Road Rage

Even though the Tension arena enjoyed fewer fans than its Friction counterpart, it still had a massive audience - people regularly traveled from all over Japan to watch the fights every week. As such, they needed an expansive garage area, able to accommodate the throngs of fans that came to and from the arena. They needed security to look out for people sneaking in without passes, or worse, wrestlers looking for an ambush.

But the best security has flaws, and a place this large was nearly impossible to completely cover. The Valkyries knew this quite well - if security had been on the ball, they would have noticed something up with the three bikers hanging around one of the garage's darker corners. Talking to themselves. Loitering. Waiting for...something.

Three girls had been waiting for a while for their prey to show up - the matches were over for the day, so it was only a matter of time. They knew where his ride was, knew he'd be passing by soon, heading home for the night without a care in the world. That would change quickly.

The plan seemed solid in Mako's head. Her compatriots were disagreeing. Particularly Stone. Stone always disagreed. "I'd just like to go on record." The tall, American killjoy leaned back back against her bike, gazing around the garage, keeping an eye out for the target. "This is a bad idea."

"Uh-huh." Mako was busy tinkering with her bike while Destiny listened to music on her iPod - they'd been waiting for an hour already, boredom was starting to creep in.

"Do you want to know why?"

"Honestly?" She looked up, peering at Stone from behind her bike. "No, hell no. But I know you want to tell me anyway, so get it out of your system."

"This is too much, too fast." Stone walked over and peered down at Mako from the other side of her bike, casting the itty-bitty brawler in a shadow. "You want to do this wrestling thing, we can do it. We start small, get some wins under our belt, establish a base and expand. Going after the big fish..."

She waved a wrench Stone's way. "John Mitchell is a big fish, not the big fish."

"So why do we have to mess with this particular big fish?" Stone folded her arms, giving her patented 'I disapprove' look that Mako had come enjoy and cherish with all her sarcastic heart.

Devine pulled an earbud out of her ear and chose this particular time to weigh in, much to Stone's annoyance - she'd been quiet for so long, it was a pleasant change of pace. "Is this a soldier thing?"

"It's not a 'soldier thing'." Stone snapped back, as Mako stood up straight and gave them both a flat glance. Stone turned back to her with a calmer, more measured tone. "It's. Not. A. Soldier thing. It's a 'prudence thing'. We start attracting too much attention off the bat, it'll bite us in the ass."

Mako sighed and put on her helmet, then popped the visor open so she and Stone could have their traditional stare down. "And who's going to bite, huh? The UKE? They don't know him like that. Higurashi? Too busy with his own shit."

"And we can take them down when the time comes, too." Devine chimed in.

"Right." Mako snapped as she straddled her crotch rocket and revved it up. "It's like divide and conquer - only Tension's already divided. So all we have to do is take it."

He had no idea what was coming.

The red headed tension champ had had a good day today, all in all a good week. He didnâ€t suspect a thing. The red head walked without a care in the world, his full face helmet with tinted visor in his arms, tucked against his side.

John never road without all the gear, all the time. ATGATT, he always told his other friends who road. Saved him from many scrapes and bruises and worse.

His [url=http://www.militaryclothing.com//ImgUpload/P_36539701_1882645.JPG:3sd61neq]ACU field jacket[/url:3sd61neq] was his favorite when riding. Nice and thick, good if he falls, he wore it pretty often. It looked a little out of place with his dark green trousers with their obvious built in riding knee patches, rather than the Universal Camouflage trousers, but it worked.

A soldier who saw it would recognize it immediately, the normal gray UCP uniform because he had gone to Afghanistan before the green MultiCam uniforms came out. The insignia, that of the [url=http://www.uniforms-4u.com/productimages/4897/big-u-42nd-military-police-mp-brigade-acu-military-patch-5424.jpg:3sd61neq]42nd Military Police Brigade[/url:3sd61neq] with a [url=https://d2jxk7u2ol2fk7.cloudfront.net/image/thumb/large/MP_ACU_PCH_33XX.jpg:3sd61neq]Military Police[/url:3sd61neq] patch above it. The rank insignia was that of a Sargent.

He came out into the garage, and just as they thought, was going around without a care in the world.

He made his way over to his spot…ahhh, his motorbike. It wasnâ€t fancy. It wasnâ€t expensive. It was an old antique.

John owned two motorbikes, the first (which he did NOT have here) was a small Royal Enfield WD/RE from WWII…it belonged to his grandfather, a British paratrooper. His grandfather had liked it so much that he…arranged for it to have been “destroyed” after VE day, and SOMEHOW it ended up outside his flat. John DIDNâ€T come from a military family, he was the first to serve since his grandfather, but the bike had been passed down and he loved it.

