“Yoyo!” Corn called up to the cage, with no reply. “Yoyo, can you hear me? Hello?”
“I don’t think he can, bro...” said Garam quietly.
“Don’t worry, buddy, we’ll get ya outta there... somehow...” Corn looked around for a button or lever that would release the latch on Yoyo’s cage.
“What if it’s not even Yoyo?” said Gum, hands on her hips. “What if it’s just another Noise Tank-“
“We already discussed that, back in the Garage. We haven’t got time-“ argued Soda.
“I found it!!” yelled Corn suddenly, and he pulled the large red lever which had been hidden behind a crate.
The bottom of the cage, which had been suspended in mid-air by a thick cable from the roof, fell open, and a little green-haired figure tumbled out, and landed on the floor in front of them. He didn’t get up.
“Oh dear God, no...“ Corn ran towards him, as the rest of the GG’s followed.
“Yoyo?! Yoyo! Wake up! Please...” Corn knelt beside him, and had a hand on his shoulder.
“Those Golden Rhino bastards... They probably just left him up here, with no food...” said Beat. “I bet they just let him starve to...” his voice trailed off. He didn’t want to say the fateful word.
This did not make Corn feel any better. He shook Yoyo’s shoulder.
“Look, man... I...” he took a deep, shuddering breath. “I’m... I’m sorry. I’m sorry I kept you in the Garage for so long... I’m sorry I treated you like dirt. I’m sorry I made you look after Potts, I’m sorry!! I’m sorry for everything!!” a single tear slid down his cheek. He stood up, not knowing what to do next. Then-
“Corn...”
“He’s alive!”
“Here... talk to me, buddy...” said Corn, kneeling down again.
Yoyo’s voice had become harsh and wheezy from lack of water, but he still had the distinguished ‘helium’ pitch.
“Corn... You gotta get outta here... There’s a trap...”
“We took care of the bombs, don’t worry-“
“Noooo... the planes... up there... look out, yo...” Yoyo made a feeble movement with his right hand as though trying to point at the ceiling. Then he fainted.
Dumb silence filled the room as the GG’s looked at each other... Cube peered at the ceiling.
“Hey guys!” she said loudly, “We got company!”
The glass ceiling seemed to literally explode as two giant, black jet planes slowly descended towards the gang. Each had two ready-to-fire torpedos on each wing. Corn jumped up, ready to command his gang.
“Soda! Get Yoyo outta the road will ya... And you two! Get on top of one of those planes and cover the windscreen in paint! Block their view!” he yelled at Beat and Rhyth. “All hands on deck!” Corn jumped up onto the other plane. There were three, four Golden Rhinos inside, maybe more- he found the open door, and leapt inside, smacking the pilot around the head with his foot. He landed in the seat, and started to turn the plane around to face the other, just as another Rhino came up behind him with a crowbar. The Rhino took a wild swing at Corn’s head, intending to knock him unconscious, but Corn heard him and ducked, leapt out of the seat, took out a spray can and used it like capsicum spray, with a similar effect. Suddenly, he heard an explosion from outside.
“Corn! What the hell do you think you’re doing in there?!” screamed Gum from outside. Corn swore loudly as he realised; he must have accidentally pressed a button or something that fired one of the torpedos. He rushed outside, afraid of what he might see, but was relieved to see no-one was hurt. A large crater had appeared in the wall beside them, and was still smoking.
“Beat! Rhyth! Get outta there, now!” he yelled. They didn’t need telling twice. They jumped off their plane (which now had a nice new coat of paint) and stood well back as Corn hurried back in. He landed on the seat, aimed carefully at the other plane, and fired another torpedo.
It exploded smack bang in the middle of the undercarriage, knocking the plane towards the wall, where it crumpled into a smoking black mass.
“Corn, there are people in there!!” shrieked Rhyth.
“They would’ve done the same to us!” Corn called back, annoyed. “If you’ve got a better plan, let’s hear it!” he climbed out of the plane as two more Rhinos came at him with machine-guns. Not just ones that fired blobs of gunpowder, either; these ones had real bullets.
Gum ran over to them. Taking them by surprise, she hit one of them around the head with the discarded crowbar, and kicked his gun out of the other’s reach. The other Rhino turned and put the gun up to her forehead.
“Don’t anyone move!” he said menacingly. “Take one step, and she eats lead...” he grinned evilly. His breath smelled of stale tobacco.
It seemed that he had them. The famous GG’s, every single one of them, even their leader, had fallen for the Golden Rhino’s trap. And he would be the one who brought them up to Rokkaku Gouji’s office, for a huge promotion and a sack load of yen-
“BANANA FRITTERS!!”
“What the-“
Whump.
Within seconds, he was curled up on the ground in agony. Jazz had screamed out a random phrase to distract him, and it had worked. He’d turned around, lowered his gun, and Gum had kicked him in the gonads. Ouch.
“Come on, let’s get outta here,” said Corn. “Soda and Combo can take turns carrying Yoyo; I don’t think he’ll be able to walk yet...”

They took the sewers route back to the Garage, as they didn’t want to be seen, especially not after the close battle that had nearly ended in complete disaster. They arrived back at the Garage now in the dead of night. Potts greeted them with barks of joy, especially Yoyo. Combo put him down onto the sofa, as the rest of the GG’s, including Roboy, gathered in a group around him. Corn knelt beside him again, talking quietly in his ear.
“Look, bro... we’re back. In the Garage. You’re safe now...” he took off his backpack and reached inside. “And I got your glasses, too... Potts brought them back to us, to tell us what had happened.” He took out Yoyo’s sunglasses, and handed them to him. Yoyo opened one eye, and smiled a little.
“Thanks, yo...” he said, taking them and putting them on. “Potts’ a smart dog...”
“Hungry?”
“Mm... who, me?”
“No, I’m talking to Santa Claus over there.” said Corn jokingly. “I bet you’re starving.”
“You could bet ya house on it, yo...” said Yoyo as his stomach gave a loud growl.
“Hey, there’s still some pizza left over from a few days ago,” said Beat suddenly. “Should I go...?”
“Yeah, go on. And any drinks, too, if you find any.”
Beat trotted down the stairs to the refrigerator, in Corn’s apartment.
“Hey... sorry about all that, yo.” Said Yoyo, his voice becoming a little stronger. “My bad.”
“No way! I shouldn’t have kept you in for so long...” said Corn. Yoyo chuckled.
“I knew you were gonna let me out soon, anyway... I just went outside, and I’d overheard some cops talkin’ about the Golden Rhinos... And what’d I do? I went to the Fortified Residential Zone, and tried to head ‘em off... Like, I thought I could, yo...” he frowned, annoyed with himself. “And then they caught me... And I tell ya what, yo; I was so freaked out when they started making robots that looked like me...”
Beat came back up the stairs with a box of cold pizza and half a bottle of coke.
“Man, you sure find some weird stuff in your refrigerator...” he said quietly.