Chapter 02 – The New GG

(I don't own Jet Set Radio. Amy and the Rokkaku twins are my characters
(though obviously the Rokkaku family is © Sega) so please ask if you want to
use them. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapters – you really
boosted my confidence! Now make me feel really great and r+r this one!
Pleeeeeease…)

The next day Amy got up early. Outside the sky was grey with fading
darkness.
She dressed in her uniform and crept over to the window. It looked
even higher now. But she couldn't afford to be scared.
She sat on the windowsill, feeling the icy surface bite into her skin.
Gripping the edge, she slid slowly down until she was hanging from the
windowsill by her hands.
Then she dropped.
She landed with a jarring thud that sent vibrations all the way through
her bones. Breathing a sigh of relief, which billowed out in front of her in the
cold air, she set off to the bus station. She'd be totally early for school, but she
could handle that. With the fact that all her books and her pencil case were still
in the house – and she was not about to go in and get them – she'd need all the
Brownie points she could get.

After school she hurried to the garage, heart thumping. She was worried that
she'd imagined it all. That it couldn't really have happened. Why'd they offer
membership to a no-hoper like her? Maybe she'd turned delusional.
She knocked on the door, and waited.
Tab opened it. "Hey, Amy, good to see you. Come in!"
Well, she hadn't imagined him, anyway. She walked into the garage,
keeping her hands in her pockets so they wouldn't see how much they were
shaking.
Not all the GGs were there. Beat was, and Mew, and the black girl, who
Amy learned was called Piranha. The other six were all absent, including
Gum, Amy was glad to see.
"Right," Beat said to her. "We're gonna go tag Park Street. You know
that area?"
Amy nodded.
"You tag all the tags on the ground, and try and look innocent. Right?"
"Yes."
"And if you see cops, use your initiative to stop'em, preferably without
giving yourself away."
"Sure."
"Then let's go."

Amy found that distracting the cops wasn't as hard as it seemed. Sometimes
she adopted the 'help, help, I've just been robbed/raped/stabbed' approach.
Sometimes she tripped cops up and then apologised profusely and desperately.
Tear gas made her job easier – she'd stagger around coughing and threaten to
sue.
She was getting better at tagging now, anyway. Better and faster. First
it took her a whole tagging session to finish one tag. Then she could do two.
Then four. Soon she was almost as fast as the other GGs.
There was only one bad moment, a few days after the first time she went
out with them. She was getting hot, and rolled up her sleeves. She thought
nothing of it until Piranha said, "Hey, Amy, what happened to your arm?"
Amy gulped, and looked at it. There was a huge, dark bruise glaring on
her skin.
"Oh…nothing…" she said. "Umm…I guess I must've caught it on
something…or something. You know."
Piranha didn't look convinced, but she didn't say anything more. Amy
breathed a silent sigh of relief. Her aunt was still hitting her, but the bruises
faded pretty quickly. But she'd keep her sleeves down, just in case.

Two weeks after she'd joined, Amy arrived at the garage to find it empty.
There was a note pinned to the sound system – Amy – out tagging in Kogane –
Gum figured that was a little rough so we didn't wait 4 you – see you soon –
Tab.
Amy glowered. Gum would've said that. The blonde GG refused to
believe that Amy was any use at all. The temptation to abandon the annoying
girl to Onishima was growing daily, but she knew what the other GGs would
think of her if she did that.
Sighing, she turned on the radio, sat down on the floor, and got out her
homework, seeing as she had nothing else to do.
Discuss the imagery used in 'Of Mice And Men,' with quotations, she'd
written in her homework planner. Oh, what fun.
Lying down on her stomach, she unclipped her pen and began writing.
There is a wide range of imagery in 'Of Mice And Men,' which is used
to foreshadow the tragic ending…
'Let Mom Sleep,' rattled out from the sound system behind, and she
scribbled in time to the music. The garage floor was warm with sunlight, and
she'd soon written half a page.
Some gang life, she thought. Doing homework on the garage floor. All
she needed now was for Gum to come in.
The music was building up to a crescendo. Amy mouthed along with
the words as she wrote. She liked the things that Jet Set Radio played. You
could think while they were on, and some of them made her want to dance.
Suddenly the music cut out.
"Oh, great," Amy muttered. "Don't tell me I've broken it."
She sat up a little, and then the music came back on.
But it wasn't 'Let Mom Sleep.'
A sharp operatic voice filled the garage with a swaying, eerie tune.
Amy was puzzled. She'd never heard that before. But she decided she liked it,
as underneath the singer came a quick, fast beat, and she picked up her pen and
wrote twice as fast, not even thinking about her work now…
Flip the rap, split the track, flip the rap, split the track, flip the rap, split
the track –
The music squeaked out a quick complex rhythm, like tap dancing feet,
and then the opera came back. Amy's pen flew over the paper. The music was
zigzagging over her skin. She didn't want it to stop.

