So, a new chapter already? …YAY!
Disclaimer: I do not own Fangface… darn it :(
Chapter Twelve
More Trouble, More Drama, and Much More
"Whoa! Stop! Easy! Ack!" Puggsy screamed as he hung on to the leash, being pulled down the street by Fangface. "Hit the brakes, already!"
Of course, Fangface was bursting with energy, eager to track down and attack… well, almost anything, really, though he had his mind set on attacking the crook he was looking for. After what felt like hours of running (for Puggsy, at least) he finally calmed down and stopped suddenly-
*BAM!*
-Causing Puggsy to slam into him. "Hey! What's the big idea, slamming into me?" he growled.
"What's the big idea, just taking off running like a speeding bullet?" Puggsy snapped, rubbing his arm. "Leaping ignorpotomases, I'm surprised you didn't yankify my arm off!" he dropped the leash.
"I'd say you'd deserve it! (grr) That's what you get for criticizing a werewolf!"
"Ah, forget it, and lets just get back to Biff and Kim. Though, they're probably a million miles away, now."
"Fangface! Puggsy! Wait up!" They heard Biff call from down the street.
Fangface smirked at Puggsy. "A million miles away, huh?" he teased.
Puggsy took off his hat and swiped Fangface with it. "Ah, shut up, already!" he snapped.
"(grr!) Ooh, ooh! Darn it, Pugs! If you don't cut that out-"
"Hey, guys," Kim said once she and Biff arrived, gasping for breath. "Glad you… (pant pant) finally stopped."
"Fangface, did you pick up the scent?" Biff asked.
Fangface rubbed his chin, thinking. "Hmmm… Nope." he replied.
"Great." Puggsy scoffed. "We ran across the whole city, and you didn't pick up the scent. What a-" he then paused, his eyes widening.
The werewolf shot him a glare. "A what?"
"Get down. Quick!" he grabbed Biff and Kim, shoving them into some bushes and ducking beside them. Fangface stood there, wondering what the heck was going on. "Hide!" Puggsy pulled him into the bushes, and they peeked out slightly, watching as a couple of kids, boy and girl, walked by. Puggsy recognized the boy as Jonny, and the girl as Brenda. What's she doing with a creep like him? he wondered.
"Man, he's just not anywhere around this town!" Jonny sighed, irritated. "You'd think a badly dressed guy hanging with a werewolf would be easy to spot!"
Badly dressed? I'm not the one with my shorts hanging out, pal!
"They probably skipped town," Brenda scoffed. "I wouldn't blame 'em. I couldn't wait to get out of this rat hole when I moved away… and I can't wait to leave again." she turned to Jonny. "You're pretty much the only reason I stayed this long." She kissed him on the lips.
Puggsy covered his mouth with his hand, stifling a gag. I think I'm going to barf…
"Hey, what about Puggsy?" Jonny asked, breaking out of the kiss, smiling. "I heard you liked his vocabulary back in school, wrote down his words and everything."
Brenda shrugged. "Hey, I thought it was cool," she said. "It's too bad I don't like him that way anymore, what with letting the gang down… I was sure he'd go along with throwing the fight! I guess my plan to helping you make money didn't work…"
"Well, not everyone's plans work, babe. …Speaking of which, I'd better get back to searching for the little runt." He kissed her. "Look me up next time you're in town, alright?"
"I will." Brenda turned to leave, but paused. "Jonny?"
"Yeah, babe?"
"Don't hurt him too bad, okay? He's still a nice kid."
"Don't worry, we won't. Heck, he won't even feel a thing." Brenda nodded and walked away. Once she was out of earshot, Jonny chuckled to himself, "Yeah, he won't feel a thing, 'cause Snake's going to kill him so fast, he'll be dead before he hits the ground." He walked down the sidewalk.
Kim, Biff, Fangface, and Puggsy stepped out of the bush, both shocked and confused. "What the heck was that all about?" Biff asked, facing Puggsy, who didn't respond.
"She knew about it the whole time?" Puggsy asked himself quietly, looking in the direction Brenda walked. "…She- she set up the whole thing? A girl planned a rigged match?"
"You have your own vocabulary?" Fangface asked.
"Guys, we can ask questions later," Kim said. "Right now, there's a gang of kids after Puggsy, a lunatic after me who's also working with several other maniacs who are after Fangface!"
"Am I the only one who's not being chased by someone?" Biff scoffed. Kim sneered at him. "(Ahem) Well, looks like we're in a rut, guys. We'd better try to get the police to help- What the heck?" Biff watched as his dad's car sped down the street, driven by another guy.
"Biff… wasn't that your car?" Fangface asked, watching the car speed away.