The other had a bit more muscle, but was also an antique…


A British Norton 16H, which had probably belonged to the Australlian military during the war before it ended up in a used lot in Tokyo…he saw it, bought it, and fixed it up. He was dam proud of her.

John smiled, cracked his neck, and…then, he turned around. ‘The fuck?†John thought he heard something. His free right hand instinctively leaned towards a pocket which was apparently concealing something. Whatever it was, he obviously thought it could help him if it was something bad…

He scanned the car park…nothing. “Getting old, getting jumpy.” He chuckled to himself, then he but his helmet on, kicked the stand up, hoped onto the bike, and got out of his spot, leaving the carpark.

Sure enough, the Man came riding by a moment later, wrapped up in blissful ignorance. Mako didn't blame him - a guy like that, his size, most people would have to be a little bit crazy to mess with him. But then, most people didn't carry chains, baseball bats, and travel in packs of three. She liked her odds. On top of all that they had the element of surprise - they were hidden by a pillar as he passed. He wouldn't see them coming until they wanted him to see it.

"Telling you right now." Stone slid her helmet on a revved up the Valkyrie, sending a road throughout the garage. "This goes too far, I'm ending it. Clear?"

"Crystal." Mako nodded, her smirk hidden in the shade. "Let's ride!"

Mako barreled out and the other followed close behind, taking off after John at high speed. She weaves through the traffic with expert precision, feeling the movements, anticipating every turn. If the streets were a living organism, she was like a virus moving through the veins, working her way right to the heart at 90 MPH.

It didn't take long to catch up - his ride was nice, but it wasn't too fast, and he didn't have any reason to push it. Mako motioned for Devine and Stone to hold back, hiding behind the other side of a truck as she moved in.

She came up behind him as they went into a tunnel, her engine's road echoing along the walls. Even at this speed, she had to admire the work he'd done. It was an old model, one she recognized off the bat, one you don't get unless someone gives it to you. He'd put a lot man-hours into getting it running. A labor of love. She could respect that. She still intended to wreck his shit, but she respected it.

She pulled up beside him and started to edge close, close...too close. Getting his attention to see how he'd react.

Even though John had thought he heard something, he quickly blew it off…mostly. It had gotten his senses up. Gotten him on edge, on alert…

The last time he felt like this, he was driving a Humvee through angry streets, watching out for piles of garbage which could easily have been IEDs…no one really liked American policing their roads.

So, it was no surprise that John took notice of a bunch of god dam holligans ripping through the street at 90+, acting like ass holes.

‘Fucking idiots…people treat dangerous machines like toys…†He thought to himself over the roar of engines and sounds of the street. Then one of them got closer…closer…closer…

‘Oh now what the fuckâ€s he doing?â€

John angrily gestured with his hand for this idiot tail gator to back off, then reved his engine. He hadnâ€t been doing much past 40 or 50, which was why they so easily caught up with him, but now he accelerated. He revved his bike and checked his shoulder, changing lanes and then accelerating. He tried to position himself so that other cars were between him and this idiot, a nice buffer. He slid over, then sped up. A large SUV was now blocking his rear left, and another, making it harder to get behind John. His right side was flush against the line dividing the wrong side of the road (since it was reverse in Japan).

She could still catch up with him, but she'd have to be following him on purpose for that.

But, since he just thought this was some idiot and he just wanted to get away, he didnâ€t think that was a problem.

He wasn't an idiot - some drivers would have challenged her, but he was acting defensive, just trying to give her space. On a faster bike, he might have pulled it off, too. But she knew the model. It wasn't slow, but she could ride circles around him if she wanted to.

She held out her hand and motioned for her Stone and Devine to move up, taking position behind the SUV as she moved ahead and accelerated. A quick burst of speed was all she needed to make her way past the dividing line, sending a few on oncoming cars swerving as she advanced and circled around John. She came back into his lane, passed in front of him, and pulled back, placing herself on his right side.

"Run, run, as fast as you can..."

She gave him friendly wave and reached at her side, unhooking her chain from the side compartment and pulling it out. She ignored the car honking behind them - sure enough, that stopped when she started to spin the chain at her side, looking for all the world like her favorite comic book hero.

She gave the chain a practice swing, lashing out at him, just short of hitting. She didn't want to hurt him...not on the road, anyway. No, right now, it was just about greeting him. Instilling some fear.