Tab opened the garage door, wondering if Amy would be there. He'd felt kind
of guilty about letting Gum talk him into leaving her behind. So he'd said he'd
go back and at least ask her if she wanted to come to Kogane. He could show
her the rooftops. They were his favourite place there.
He stepped inside, and his heart froze for a second.
'Grace And Glory' was echoing around the garage. Tab went cold all
over as the familiar tune taunted his ears.
Then he saw Amy, lying on the floor, while that music surrounded her…
Tab hurled himself across the room like a small blue bomb in a boiler
suit, and slammed off the radio. Amy sat up, looking deeply hurt.
"Tab!" she yelled. "How could you?"
"That music's dangerous," Tab said, shivering. "What was it doing on
Jet Set Radio?"
"How can it be dangerous? It's just music!"
"I don't trust it. It's Rhino music."
Amy frowned. "Rhino music?"
"You never hear of the Golden Rhinos?"
Amy shook her head.
"They were a gang of ruthless Asian killers. Run by the Rokkaku
Corporation."
"What, that company run by…" Amy thought. "Koji and Camilla?"
"Yeah. Their dad, Goji, tried to summon a demon."
"Yeah, right." Amy snorted.
"I'm serious. It's true. Ask anyone you like. Anyway, he thought this
old indie record could summon a demon. He sent the Golden Rhinos all over
Tokyo-to looking for it. Found it in the end, tried to play it on top of the
Rokkaku building. Us GGs stopped him. The Rokkaku building blew up, Goji
was killed."
"But what about the music?"
"That music played while we fought Goji. It was the record. Professor
K thought the record was a hoax, but I'm not so sure. That night seemed pretty
warped. Anyway, I don't trust it."
"Well, it hasn't done anything to me," Amy said. "Look, I've just been
doing my homework –"
She stopped, staring at the paper she'd been writing.
About halfway down the page the neat notes stopped, and there was a
drawing. A drawing of a happy, smiling, perky rhino in blue dungarees.
"Shit," Tab said. Dread was creeping down his neck as he looked at the
familiar picture. "Amy, why'd you draw that?"
"I thought I was writing," Amy said. She'd gone pale. "Tab, I swear I
have never seen that picture before in my life."
"I believe you," Tab said. "It was the music."
"But how?"
"The Rokkaku Corporation had mind-control helmets. This could be the
same sort of thing."
"But – but why? Koji and Camilla –"
"Insanity runs in the family," Tab said. "Someone's trying to reactivate
a demon here."
Amy swallowed. "Are you going to tell the others?"
"You bet. They need to know. Last time we were Tokyo-to's only
hope."
Amy shivered, and looked down at the rhino's vacant grin.

