Mischievous Function

Partners in Crime

"Wait, you two are from the train gang she fought?" Gelatin asked suddenly, stepping forward and letting the door close behind him. He turned to Teardrop, bewildered. "And you're friends with them?"

"I mean, we kinda bonded over knowing sign language," Honey shrugged. "And technically, Turbine saved her life after she spared him. We're both dead to the world—literally. We're clean now."

"Well, we did just rob a bank," Turbine pointed out.

"No, we robbed a group of fucking high schoolers who robbed a bank," she shot back with an irritated sigh. "Face it, dude, we're washed up."

"We're not washed up," Turbine scoffed indignantly. His eyes suddenly lit up with an idea and he pointed to Teardrop with a grin. "And I'll prove it."

Teardrop looked side to side before pointing at herself in confusion. "Yes, you," Turbine nodded. "I still owe you for beating me on that train. You and me, right here in the parking lot, right now. No guns, no blades. First one to tap out loses."

"Wait, you're challenging her to a fight?" Gelatin asked, shocked. "Wh—but she's only a high school kid!"

"T, are you about to beat up a child?" Honey asked in a deadpan tone as she crossed her arms with a disapproving glare. "What happened to standards?"

Teardrop, however, shot him a grin and nodded as she cracked her knuckles. Gelatin and Honey both turned to stare at her with shocked expressions and balked at how quickly she had agreed. "About time something fun happened tonight," she thought as Turbine beckoned all three of them to the street just beside the sidewalk.

Gelatin and Honey both took a position behind their respective bid and shot each other an uneasy look, both of them hoping that their partner in crime wasn't making a mistake. Turbine and Teardrop both took a few seconds to do a few warm-up stretches and other rituals.

Finally, Turbine raised his arm up in front of his chest and balled his fist up. Teardrop did the same as well and narrowed her eyes. Immediately, they both lunged at each other, to the surprise of both onlookers. and their arms clashed as they stared each other down.

But before they could do anything, they noticed that the two of them were grinning at each other. "You must have a million stories," Turbine chuckled in a low voice, wondering if he'd ever see the day when this girl finally spoke.

Teardrop, however, shook her head. "None of them are for you."

In a flash, Turbine shoved his arm forward, sending the surprised Teardrop stumbling back, and swung his arm backward. Then, he lifted his leg up for a side kick. Teardrop raised her arm up to block it, but the sheer force of Turbine's kick sent her flying backward into the air toward Gelatin.

Miraculously, however, she recovered and did a backflip in mid-air, landing on both feet and planting a hand on the floor to stabilize herself. She glanced up at Turbine for a brief moment before shooting up to her feet. Then, she punched the air twice and spun around to kick the air in his general direction before raising her arms into a fighting stance.

Beside her, Gelatin shook his head and sighed before taking a deep breath and raising his arms near his chest, one on top of the other. He then flung his hands to the side and balled his fists up—if Teardrop needed him, he figured that he'd best be ready.

"Whoo!" Turbine let out a triumphant cheer and pointed both of his fingers into the air, his confidence rushing back into him. He suddenly looked down and felt around his pockets for a few moments before pretending to pull something out of his back pocket. Instead, however, he only flashed the back of his fist toward Teardrop. The street lights reflected off his ring and gave it a sort of cinematic twinkle for a moment until he raised his other fist next to it and started "cranking" forwards. As he cranked, one of his fingers—as Leafy liked to call it, the "wrong finger"—slowly rose up while he made different grinding and machine noises with his mouth. Finally, he laid his palm on his chest and chuckled, "Yeah..."

Beside him, Honey balled her fists up near her waist before opening them and shifting her weight to her back foot. She raised her arms and moved them around for a bit before also taking a battle stance. After all, she knew Turbine could handle himself—but that didn't stop her from being ready to have a little fun herself if he'd let her.

Teardrop exhaled again and shifted her arms around to try and confuse the other two before finally settling on a single stance. Turbine quickly slid his hand over his fist and smirked before shifting into his own stance. As both of them prepared to engage in hand-to-hand combat, both Gelatin and Honey watched them for a moment before they both backed up a fair distance away from their bid, ready to assist their fighter if needed.

"Here we go..." they both thought.