Meeting Kyle at the Arcade

[Katana]

Instead of taking the opportunity to run like any sane person, Chase had to shoot off his mouth and blow any chance they had to get away. Worse than that the drunken little idiot had let lose a bunch of insults on Katana right in front of Kyle. It took all the restraint she had not to kick his scrawny, pathetic little ass right there, cop or no.

As she was fuming and doing her best to keep control, Katana felt a slight pinch on her butt and then so Kyle go flying past her. The cop went after him leaving her alone with Chase. Turning to Chase she said to him, "Listen you little piece of shit. I was trying to save your neck. Next time I'll let you get arrested. Get one thing straight. I don't care two shits about you. I don't need you. You, however, need me if you are going to survive out here. So shape up. If you weren't Kyle's friend I'd kick your ass. Oh, and don't think losing the bottle would have saved you. Your drunk in public. You belonged to that cop. Now let's get going before he comes back."

Turning away from Chase, not even watching to see if he was following, Katana started to head away from town towards the warehouses. But she had not gotten very far when she remembered that Kyle had pinched her on the ass and checked her back pocket in case it wasn't just a friendly pat but also a way of passing a message. Inside she found his note to head to the arcade.

"You still back there, kid." She said dismissively to Chase. Then not waiting for answer she continued. "We're going to the arcade to meet Kyle. You behave."

[FreezeFrame]

Pausing a moment to release the hovering backpack Chase stood and casually caught it as it fell into his arms. "Well would you look at that." He said as his eyes caught Katana's gate "Not only do you talk like a truck driver, you walk like one too. Listen to me sleaze, I could give a fart about you too. I'm here to keep my friend Kyle from winding up trashed out in your wake of destruction."

He walked up briskly next to her and jabbed a finger into her shoulder for emphasis as he said "You are a psycho. I may like to have fun and push the envelope, but you Mr., you are going to get us killed with your crazy all or nothing attitude. Kyle might be a pushover, sure I know you see that too, but at least I'm gonna watch out for him!"

He stepped out in front of her as the hustled over to the arcade and turned around to walk backwards slightly as he scolded her further saying "And just for the record there Rambo it was you and your halitosis crusty mouth talking about stealing food and being too close to -you-know-where- that perked up that piggie's fat little ears, I was walking behind you two assholes." Reaching out a hand to grab the door of the arcade he pulled it open- or at least he tried. The door was locked. "Aw hell, this place doesn't open till 2:30! Great!!! Alright miss 'I'm in charge here', where do we go now?"

[Katana]

"My wake of destruction!! I'm not the one who got piss ass drunk, who decided it was smart to run from a cop who had nothing on us and would have just yelled at us and let us go, and who seems to make everything into a big joke that will get us killed out here. You think I want to be tough, huh? You think I want to have to do this? I'd love to be soft and sweet and cry in a man's arms like the other girls but on the street that is not an option. Not if you want to survive. And it certainly wasn't at that so-called school which is really in some sort of war zone.

And don't talk as if I don't care about Kyle. I'd do almost anything for him.

Now there's a bus stop across the street. We'll go there and wait for the bus until Kyle gets here."

[Fleet]

Kyle had taken a longer route back to the Arcade, just to make sure the cop didn't stumble back on him. He had only stopped once to catch his sense of direction. Then once again he was off in a flash. Speeding around the blocks until he stopped in front of the Arcade. Reaching out and pulling on the door he blinked as he realized it was locked. He smacked himself on he forehead as he remembered it was still very early. "SHIT! Where did they go? I should have thought more about this!" Kyle was busy berating himself over this small oversight.

He turned to look around and try and think where to go next. He reached up and scratched at the implant on his temple. Something wasn't feeling right. But he just played it off to being hungry. He was still dialed up and the energy his body was producing was running through him. Feeding his nerves. Then he caught the glimpse of Katana and Chase over by the bus stop. "Good I didn't lose them, and they didn't get caught." He said more to himself as he was about to run over to them. They didn't seem to happy.

He bolted across the street and stopped right behind them. He didn't say anything at first wanting to make sure everything was alright. Then he cleared his throat. "Hey guys, what's up? Sorry about the arcade thing, It was the first place I saw. Everything alright?" He asked though he was still dialed up and his words were coming out very fast and running out all together. After a moment he laughed at himself and dialed himself down to normal. This hit him kind of hard. He got real dizzy and almost stumbled and fell. "Whoa! Head rush." Shaking his head trying to get himself together. " I think I need some food."