The other GGs clattered into the garage half an hour later. Tab rushed over to
Beat, clutching Amy's homework, and began talking to him.
Amy stood there, watching the others without seeing them. She was
scared.
She had been sure she'd been writing. Positive. And that music – it had
taken over her brain, changed her actions – and she'd not known a thing until it
had stopped.
And she was angry.
I've got enough people telling me what to do without music getting in
on the case, she thought grimly.
"Hey! Guys!" Beat yelled. "Listen up, we've got a rhino situation
here!"
He explained quickly what had happened. Amy watched the other GGs.
Most of them looked worried, but Gum – it would be, Amy thought – Gum had
a scornful look on her face.
"Beat, hasn't it occurred to you schoolgirl here could be faking it?"
"She said she'd never seen the rhino picture before. And even if she
had, how'd she know that Grace and Glory was the rhino's tune?"
"I don't know." Gum folded her arms and scowled. "But I still don't
believe it."
"Don't then," Tab said. "But I know what I saw. The rhinos are back."
"Sure they are. Hey, Tab, you been inhaling paint fumes again?"
Tab scowled. "This is not funny."
"Who'd be bringing back the rhinos?" Gum said.
"Ummm…let me think. Oh! Wait! Goji's son? Duh!" Tab folded his
arms and smirked.
"Goji's son – and his daughter as well – are being even more goody-
goody than Amy is," Gum said. "I've seen them on TV. 'Oh, no, we're not
evil demon summoners, we looooooove Tokyo-to and we're kind to animals,
children and even rudies…' Oh, please. Sure, it's lame –"
"Yeah, it's even lamer than that time Onishima tried to take a school
assembly," Mew said.
"Yeah, but they're not going to start broadcasting suspicious tunes, are
they?"
"They might," Tab said. "All the Rokkaku family are insane anyway."
"Will you two shut up?" said Beat. "It may be nothing, but I think we
should be careful for the next few days. Everyone tag in pairs, and only one of
each pair can have Jet Set Radio on."
The other GGs groaned.
"Look, this is serious," Beat said. "We just got to see what happens."
"Well, in case you hadn't noticed, oh, fearless leader," Gum said,
"There are eleven of us now. I didn't finish school, but even I know that
eleven people can't pair up properly."
"Then one person can stay here," Tab snapped. "And no, it ain't gonna
be Amy."
"I'll stay," Slate said. "I gotta play on the pinball machine."
"Slate – you are obsessed with that machine," Gum said scathingly.
"No, I'm not. I just like playing it. It's cool."
"Okay," Beat said as Slate went over to the machine. "Now, who's
gonna pair up –"
Suddenly he was cut off by a frenzy of bleeps. Slate yelled, "Yeah!
Let's kick some butt!"
"Will you shut up?" Gum yelled at him.
"I'll go with Cube," Combo said.
"Okay," Cube said, "but I'm having the radio on. If you get taken over
by the Rhinos I don't want to have to try and stop you."
"I'll go with Mew!" Yo-Yo said.
"You will not!" Mew said.
"Yes, he will." Beat grinned. "You guys can do Benten-cho. It is your
home turf, after all."
Mew glowered. "Well, I'm having the music, then. I need some
distraction from you."
"Done and done!" Yo-Yo punched the air.
"I'll go with Piranha," Garam said. They went out together. "And I'll
take the radio – I don't want to expose you to any danger," he said to Piranha.
"Oh, Garam…" Piranha sighed deeply.
"Oh, please…" Gum pretended to throw up.
"I can go with Amy, then," said Tab, "and you can go with Gum."
"Okay," Beat said. He and Gum had a turbulent relationship together.
"Shall I have the music?" he said to Gum.
"No. I'm gonna prove that there's nothing going on," Gum said. She
glared at Amy. "Whatever you say."

Tab and Amy were tagging a bus together. Amy was wearing Tab's
wristwatch radio, and tagging to 'Recipe For The Perfect Afro.'
She'd said she'd have the music because she'd never be able to catch
Tab if he was taken over and dashed off to kill somebody or something, but she
knew that wasn't her real reason.
She loved 'Grace and Glory.' Even now the thought of it sent goose
pimples down her back. She didn't like what it might do to her – obviously –
but surely she'd be able to control it. Fight against it. Right?

