Perfect Tommy chuckled. "Not all that lucky. I did flip the car." he pointed out.
"This isn't funny!" Buckaroo shoved a finger at his friend. "You could of been killed! You could of killed someone else!" He threw his hands in the air. "How stupid can you be? You didn't even ware a helmet!"
"My car, my experiment...." Tommy started, but Buckaroo cut him off by shoving the finger at his chest.
"My reputation!" he roared stepping foreward, slamming his friend against the front of the Jessie James Club. Several people staill gathered about, waiting for rides, paused to watch.
"My reputation!" Buckaroo growled, leaning close as if to keep the conversation between them, though his voice managed to carr to everyone in the vicinity. "My institute! My rules!"
Perfect Tommy shoved him away. "You can take your rules and shove them where the sun don't shine!" he growled back. "I am so sick of your rules. Can't do this, can't do that. Straight as an arrow." He waved a hand in the air. "Well, not all of us are as boring as you!"
Someone cleared their throat. "Excuse me, gentlemen, is there a problem?"
Both turned to glare at Jessie james and Gage, though Tommy's expression softened when he saw the girl.
Jessica James was a small woman, almost petit. Her long black hair was tied back with a theather thong. her light tan skin clashed with her emerald green eyes. Making her look even darker than she was, she wore the black t-shirt and black jeans of the bouncers of her club, and a red leather jacket. A 30" long black oak baton hung from her hip in easy reach.
"No." buckaroo finally spoke up. "No problem. Just a little interior dispute."
Jessie nodded slightly, looking the men over. Her eyes lingered a little longer on Tommy before returning to the doctor. "A little advise: interior disputes should be handled interior... not on my door step."
Buckaroo frowned. "You're right, of course. My apologies." he offered.
Again she nodded. She and her bouncer moved off, continuing their patrol.
Buckaroo snapped around on Tommy once again. "It is my way, or the hyway." he growled out the warning. With that, he spun about and stmped back into the club.
Perfect Tommy watched him go. "Hyway keeps looking better and better." he said to a couple who stared at him as they walked passed.
**********
Rawhide watched as Buckaroo crossed the club, coming back to the stage. "Start hauling the gear to the bus, boys." he said, before jumping down off the stage and meeting Buckaroo half way. "How'd it go?" he wanted to know.
With a sigh, Buckaroo scratched his head. "You could say that." he mumbled.
"It is going to work, right?"
"Well," Buckaroo Banzai looked up at him, "that is the question, isn't it?!"
**********
Perfect Tommy sat on the bumper of the bus and leaned his head back against the cool metal. It amazed him how he barely noticed the bumps after rolling the car, but a little chat with Buckaoroo... oh, ouch.
he arched his back, hearing it crack.
"That sounds like it hurt."
Tommy glanced up into the darkness.
A tall, slim woman stepped out of the shadows. Despite the overcoat, her figure was most noticeable. her smooth porcelain skin, shimmering green eyes, and long, fire-red hair added to her beauty to the point where Tommy could think of nothing to top it. So taken, Perfect Tommy alomst missed the 6 rather large brutes that flanked her.
Almost...
He slowly rose to his feet. "Miss." he greeted. "Can I help you?" He watched as the men spread out around them.
The woman smiled, her red-red lips plush and moist. "What a coincidence. I was sent to ask you the same." she purred.
"Really?" Tommy also smiled, though his eyes were showed wary. "What makes you think I need help?"
She continued to smile, an expression of welcome, even beckoning, as she slowly circled him, closing in with each step. "Is it not obvious? A brillant man like yourself under the heavy heal of the boorish, glory hog Dr Banzai." She shook her hand, resting one hand on her stomach as if the very idea made her sick. "How can anyone support free thinking, then imprison the great thinkers of the world with rules and his own personal form of morality?"
"There's a bit more to it than that." Tommy admitted, resisting the urge to jump to his friend's defence.
The woman sighed, offering in a softer tone "I'm sorry. I realize that he is your friend." She rested a long fingered hand on his arm. "But friendship doesn't always last well between two creators. One must always be greater than the other. No matter the cost. It is the law of human existance." she explained gently.
Tommy shook his head slightly. "And that would be Buckaroo. He has enough degrees to wall paper the entire institute."
"No!" the woman cried, shocked that he could think so little of himself. She stood in front of him, gripping his arms in her gentle hands. "No. Education does not make a man great. Action does. And that is exactly why Banzai continues to stomp on every action you attempt. He knows your ability to act gives you the potential of being a true great, over shadowing even himself."
"Great?" Tommy chuckled.
"Truely great!" she corrected. She set a hand on his chest, leaning up against him, batting her eyes. "The greatest." Her other hand ran down his arm until her fingers interwined with his own. "And I can give you the opportunity to be so."
The stage door rattled.
"M' Lady?" one of the men stepped toward them urgently.
The woman pulled away. "Meet me in three days at sun down at the duck pond in Sequia Park, Eureka, California." And, with that, she and her escort turned and dissapeared back into the darkness.
