OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH THIS IS IT

I HOPE THIS IS WILD FOR YOU ALL

Enjoy! :)

-------------------------------------

As they see all the unfriendly faces of the gang (for the second time in such a short amount of time) staring at them from the street in the light of the sunset with clouds looming in the distance, they all freeze on the steps of the building complex. They need a new plan. Fast.

"Take James back through the door, and out the back exit," Sardinia whispers to Mush and Chick Tucker behind him. "We'll handle this."

"Follow me," Kid Griffo instructs them, "I know the way."

Spot and Race exchange glances. They have a plan of their own. They ask Dave if there are any other exits, and while he tells them, Jack starts moving forward slowly, hands up in surrender.

"What's it gonna be, fellas?" Jack calls out to them. "It would appear that there's not that many of us, and so many more of you. Come on, that doesn't seem like a fair fight."

"Jack, this is not the crowd to antagonize," Dave warns him quickly, frantically.

Too late.

Everything happens at once.

Mush, Chick Tucker, and Kid Griffo quickly shuffle back in through the door, with Spot and Race behind them but slipping the other way, as the gang lunges forward, Jack slams the door behind him as he, Sardinia, David, and Dave get ready to fight.

The gang surrounds the four of them, with too many members to subitize quickly. Still, there's nothing that they can do except fight back. And so they do.

They should have known that James wouldn't have come alone. He needed a back up plan in case things had gone awry. Or maybe all that time he was stalling was him waiting for the perfect moment to summon the gang.

There is not a gun or any other weapon in sight; but they don't need any--all know hand-to-hand combat.

Suddenly, Kid Griffo comes running at them, joining the fight, knocking two gang members' heads together. Mush and Chick Tucker must not need him anymore. Still, the others are grateful that they have another person on their side in the fight.

"Where's Spot and Race?" Jack yells at him as everyone continues to fight.

"Don't know," Kid Griffo yells back. "They said they had a plan and that they'd be back in ten minutes tops. Somethin' about two sets of back-up. I have no clue what that means."

Jack has no clue either, but he knows Race, and he trusts him and Spot enough.

But can they keep going at this for ten minutes?

While Jack feels himself getting winded, none of the gang members seem to be getting tired at all. 

Suddenly, while Jack is distracted for a moment, someone knocks him down. This is it, he thinks dreadfully as the man towers over him. This is when I-

When suddenly, David takes a swing at the man, punching him so hard he falls down too. Then kicks his head for good measure.

He immediately goes to help Jack up. "Are you alright?" One hand is tightly on Jack's shoulder, the other hand moves to Jack's face, eyes searching for any major signs of injury.

Jack doesn't know if it's fear or adrenaline or the thrill of the moment, but he's feeling something. And while he doesn't have many coherent thoughts in his mind right now, there is one thing he knows for certain: he is still in love with David, and he never wants to let him go.

Yet that is not this moment.

So, Jack does what he always does: he shrugs, as if unbothered. "I'll be fine."

They hear someone behind him shout, and they turn around quickly. One of the gang members is running right at them. They exchange a glance. They'll fight him off together. They're ready.

Suddenly, everyone stops in confusion as they hear a bunch of angry screaming in the distance.

It's the freaking James Street Boys, Al Capone up front, fire in his eyes.

"You didn't learn your lesson, did you?" Al taunts them, then uses colorful Italian words. "Ragazzi! Ora!"

They start attacking the gang for the second time today.

So this is a part of the back up, Jack thinks with a smile. Who knew a bunch of adolescents would come in handy in fighting off bad guys?

Out of all people, Jack should know. He was exactly like that when he was their age.

Now that they have more people, the fight is more even. Except for all of the gang being adults, and now they're fighting kids. But the numbers have evened out.

Now would be a really great time for Race and Spot come back, Jack thinks as the fight carries on. Not having them here is putting him on edge--well, even more than before.

He just hopes that Mush and Chick Tucker are okay, and that they aren't having any trouble getting James to the police. He hopes that no one from the gang saw James' unconscious form.

Even with the extra people fighting, everyone is still getting worn down, and there's no sign of who is truly winning. How do they plan to win this fight?

There's nothing that they can do except carry on.

Suddenly, there's a roar in the distance.

Not just one roar. There's another. And another, and another.

Everyone stops, heart pounding. What in the world made that noise? That's not a normal sound heard in any part of any city in New York.

And there they are, the one and only Racetrack Higgins and Spot Conlon, each holding two very very big cats on leashes.

Of course. Their circuses. They even discussed this earlier: Race is a tiger trainer and Spot is a lion tamer.

So this is their second back up. Race's two tigers, and Spot's two lions.

"Abbiamo i tigri ed i leoni!" Race shouts defiantly. "Loro fanno che noi vogliamo!" 

They do what we want.

"No sudden moves!" Spot calls out, fire in his eyes.

The James Street Boys start backing away slowly. Once they've deemed they've gone far enough, they take off running.

"No, wait!" Al yells after them in frustration. Under his breath he curses, and then he mutters, "I need to find me a new gang."

"Those are freaking lions and tigers!" David exclaims incredulously. Except he used a stronger word than freaking.

"Oh my," is all Jack says.

The gang seems to recognize the depth of the threat, and what will happen to them if they keep fighting. One by one, they raise their hands above their head, some beg for mercy, but eventually, one after another, they all get on their knees.

It truly is a spectacular moment.

The sun has set, and it's probably closer to midnight by now (if it hasn't reached midnight yet). The clouds that had been slowly coming in have started to drizzle rain, growing heavier by the second. As Jack and the others stand completely still, dazed, they have many gang members at their feet on their knees, with Spot and Race standing a few yards away, their lions and tigers roaring.

They have won this fight.

As Mush and Chick Tucker come back with the police (Spot and Race--who had no intention of unleashing the lions and tigers anyway--are hiding, so as not to draw attention to the fact that they have lions and tigers in the streets of New York) and all the gang members are arrested, and they are assured that James Baletti is locked away, they still can't believe it.

We have won this fight.

All their obstacles are gone.

As the rain continues to fall from the sky, Jack looks up to the sky and grins.

We have won this fight.

--------------------------------------------------

Aaaaaaaaa so how was that?!

Yay!! They won!!

Foreshadowing chapters ago that Race and Spot being in the circus would be important information? Me? No.

And then the lions and tigers came! haha

It was really fun to write that part though.

Such a power move. Why don't people still do that in modern time?

Wow, these chapters are really short. Okay, each reach 1,000 words, so short for me haha. I think I'm finally getting the hang of content length haha.

So, one chapter of fluff to wrap up this half of the story coming right up! :)

You ready?

Please, no homophobia, profanities, hate etc in the comment section at all times.

Best,

~Your Beloved Author (who is grinning now that justice has been served)