Combo watched as Cube tagged a wall in Kogane-cho. She was humming to
the radio, a habit which normally drove him nuts but this time was reassuring.
"Nothing happened yet?" he said.
Cube shook her head. "No. Maybe they –"
She stopped.
"Cube?"
The expression dropped out of her face.
"Cube!"
She turned her back on him, to face her tag again. She dropped the
green paint can she was holding, and took out a yellow one.
Combo shivered as she sprayed the outline of a new tag over her old
one. It looked nastily familiar. As she filled in the grinning mouth, the perky
eyes, the blue dungarees, he grabbed her, trying to stop her. She struggled,
kicking out. One of her skates scraped down Combo's shin. He winced, but he
refused to let go of her. Gripping her arms behind her back, he dragged her
away from the wall and yelled, "Cube, snap out of it!"
She didn't answer. He reached for her radio, trying to turn it off, and
she managed to free one wrist from his grasp – turned, and punched him in the
mouth. It didn't hurt that much, but it scared him. She'd never hit him before
in her life.
She broke away from him, and finished the tag. Then turned back to
face him, and – click – her face fell back into its normal smile, and she said, " –
decided to leave us alone."
She looked at him more closely, and said, sounding concerned, "What
happened to your face?"
Combo tasted blood, and realised she'd split his lip. He said, "You
happened to it."
"Huh?"
"Cube, you just went crazy." He put his hands on her shoulders and
turned her round to face the rhino. "Look."
"I didn't – I just said, they decided to leave us alone."
"Halfway through that sentence you freaked. You tried to spray that tag.
And when I tried to stop you, you hit me."
"I'm sorry." Cube's hands were shaking. "I didn't notice it."
"Well, Amy was right," Combo said. "The Rhinos are back."
Cube had gone even whiter than normal. "I thought we got rid of
them…" she whispered.
"Hey, we did it before. We can do it again."
"I hope." Cube shivered.

Mew sprayed busily over a Benten-cho advert. Yo-Yo fixed his eyes on her
body as she stepped from side to side, and grinned.
Mew turned to face him. "Will you quit looking at me like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like I'm a banana and you're a monkey. It's making me nervous."
"Hey, it's not my fault you're cute." Yo-Yo wolf-whistled as she turned
back to her tagging, and she whirled round and hit him across the head. "You
are so immature!"
"Oh, hit me harder, baby," Yo-Yo said, ducking her next blow.
"Shut up right now or I'll tag you until you can't –"
She stopped.
"Can't what? Can't see? Can't breathe? Can't eat bananas no more?
Mew?"
Mew turned her back on him, and carried on tagging.
"Ah, come on, I was only joking around."
Still silence.
"Quit sulking on me, okay?"
Still silence.
"That's not even a very good tag –"
He looked at it for the first time.
"Shit!"
He grabbed her wrist and turned off her radio.
Mew's eyes rolled back in her head, and she fainted.
"Mew? Mew?" Yo-Yo swallowed and looked down at her. She'd gone
very pale. "Mew? Oh, crumbs…"

Beat and Gum skated down the hill in Shibuya-cho. Gum felt her bad mood lift
a little, but she was still annoyed. Amy was such an attention-seeker, and Tab
kept following her around like a lost dog.
Gum glowered. She was Tab's friend. Not some silly little schoolgirl
who couldn't even skate.
"What's wrong with you?" Beat said as they turned a corner. "You've
got a face like you just saw Onishima naked or something."
"Nothing. I'm just a little tense at the moment."
"I know a remedy for that…" Beat kissed her.
Gum leant against the wall, admitting to herself that Beat still knew how
to float her boat. She kissed him back, as Jet Set Radio pounded its tunes
through her body, keeping step with her accelerating heart.
"Aren't we supposed to be tagging?" she said at last.
"We will…"
Gum laughed as he tried to kiss her again. "Come on, Casanova, let's
move it." She enjoyed disappointing Beat. It meant he surprised her later on.
Turning away from him, she began to spray the wall they'd been leaning
on. Beat put his arms round her waist, kissed her jaw.
Gum shivered, relishing the sensation. Her jawline had always been one
of her hot spots.
Suddenly the music changed.
She looked down at the paint can in her hand. Yellow. Good.
She raised her arm to paint, but something was stopping her…someone
had pushed it back down, someone was talking to her…
"Come on, Gum…" Beat's voice. Why couldn't she hear it properly?
"Why don't…"
It faded out. The music soared through her brain. Stop the obstacle.
She curled one hand into a fist, moved to punch –
What am I doing? I don't want to punch Beat. He's –
Enemy. Stopping me tagging. Gum held onto that thought. It seemed
so sane, so reliable. She began to paint.
Someone's shouting. Not important.
Of course it is! It's Beat, and he sounds mad with me. She opened her
mouth to speak –
No. Tag.
Don't tell me what to do! Gum shouted at the voice in her brain. You
can't…you can't…what had she been going to say?
Not important. Tag. Tag. Tag. Tag.
The music was carrying her higher and higher…
Other sensation. Something she liked. Didn't she? She couldn't
remember any more. She watched as her hand moved, almost of its own
accord, tracing out a shape, a shape that seemed right…
But that other feeling…
Beat's kissing me. And I like it.
No, you don't. It's not important.
No, I don't…what am I saying?
She was almost there, almost one with the music, almost completing that
correct perfect shape…and something was holding her back.
"Let go of me!" she shouted.
"Gum? What's wrong with…"
That voice. She liked it.
No, you don't. Finish the tag. It needs to be finished.
No, it doesn't! Gum struggled to stop painting, but she couldn't. Her
hand wouldn't listen to her. She tried to cry out, but nothing happened…what
was going on?
Help me…
Tag…
No…
Tag…
I won't…
Tag…
No!
Tag!
The music slammed into her brain like a Poison Jammer's head, and she
screamed…
And then, as she took a breath, she realised things were back to
normal…Professor K was chattering in the background…the sun was warm on
her skin…Beat was looking into her eyes, his face horrified.
"Gum, are you okay?"
Gum blinked. She was sitting on the ground next to her tag, which was
a horrible mishmash of her own Minty Cool Flavour and a cute, cuddly-looking
rhino. "What happened?"
"You went all quiet – didn't answer or nothing – and then you
screamed."
"I don't know – something went funny in my head – someone was
telling me to do stuff – and I tried to stop and I couldn't…" Gum felt her
mouth trembling, and pressed her lips together. She tried to speak, but she
could feel a sob rising up her throat. "Oh, god…this is all I need…"
"Hey, it's okay." Beat put an arm round her shoulders. "I guess it just
proves Amy was right."
Amy. Amy again. What was so great about the girl, anyway? "Fuck
Amy!" Gum screamed. "Look, I'm fine, okay? Just stop patronising me!"
"Okay. Sorry." Beat helped her to her feet. "We'd better get back.
This will have affected the others too."
Gum skated with him, annoyed to feel that she was trembling.

