Chapter 8
by BBI_Stetson
00:10 Pacific 3:10 EST
32:40 time left
Lights were flashing, buzzers buzzing, and chaos took over the world watch one. At least it looked like chaos to the untrained eye. The group was hard at work tracking the missing truck with its precious cargo. Although there were voices yelling and arms flailing this was a well-choreographed routine for seasoned heroes like the HKC.
Tommy boy was shouting out directions while staring at a screen. She was carefully tracking the "beast" by its homing beacon. Pinky was cautiously driving through the snow-covered streets of San Francisco. Rawhide and Perfect-Tommy had their go phones out trying desperately to contact any BBIs they could find to assist.
Meanwhile, Buckaroo remained stoic, his eyes darting around to each member of the team wordlessly reassuring them that they were doing to a great job.
"Another left, it's getting away!" Tommy boy shouted towards the front of the bus.
"It's one-way, I can't!" Pinky shouted back from the driver's seat.
Buckaroo stepped to the front of the bus and took the seat next to Pinky's. "There." he pointed to the left, "Take that turn!"
Pinky pointed the bus up a hill onto a very narrow street. He wasn't sure the bus would fit, but he trusted his boss to get him where they needed to go. Somehow, this shortcut put them on Stockton Street carrying them to the heart of Chinatown.
"Where to?" Buckaroo shouted back as his eyes scanned the streets for the unique vehicle.
"It's stopped two blocks ahead." Tommy Boy's reply had a smile buried in it.
Buckaroo stood up in his seat to searched the neighborhood as best he could. Frustrated he leapt towards to bus door. The doors swung open and he was nearly out the door when he stopped, took two steps back in and turned to the group. "Perfect Tommy, Rawhide come with me, the rest of you stay with the bus, I wouldn't want to lose two rides tonight."
It was snowing in Chinatown and the streets were covered in ice.
Equally out of place was the three handsome rock stars running down its sidewalks. They stopped and consulted their go phones.
Tommy boy was feeding them directions from the bus.
"It looks like the next ally over." Perfect Tommy was shivering from the cold, he started running in the direction he had motioned to just to keep himself warm.
Buckaroo and Rawhide ran after him. "Wait, stop!" Doctor Banzai yelled down the ally, but it was too late.
Perfect Tommy was staring down the barrel of a .45 pistol branded by an Asian teen dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt.
Buckaroo and Rawhide froze in their tracks.
Seven more armed black hooded teens stepped out of the shadows and surrounded the trio. All three raised their hands slowly and placed them behind their heads.
The eight teens swooped in on them, stripped them of their weapons, and returned to their surrounding positions. One gang member shouted a harsh phrase in Cantonese and the whole group moved in unison down to the end of the alley. The first one to the end of the alley reached into his hoodie and pulled out a set of keys and began to unlock a door that seemed to blend in to the wall. The rusted metal door opened with a loud creak and revealed a lit staircase leading down.
The encircled trio began to move again, this time down the stairs single file. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, a few exposed light bulbs lit a small dark red room with a short ceiling. The gang kept their distance and kept their guns firmly pointed on their three captives.
One gang member knocked on a door in the corner three times and stood back. Another gang member stepped out of the door and into the light. The hood pulled tight over his head covered his eyes. He was taller and wider than the thers.; He spoke to the gang members on either side of him.
Buckaroo could hear what they were saying. He responded to them in Cantonese.
They all paused for a moment and stared at the doctor.
"They've got the hummer." Buckaroo told the others. "This is the Chi Hung gang, I recognize them by their black sweatshirts and horrible manners."
The largest gang member picked up Buckaroo by the shirt collars and pushed him up against the wall.
Buckaroo continued educating his partners even louder. "The Chi Hung gang are into every type of crime imaginable from drugs and weapons to stolen cars and fake jade Buddhas." With that, Buckaroo took a fist to the stomach that doubled him over, but he stood up and went on. "That alley way you went down Tommy, was HQ for these guys and I guess that makes this the store room under the `Rose Garden' Chinese restaurant, I can tell by the smell."
That earned him another blow to the stomach followed by a "Shut Up!" from the large gang member, in English.
A few minutes passed and the gang members spoke amongst each other, soft enough that Buckaroo could not hear them. When it appeared that they had come to a decision, a pair grabbed each captive and headed for the outside again. They were laughing, but not because something was funny.
Just then a loud noise came from the corner door where the larger gang member emerged. A group of teens dressed in white hooded sweatshirts came pouring in brandishing semi-automatic weapons. It took only a few seconds for there to be twice as many white-hooded teens as black-hooded teens in the tiny room. When the white-hooded gang members subdued the large Chi Hung gang member, it was over. The rest gave in.
The last white-hooded gang member to enter the room sauntered in and stepped up to Buckaroo.
"Jake Lo?" Buckaroo asked.
"In the fleash, just as requested. Thanks for keeping your go-phone on, Rawhide, it was the only way I could track you down." Jake beamed from ear-to-ear to see his old friends again. Jake Lo was a BBI headquartered in San Francisco's Chinatown. From the BBI directory, Rawhide was able to reach out to Jake on his go phone. He was trying to call him back when the three were captured. Rawhide's go phone relayed information about the gang Buckaroo supplied.
Rawhide asked "Did you know the go phone was transmitting?"
"Of course, I saw the light on as we were coming down the stairs, I didn't know who was listening but, figured it couldn't hurt to hope for a rescue." Buckaroo smiled as he took his guns back from his captures. Rawhide and perfect Tommy did the same.
"So, what happens to these guys?" Perfect Tommy quizzed as he stared his former capture down.
Doctor Banzai placed a hand on Perfect Tommy's shoulder and looked him dead in the eye. "First we find out where they have the hummer and the heart, then we start making tracks for the other coast before it's too late."
Perfect Tommy asked "Hey, What time is it?"
01:00 Pacific 4:00 EST
31:30 time left