[color:2g7p8e00=green:2g7p8e00] ‘Oh fuck…â€

The other two motorcycles came up…and thatâ€s when John knew it. He was being pursued. He was being pursued by three modern, fast bikes, and he had a seventy five year old antique. It was in good condition, but it couldnâ€t top 70.

The three bikes surrounded him, one of the lunatics swerving into oncoming traffic to get ahead of him while the other two bikes took up position behind him. He couldnâ€t escape like this…

His only option was to try to make it to friendlier territory…he was already on his way home, but home required him to keep going on this road straight. Heâ€d never make it like this…but, they were getting close to an intersection.

Amanda and Roâ€s house wasnâ€t far. IF he could get there first…

John was suddenly snapped out of his planning by the sound of a chain whipping next to him.

[color-green] “HOLY FUCKING SHIT!” He shouted, mostly in anger, into his helmet. John bolted, pushing the machine as fast as he could get, his eyes locked forward as if he was going to try to and race forward through the intersection.

‘Please stay green, please stay green, please stay green…†He muttered to himself, trying to make this dangerous turn…

He got to the intersection, but then suddenly hung a hard right, making cars honking at him as he turned without the right of way, trying to barrel down a narrow street before they could catch up with him.

Oh, that got his attention. Even through the roaring street, she could hear his curse - his situation was dawning on, like a deer when the wolves come through the trees. This was a bigger stag than most , but the end result would be the same.

He was trying to get home, most likely. Mako didn't know exactly where he lived, but she knew that his two little fuckbuddies were close - he was trying to get to them, if he had any sense. It wouldn't happen. Not that she was afraid of taking them all on - hell, she planned on it. Just not now. Today was a private chat.

She took a side kept up with him as Stone and Devine pulled away. They knew the city almost as well as she did, they'd catch up easy and help her block him in. For now, the hunt was hers.

She chased him down easy, staying steady on the narrow street like a laser-guided missile. Mako sped up and hit him from behind to give him a little jolt, whipping her chain over his head for added effect, and following it up with another bump. Playing dangerous, sure, but she got the feeling John knew how to handle his wheels.

His attempt to surprise them had failed; therefore he was probably not going to be able to evade them.

But, at least he had narrowed down the enemy. He had no idea theyâ€d be back. John let out a growl as he felt himself bumped twice, the chain whistling over his head. He knew he couldnâ€t keep up like this.

What the hell could he do? There was no way he could get to friendly territory now…she could easily over take him…

Could he pull over? She could easily whip him with that chain if he tried it…would she even dismount? She could try to run him over with the bike…

John tried to push his poor baby forwards, but it couldnâ€t outrun them…

There was one thing he could do, though it was REALLY dangerous….John slowed down little by little, hopefully forcing her to slow down…if she did, heâ€d accelerate for just a second to give him room, then suddenly slow down, hoping to slide in besides her in the dangerously narrow road and try to give her a jostling shove with his gloved hand.

THAT was dangerous. It could knock her over if she didnâ€t know what she was doing. He had to hope she did. At best, he wanted to daze her so he could try and get away. But if she fell, she threatened him.

He was trying to get tricky on her now, trying to be smart. It was his only chance, really. Stopping wasn't an option and his ride was so slow it might as well have been standing still. She backed off as he slowed down, thinking he might be trying to pull over and take her head on - no such luck.

He pulled a switch on her and moved in beside, and before she could react, he had her on the defense, taking a hard shove that almost drove her off the side. She had to grab both handles fast and swerve back, barely avoiding the fall as she corrected herself.

"Ass!" She pulled back over and gave him a kick in the shin, returning one good hit for another. He was feisty prey, but prey all the same, and as she heard her sisters revving off in the distance drawing closer, she knew he'd be learning the reality quite soon.

John grinned as he managed to daze her, trying to speed off…but she recovered way faster than he thought she would and was on him again. The shot to the shin made him gasp, quickly getting control back and avoiding falling.

There seemed to be no way out of this. He couldnâ€t escape or pull over.

Maybe a lie…? Maybe the Army field jacket would help sell it? “I DONâ€T WANA HAVE TO START SHOOTING!” John shouted, hoping he could be heard over the noise.

The truth was, he had no real weapon. Just a small bottle of OC spray he kept on his person in case of muggers. It wouldnâ€t help with that helmet on, sheâ€d have to take it off.

But a bluff was the only way he saw out of this, so he risked taking his right hand off of the handle and reaching into his pocket, pulling SOMETHING black partway out, but not fully removing his hand so she couldnâ€t see it was a tough spray bottle and not a sidearm.

“BACK OFF!”