Piranha wasn't spraying her tag. She was letting Garam kiss her against the
wall of the abandoned factory in Kogane, and loving it.
"Your radio's bugging me…" she whispered, kissing his forehead. She
could hear Jet Set Radio playing, sounding like tap-dancing spiders. "Can't
you turn it off?"
"Gotta keep the experiment going," Garam said, laughing.
"I like this experiment better…" Piranha felt the warmth of the bricks
seep through her clothes, almost as warm as the feelings inside her.
Suddenly Garam stopped kissing her. He pushed her away from the
wall, and began to tag it.
"Hey, what's your problem?" Piranha said. "I thought you were
enjoying this!"
He didn't answer. Piranha scowled. "Garam, what's wrong?"
Still no reply. Piranha tried to block out memories of people freezing
her out, people turning away…being left alone…
She grabbed Garam's shoulders and pulled him away from the wall.
Garam punched her in the stomach.
Piranha doubled over, gasping for breath, and letting go of Garam.
Through tears she saw him stroll back to his tag as though nothing had
happened.
Rage building up in her head, she grabbed him, one arm around his
neck, and screamed, "What's wrong with you?"
Garam grabbed her and pulled her off him, threw her against the wall,
and his hands fastened round her throat.
Piranha felt terror stab through her. Desperately she tried to pull his
hands off her throat, but the fingers were like iron. Through the blackness
covering her vision, she saw his face, looking blank, bored, like he did when he
watched snooker on TV.
She tried to breathe one more time, and then the view faded.

