Partners In Crime

26 Janus

"We gotta stop him!"
"How? We don't even know where we are!"
This was true. As far as both of them knew they could be in Tokyo. Their phones were gone at the hands of the fire and it's not like they can show up at the police's doorstep. They have nowhere to turn, nowhere to go.
But that didn't discourage Chelsea, which is ironic, since she's the most out of her element, yet isn't panicking.

"I have my methods."
"Does one include hitching a ride back to the city?"
Chelsea paused.
"No." she eventually answered.
Derick rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, a blinding bright light engulfed both of them. It was like a UFO tractor beam and for a minute there Derick thought they were being abducted by extraterrestrial beings. Or is it God, coming to their aid?
He tensed up while Chelsea squinted.

It was a bright red jet. It kicked up dust as it made its descent, its aggressive wind almost repelled the two of their feet. The feet of the helicopter appeared almost like talons. It gently penetrated the ground with such grace that, in a way, it was showing off. The propeller's speed began to slow down. Then it came to a complete stop. The name "Janus" was engraved on the jet bumper.

As the people inside fiddled with the door, the two braced themselves, having each other's backs. They weren't sure who was on the other side. It could be either a friend or foe.

A high-pitched sound was made before a ramp poked out of the jet, sliding its way to the floor like stairs.
The two gasped.

"Need a lift?" Noah, smug asked. But he just looks imbecilic.
Derick was dumbfounded.
"N-Noah, you did this?" was all he could say.
"Ah. As much as I like to take all the credit, I couldn't. It's not just me."
The rest of their friends came out, standing beside him heroically.
"It's all of us," he answered.
Even the pilot poked his head out, waving.

"How did we know we were here? I mean, it must have been a good couple of days." Derick asked his pals after he reunited with them, including hugging Johnty.

"Couple of days?" Johnty repeated. He giggled, and not because he was seeing his best friend without his cap for the first time.
"Dude, you were gone no less than twenty-four hours."
"What? That's impossible!"
"Well, time flies by when you have two rich siblings with a super-powerful chopper," Joesph said. "The second we knew you were gone, we left before anyone noticed. Nobody even knows where we are. Well, apart from the Head."
"Oh, please," Ashleigh was still hung over by Johnty's misconstrued description of the ride. "It's super duper powerful!" she said, nit-picky.
Derick smirked. It's nice to see that everything was now water under the bridge.
Then there was Chelsea.
Ecstatic, she threw her arms around her friends, holding them close, fangirling. And they seemed happy with the embrace, hugging back.
"I'm so glad to see you two!"
She then backpedalled.
"I mean, it took you guys long enough!"
"It's okay," Ashleigh said.
"Yeah, you can drop the act now." Kaylee finished.
Chelsea looked at them, confused.
"We're sorry about how we treated you." the red-haired girl said with remorse.
Ashleigh nodded in agreement.
"Even though we may not agree, we still have to respect and tolerate who you're friends with, as you're allowed to be friends with anyone you want. And, who you are."
"Apology accepted. And isn't there someone else you should say sorry to?"

The girls turned to Derick.
"Ah, yes. Of course." Kayleigh nudged her sister and in return, Ashleigh gave Derick a thin laminated piece of paper.
"What is this?"
"A coupon. It's whenever you ask for an offer from us and we provide it." Ashleigh explained.
"And since we came to rescue you, it's already used up."
"So what you're saying is this is invalid and expired?"
"Yes." the siblings said in unison.
"Right." Derick was about to rip it.
"You can keep it for memorabilia. So one day when we look back at this, we'll laugh." Ashleigh added.
"Yeah," Derick responded, being contemptuous. He wasn't sure if they were sincere or not.
"Be sure to use it whenever it relates to us."
"Don't worry," Derick said, putting the coupon away for "safekeeping".
"I'll sure be thinking about you two in therapy."
"How did you guys find us?" Chelsea asked, curious. "We must be at least in another city."
"Not exactly. You're in the Woodlen district. And nobody comes down here. This was the first place we looked and were right."
"Makes sense," Erin added.
"I mean, if I were to commit a federal offence I would want to detach myself from society too. The kidnapper covered his tracks pretty well."
"Not for long." Derick grimaced.