"Yeah, but how-" Biff paused, slapping his forehead. "Aw, man! I must've left it outside the police station…"
"With the keys still inside?" Puggsy snapped.
"…With the keys inside…"
Puggsy slapped his forehead. "Huh, boy. What's next?"
"C'mon, let's head to the police station and report all this." Kim said. "Maybe they even found out something about those crooks."
"Right." Biff said, though his mind was elsewhere (like thinking about how his dad was going to kill him once he found out about his car). "Let's go." They began walking down the street, until Puggsy grabbed him by the elbow.
"Hold it! We can't go down this street." Puggsy said. "That's gang territory. We'd be doomified if we went that way. Besides, the cop shop ain't in that direction."
"Then, which way should we go?"
Puggsy studied their surroundings, trying to figure out a safer way. "Through the park," he pointed eastward. "The police station is locerated right across the street from it."
"Alright, through the park then."
They walked toward the park, occasionally ducking behind fences, trash cans, bushes, etc. whenever a gang member walked by. They reached the park within ten minutes, all walking in silence at that time.
The park was beautiful, green grass all around, a few trees that grew thicker toward the forest, a small pond with some ducks in it, a patch of flowers here and there, and a concrete walk that led through the scenery. The walk through it would've been nice if the three kids and werewolf weren't in so much trouble. A few people who were in the park stopped and stared at Fangface, jaws dropping and gasping, backing or running away. He didn't notice and kept walking.
Biff stopped, suddenly. "Hey, look," he said, pointing ahead. His dad's car was out front of the police station, and a man in a casual suit sat in the driver's seat with the door open, smoking a cigar and talking to a young teenager with spiky black hair, wearing a jean jacket and a pair of sunglasses. "There's my dad's car! …But, who's that guy?"
"I don't know who the classy-looking guy is," Puggsy said through gritted teeth. "But I know the kid he's with." His eyes flashed with anger as he glared toward Snake.
"Gang member?" Kim guessed.
"More like gang leader. His name's Snake."
Fangface growled, watching Snake talk to the man. "Yeah, and he's not a nice kid, I know. (snarl) I met him."
"What's he doing in front of the police station?" Biff asked. "I thought gang members tried to avoid the cops."
"They usually do," Puggsy said. "But, if Snake's standing right in front of 'em, it can't be good."
"I wonder what they're talking about." Biff turned to Fangface. "Do you think you could use your werewolf prowess and eavesdrop on their conversation?"
"Sure! I'll listen to what they're saying, too." Fangface said, nodding.
"Maybe one of us should go with him to superiormize, just in case…" Puggsy suggested. Kim and Biff looked at him, neither of them volunteering. He sighed, aggravated. "Fine."
Finding a couple of bushes, Fangface and Puggsy jumped in them, uprooting them and using them as a disguise, sneaking over to Snake and the man, listening in on their conversation…
"This ain't a safe place to meet, man," Snake whispered to the man angrily, trying to look innocent. "I mean, in front of the police station? Are you nuts?"
"Calm down, kid," The man said smoothly, though his voice was still chilling. He wore a tan suit with a brown tie, and a wide-rimmed hat that covered half his face, showing only his mouth. He smoked on his cigar and puffed out a ring of smoke. "I just want to talk business, and meeting in front of the police station will be less conspicuous- no cop would suspect someone being a criminal if they're right in front of them. …Now, lets talk about our deal."
"Why? One of your stooges already discussed the deal with me. We get you the werewolf and girl for you, and we get Puggsy."
"That's only half the deal. You see, there's another boy with them, I've heard, and he's fouling everything up. I want you to get him out of the picture before you do anything else."
Snake's eyes widened. "You mean… you want me to kill him?"
Even though his eyes were covered, Snake could tell from his scowl that he was rolling them. "Yes! …Then throw his body somewhere where it can be found, easily. The police will suspect murder, get off our trail for a while, and in the meantime, I'll have what I want, and you'll have your revenge."
Snake grinned, pleased with the man's twisted scheme. "Sure… but on one condition."
"Condition? You'll be getting revenge, what more do you want?"
"Money. A messy job like that doesn't come cheap, you know." Snake rubbed his thumb and fingers together to make his point. "If you're making profit, I want some of it."
"LISTEN, YOU LITTLE-" The man paused, clearing his throat and returning it to a whisper. "Listen, either you do the job, or I'll call off the deal, then you and your little gang of stooges won't get anything."
"Call off the deal, and you won't be finding that girl or werewolf. My gang and I know this entire city like the back of our hands, and we'd find 'em before you's could blink, then you'd never get 'em! Then you'd have nothing."
The man scowled, but then grinned. "You're quite the dealer, aren't you?"
"Don't be so impressed, pal. I've had guys like you come begging to me before."