Amy heard 'Recipe For The Perfect Afro' cut out, and she shivered. Any
minute now – she opened her mouth to warn Tab, then closed it again. It
couldn't hurt her, could it?
The singer's voice echoed in her ears, and underneath swayed growls
and the drone of a piano. Her feet yearned to dance. Through the sparks of
music burning through her brain, she felt her hands shake a paint can, and
begin to spray it.
But part of her mind – the part that had shouted when she got hit, had
asked Tab to paint her room – was saying, don't listen! It's just someone else
trying to control you!
But there was no one to hear it. Amy knew she could no more stop
tagging than fly.
Someone grabbed her arm. Fingers dug into her skin. Memories roared
over her vision, blocking out the music – pain – humiliation – hunger –
darkness –
"Leave me alone!" she screamed, and pushed out at the person holding
onto her.
It was Tab. He stumbled back, and yelled, "Amy, it's the music! Don't
listen to it! Turn off your radio!"
Amy stood there, the bus station fading and collapsing around her. She
put out an arm, to turn off the music, but it was dragged back to her side like a
paperclip to a magnet. Tagging would be so easy…
She looked at the tag she was doing. It was changing, one minute happy
and perfect, the next scaring her. Biting her lip, she tried to stop her arm from
rising to tag. The effort made her eyes water. And the music was roaring
around her, dragging her down like a whirlpool.
"I – I can't –" she said. It hurt to talk. It hurt to do anything but turn
away and tag.
"You've got to!"
Amy tried to hold onto her anger, and onto her fear, and all the feelings
that she knew were hers. But the more she tried to focus on them, the more
they slipped away from her.
"Don't do it, Amy!" The voice was slipping away from her too, as
though she was falling. "You don't have to do it! You're nothing to do with
those Rhinos! Let go of the paint!"
Amy concentrated her whole mind on trying to break the hold her
fingers had on the paint can. She couldn't move them.
I am not going to let this happen! part of her mind shouted at her. Let
GO!
Amy's hand opened, and she heard the clatter as the paint can hit the
pavement.
With that clatter, the music rushed away from her, breaking up like
shattered glass, fleeing from her ears – and then it was gone.
Amy tried to move, and realised she could. The force holding her in
place had gone. Shivering, she stumbled over to Tab. "Are – are you okay?"
"I'm fine. You – you're bleeding."
Amy licked her bottom lip. "I bit it, I guess." She shuddered, her legs
suddenly feeling weak as cold tea, and couldn't stand properly. Tab caught
her, and helped her sit down.
"What did I paint?" she said.
"You tried to do a rhino, I suppose, but you couldn't." He put an arm
round her. "You're shaking."
"You saved me…" Amy tried to think logically. "You grabbed me, and
it made me remember my – it made me remember something bad happening,
and I pushed you…"
"And shouted 'Leave me alone.' That was you, was it – not the music?"
"Yeah, and then I could see what was happening…I wasn't very strong
though. I couldn't fight it."
"Don't be dumb. You fought it pretty well, it seems to me."
"Thanks." Amy suddenly became aware of how close he was to her,
and felt herself blush. "Look – I – thanks."
"That's okay."
Amy looked at him. His face was inches from hers. There was silence.
Then –
"We'd better get back," Tab said. "I gotta see what's happened to the
others."

Garam was furious.
I've got to tag, he thought. Why won't you let me? He felt his hands
tighten round the enemy's throat. Why are you stopping me? Why?
The music swept him along. Rage pulsed through Garam's veins.
Then suddenly he felt it fade. The music cut out. The anger tensing his
muscles drained away, and he relaxed, letting his hands open. Slowly Kogane-
cho came back into view.
And he saw Piranha lying at his feet, sobbing.
"Piranha? What happened?" He'd just been kissing her. What had
gone wrong?
Piranha looked up, and Garam's stomach jumped at the look of terror on
her face.
"Piranha?" he said again. "Are you okay?"
"Get away from me!" she screamed, jumping to her feet, and ran.
"Piranha, wait!" He dashed after her. She reached the car pile, and
jumped onto it, skates smashing ancient windscreens. As he made to jump on
too, she turned and yelled down at him, "I never want to see you again!"
Garam stopped. He felt hurt, but more than that, puzzled. What had he
done? He ran over the sequence of events. He'd been kissing her. She'd
asked him to turn his radio off. He'd said no. She'd made a joke about it.
Then – then she'd been lying there, crying, and yelled at him. What had
happened?
Garam shivered, and began to skate back to the garage.