[FreezeFrame]

Chase was there for him and reached over to steady his good friend. "Hold on buddy, There's a diner right over there looks like. Ring's? Let's get you some food dude." He waited to see if Kyle would need help walking over. "You gotta ease up with that Lightning Boy stuff, s'pecially on an empty stomach, huh?"

He shot a look at Katana that said 'Ha Ha bitch - I caught him first - Nah NahNah Nahhh Nahhh' And snarled up his nose. He almost went so far as to stick his tongue out but he didn't. He managed to contain himself just in time.

[Katana]

Katana saw a greenish flash hurtling at them from across the street and almost ducked to avoid it before she realized it was Kyle as unintellible words poured from the blur in front of her. Before she could think about it any further, Kyle dialed down and collapsed in front of them. She lunged forward to catch him but Chase got to him first. She would not tell Chase but she was grateful he did. Her own reflexes had not been fast enough, strange as she was sober and Chase was drunk as a skunk, to catch her friend before he could fall. The gratefulness turned to annoyance as Chase shot her a dirty look. The boy's immature, cocky antics were just too much. She really wanted to just lose him somewhere. But he was Kyle's friend and that meant she had to at least try to play nice. Losing it with him as she had done earlier would not gain her any points with Kyle and she wanted the boy, badly. For the first time in her life she was head over heels in love. It made her want to cry. Strange that.

"Good idea, Chase" she said in as friendly a voice as she could muster. "Ooh, they have shakes. I'll buy you one, Kyle. What's your favorite flavor? You'll be back to your old self in no time."

[Fleet]

Kyle was a bit to dizzy to notice the looks and tension between Katana and Chase. His body was feeling weird. He rested his arm on Chase's shoulder for a moment as they started heading toward the Diner. He heard them talking briefly and was only able to catch a couple pf their words. The ones he caught were "Food, Diner, and Milkshake" All of which sounded great right now. He was hungry and he was hoping that this feeling was just from him being tired and hungry.

Trying to pull a smile to his face and nod to Katana, he cleared his throat. "Black and white milkshake." As they got closer to the diner he was able to straighten up and walk on his own. His head was hurting and the implants along his body were tingling. This brought him back to the incident with Inflict. He wondered if what that man did to him had effected the implants in some way.

As they walked into the Diner and got seated he rested his head back on the booth and waited for the waitress to come. Looking to both his friends he thought about the next move. "So...... we have to get somewhere that we can blend in and hide. You said something about going to New York?" He looked to Katana as he asked. Making sure to keep his voice down so no one could hear him. Talking before the Waitress arrived. For Kyle there was no turning back. He really felt he had no other friends, besides these two. He had been an ass and had shot his mouth off to much to too many people, students and teachers alike back at the school. So much so that even when he tried to step up and prove himself to Rogue for his actions, she had denied him, turning him away. She had said it wasn't his actions and she didn't think bad of him, but he knew she did. They all did.

[Chupacabra]

As the letter dissolved in his hands his thoughts began to race. If what this Emma Frost says is true and if they found me then others will follow He looked at the bus pass and wondered if he should run, but he knew at the end of the day they will find him again. He began the reluctant trip back to San Juan.

He sat in the airport till sun down when he saw a peculiar man standing looking at him. Alex got up and walked toward the man and said, "Senior Soto?" He just nodded and began walking and he thought to himself let the adventure begin

After a long and awkwardly quiet fight Alex began to make his way to the bus terminal. Knowing that he had a long trip ahead of him he took a deep breath and showed his ticket at the terminal.

Two days have passed and the bus began to pass the great New York City and it felt vaguely familiar to him, as if he had been here before. He looked at the towering Stark Tower as the bus keep creeping on. His eyes fell and he drifted away into dreams.

"Next stop North Salem," a deep voice said over the intercom. His eyes opened with intense speed. Excited, nervous, and stressed from the ride Alex hops of the bus and says to the bus driver, "Muchos Gracias Senior, and have a good day" The bus driver nodded and kept going. Alex looked at his watch and it read 11:25. He looked around and couldn't see the restaurant. Alex scratched his head and then turned around and there it was. He smiled but then at that moment hunger struck.