"So you have. Fine. Kill that boy and get me that girl and werewolf, and you'll get that fouled-up boxer and a grand of dough."
"Deal." They shook hands. "You can count on my gang, Mr.-"
"Ed. Just call me Ed."
"Ed, eh? Alright, Eddy, just come around with the cash, and we'll have that girl and werewolf gift wrapped for ya- Hey!"
"What is it?"
"How long have there been bushes growing in the street?"
"Uh, oh." They heard someone gasp, and a dark-haired kid ran out of the bushes, pulling a furry creature with him. "Time to go!" And they ran across the street.
"It's that werewolf and kid!" The man, Ed, shouted.
"I'll take care of 'em," Snake said, pulling out a gun. Ed grabbed his wrist tightly, almost breaking it.
"Not here, you dolt!"
Snake looked around, remembering they were in front of the police station. If there were ever a stupid place to meet, this would be it, he thought. "Told you this was a dumb place to meet. Now how am I supposed to get 'em?"
"Just wait. That brunette kid will be coming for his car, then you and your stooges can get them. Now beat it, we're arousing suspicion."
Snake looked over, seeing that a couple of police men stood out front, one of them holding a camera. He covered his face (though, the camera was aimed at the werewolf) and ran off, as Ed drove away.
"Time to go!" Puggsy cried, grabbing Fangface by the wrist and pulling him along as they ran back to the park.
"Aw, but I wanted to get 'em!" Fangface whined, looking back as the man, Ed, grabbed Snake's wrist after he whipped out a gun. "Hey, he has a gun!"
"Yeah, and unless you want to be shot, I'd suggest you keep running!"
They ran past Biff and Kim, who ran behind them, catching up. "Hey! What happened, what did they say?" Biff asked.
"That other guy's name is Ed, and he wants Snake to whack you off while he and his gang catch me, Kim, and Fangface!"
"Congratulations, Biff!" Fangface exclaimed. "You have someone chasing after you now!"
"Oh, joy," Biff said, sarcastically. "First, I lose my dad's car, and now a guy wants to kill me."
"I wouldn't go after the car," Puggsy said. "They might use it to bait you into a trap."
"We'd better not hang around here, then. Know any good places to hide out for a while, Puggsy?"
"The woods would be good. Snake and his gang wouldn't dare go there. …I don't blame them."
"It's better than nowhere."
They ran across the park and into the woods, stopping when they reached a small clearing to take a breath. "So, now what?" Kim asked.
"I say we take a break from the running." Puggsy said, leaning against a tree. "If I so much as jog another block, my legs are going to collasperate!"
"Yeah, collasticate, or whatever you said." Fangface said, lying down on the ground.
"Yeah, I'm pretty tired too," Biff sighed, slumping against a rock. "I mean, we got, what, only two hours sleep last night?"
"I don't think I slept at all last night…" Fangface yawned.
If only you knew.. Biff thought, recalling how Fangs said he had been up all night, worried about the crooks breaking back into his house. "Maybe we should get some rest, then."
"Out here? In the woods?" Kim questioned. "What if those creeps come after us?"
"Puggsy said those gang members never come out here, and I doubt those other crooks would think about looking out here."
"You never know how far they'll look."
Biff sighed. "Okay, if it makes you feel better, one of us can stay up and keep watch while the rest of us-" he was cut off by snoring. He looked over, seeing that Puggsy and Fangface had fallen asleep (or faked it to keep from volunteering). "Guess I'll take the first watch."
"Alright, but be careful," Kim lied down on the grass. "And if you hear anything, I'd suggest you should wake Fangface up first."
"That's what I plan to do." She smiled at him and shut her eyes. He smiled back, then sat on top of the rock he was leaning against, watching them all sleep. They must be pretty tired to fall asleep in the woods. he thought. He wished he still had his dad's car, then he could have folded down the seats in the back and they would have been more comfortable.
Then again, Fangface seemed comfy enough on the grass, the way he grinned and the way his tail flicked side to side as he dreamed. Kim seemed relaxed as well, resting her head on her elbow and breathing softly. Only Puggsy seemed like he was in an uncomfortable position, his hands wrapped around his stomach, gripping it. Is he in pain? Biff wondered. He wanted to check to see if anything was wrong with him, but decided not to disturb his sleep.
He looked up at the sky. It was past noon, he knew, from where the sun was shining. He watched the clouds roll by as he tried to think up a plan on what to do. They couldn't get back into town without having to hide, which also meant they couldn't get to the police (they'd probably be too interested in seeing Fangface, anyway). They definitely couldn't go back to Fangs' house, in danger of being followed and getting his parents involved, and Puggsy's house was ruled out, too…
Guess that means we'll have to try to handle this ourselves. he thought. Oh, God, please help us if we do… Time had passed as he was thinking, and the sky was turning orange.
