found her! You had to invite half of fucking Tokyo here to help and yet I still found her."

"Where?" Garam shot in.

Felix's gaze darted towards the taller boy. "Hey…don't you fucking start smart-ass. I don't even know who you fucking are!"

Yoyo sighed. "We just want a straight answer Felix. Where exactly was Rush when you found her unconscious?"

"On a skyscraper!" Felix shouted, moving towards the underground section of the Garage. "I found her on a fucking skyscraper in the Skyscraper District. Do you want me to show you which fucking one?" He turned towards the group. "They all look the fucking same!" He undid the latch on the underground, sliding open the door forcefully. "I'm sick of all of your fucking bullshit!" He moved into the doorway, slamming the panel behind him.

Yoyo sighed and turned back to Rush who was looking up at him curiously.

"Why are you and Felix fighting?" She asked faintly.

Yoyo sighed. "Don't you worry about that right now. You need to get your rest okay?"

Gum and Corn slowly approached the others as the sound of Cassie and Felix arguing echoed from the air vents which littered the tiled floor.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember that as of the next chapter after the intermission this fanfiction will be marked as M. Please review if you enjoyed this chapter.