Puggsy woke up first, groaning and holding his stomach. "Man, I feel like I slept on a rock," he said, rubbing his back.
"Sort of, if you count the whole earth as a rock," Biff said, joking a bit.
"Very funny- ohh…" He held his stomach, biting his lower lip.
"What's wrong? Stomach ache?"
"Probably just a bruise. It's nothing bad-"
"Yeah, right. Let me see." He approached Puggsy, sitting across from him.
"I'm telling you, it's-"
"Pugs, if you say 'it's nothing' one more time, I'm going to wake up Fangface and make him hang you upside-down from the top of a tree."
"Sha-yeesh! You don't need to get pushy!" Puggsy lifted up his shirt. He hadn't looked at it, though he always felt there was some sort of bruise there, but now as he and Biff examined it, he almost gagged. From his chest down to his stomach was a large bruise from when Snake's stooges jumped him. He and Biff both cringed at the sight of it. "Okay, so it's something. …Man, I didn't think those guys punched me that hard in the gut."
"Better get some more rest, only in a more comfortable position this time."
"No way, Biff. I got enough sleep, so it's your turn now." he covered his stomach with his shirt, tucking it in. "I'll keep watch."
Biff shrugged. "If you say so. But, if you're still in pain-"
"What are you talking about 'still'? I've never felt any pain."
He rolled his eyes. "Okay, whatever." he lied down on his back, looking up at the sky. He drifted to sleep watching it fade to a more pinkish-red color.
Puggsy stretched, ignoring the painful protests from his abdomen. He looked over at the sleeping werewolf next to him, lying on his side, snoring softly, leg kicking as he dreamed, chuckling. "You're a lot more tolerable when you're asleep," he said to him, though he knew he wasn't listening.
"Huh?" Kim asked, just now waking up. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
Puggsy turned to her, a little startled. "Oh, not you! I was talking about Fangface." he looked back down at the werewolf. "Funny, I've never seen him this calm before- well, calm at all, actually."
Kim walked over and sat down on the other side of Fangface, stroking his arm. "I think he's quite nice. Especially if you compare him to the werewolves in movies."
Puggsy rolled his eyes. "Those aren't even real werewolves."
"…Which probably means werewolves aren't actually like that. Fangface is a good example."
"(snort) Zzzz…" Fangface snored, rolling off his side and onto his stomach. Kim and Puggsy snickered a bit.
"So…" Puggsy said awkwardly, trying to change the subject.
"So… tell me more of what happened at that fight." Kim said, trying to hide the concern in her voice. "You seemed pretty upset when those two gang members brought it up."
"Brenda's not a gang member," his voice was more hard than he wanted it to be, and he forced himself to relax. "She's- I'm guessing- Jonny's girlfriend. She's a pretty nice gal… at least, I thought she was. We used to be good friends, up until now." he sighed, then looked away from Kim, at the ground. "I can't believe she wanted me to lose… I mean, the way she watched me in the ring, I thought she wanted me to win! …I guess she was just hoping I'd stay down, like I was supposed to."
Kim reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. "You did what was right, Pugs. You fought fair, you didn't cheat… I don't get why this Brenda girl wanted you to, especially if you were friends." He let out a soft grunt in reply. "Maybe you need to find friends who don't try to make you do anything wrong… and won't try to skin you alive when you tick them off. Someone… who actually cares."
He looked at her, arching an eyebrow. She looked back at him with shimmering eyes, and she shrugged, smiling a bit. "I guess you're right… I do need new friends." he placed his hand on his stomach. "Better ones, at that."
"That's what I said. …You're a pretty good guy, Puggsy- even though you have an attitude."
"And you're a pretty nice girl- even though you're pretty grimmified as well."
Kim chuckled. "You have quite the vocabulary, don't you?"
Puggsy shrugged, modestly. "Ah, I just have a knack for writing up my own words."
"I think it's pretty creative."
He sighed. "That's what Brenda used to say to me."
"And she was right." They looked at each other, smiling. "It's… hard to believe she chose some jerk over you."
"Eh, she once told me she was into the criminalized types. …I just can't believe she didn't chose me."
"She must have bad taste."
"Yeah, especially if she chose Jonny." They began to lean closer to each other.
"Yeah, he's not… very sweet…"
"Not at all…" Their faces were an inch apart. The setting sun bounced off their faces, making the two teens glow, smiling at one another, shutting their eyes…
But the romantic moment didn't quite get far. "Hey, getting a little close, don't you think?" Fangface asked.
A/N: *Sigh* Leave it to Fangface to spoil the moment! XD Please R/R. No flames… if you want to live to see the next chapter (raises spoon) do we understand each other?