In the garage the mood was tense. Mew had regained consciousness, but she
still looked tired, and was dozing on the sofa. Piranha was still crying, and
being comforted by Cube and Amy, both of whom looked worried. Gum was
scowling, sitting by the pinball machine on her own. Combo was explaining to
Slate what had happened. Yo-Yo was hovering around Mew. Tab was looking
at Amy, Beat was trying to get everyone quiet, and Garam hadn't even arrived
back yet.
"Will you all shut up?" Beat yelled at last. "This is serious!"
The GGs grudgingly stopped talking. Gum sighed. Her head ached.
But she felt a small flicker of pride that apparently she'd been the only one
who'd managed to fight the music.
"Okay, right, I think we've proved that this music is dangerous, right?"
Everyone nodded.
"But at least we know what we're dealing with now. And we've learned
more about it."
"Like what?" Yo-Yo asked.
"First of all, turning off the radio doesn't work. It just makes you black
out. Right?"
"Yep."
"Secondly, you don't recognise anyone you care about –" Beat glanced
nervously at Piranha. "So you could hurt them without realising it. Thirdly,
you don't remember anything you did while the music played. Fourthly, you
can fight the music if you tried, as Gum and Amy have found out –"
"What do you mean, she found out?" Gum yelled, getting to her feet. "I
found out!"
"Cool it," Tab said. "You and Amy both managed to fight the music –
you only did half your tag, and Amy hardly did one at all."
"What?" Gum knew she was being stupid, but she couldn't help it.
That girl had made her look dumb again. Great.
"Gum, quit freaking out over this!" Tab glared at her. "Just leave Amy
alone!"
Gum's throat tightened with fury. He used to be on her side. He used to
be her friend. And now he was mad with her. She turned to face Amy, and
spat out, "Yeah, I'll leave her alone. She'll never be a GG, and she knows it.
She's useless and the only reason she managed to beat that music was because
she hasn't got the brains to like it –" Amy's eyes widened, and Gum felt mean
pleasure as they filled with tears. "She's pathetic, a rudie wannabe, a wimp –"
Tab shoved her. Gum swallowed as she saw how furious he looked.
"Get out," he said. "Just get out."
"You can't make me."
"You're just being dumb. Get out and come back when you're sane
again."
"Fine!" Gum marched towards the door. As she opened it, she almost
walked into Garam, who had been about to come in. He looked nervous. She
hissed, "Don't bother, flyboy. Piranha hates your guts."
And then she walked out into the empty street, slamming the door
behind her. As she kicked a stone down the street, she forced back the tears.
She wasn't going to let them see her cry.

Back in the garage, Amy was thinking the same thing, furiously biting back the
urge to howl.
"Don't worry," Cube said. "Gum's just tense at the moment. She didn't
mean all that stuff."
Amy didn't believe that for a moment. Was that how they all thought of
her? Not a proper GG? They were just humouring her?
She, Piranha and Cube were all perched on the sofa, next to Mew, who
was asleep still. Piranha had her face buried in her hands, and she was totally
ignoring Garam, who was hovering nervously near the door.
"Piranha…" he said at last.
"Get away from me." Piranha's voice was muffled by her hands, but it
sounded venomous. Mew opened her eyes.
"Piranha, it was the music. You gotta believe me. Whatever I did, it
must have been the music –" He stopped as Piranha rose from the couch like a
striking cobra.
"Do you know what you did?" she hissed at him.
"No…"
Piranha pointed to a bruise forming on her bare stomach. "First you
punched me."
"I – I didn't. Please believe me, I'd never –"
"Then you put your hands round my throat." Piranha flicked back her
hair, and Amy felt sick as she saw the bruises on the girl's cocoa-coloured skin.
"You tried to strangle me, Garam. Now do you see why I don't want to be near
you?"
Garam was shaking. "I didn't mean to. Honest I didn't."
"I don't care. I don't want to look at you."
They stood, facing each other, Piranha tall and angry, Garam looking up
at her pleadingly.
"Please –"
"Leave me alone."
Garam turned, and dashed out of the garage.
Piranha sighed, and then walked into the other room, slamming the door
behind her.
"Is there anything we can do to fight back?" Cube said at last. "If Amy
and Gum managed to, then surely the rest of us can too."
"I think you need to have something to hold onto that's part of you,"
Amy said. "I mean, I was knocked out of it because Tab grabbed me, and that
made me remember something that happened to me a few days ago, and
stopped me going under. Did Gum have anything like that?"
Beat blushed. "Well, I was kissing her at the time…" Yo-Yo wolf-
whistled. "That might have had something to do with it."
"So what, then – if someone goes under, snog them senseless?" Yo-Yo
said. "Hey, Mew, you wanna come out with me again?"
"Anything that they'll associate with something important in their life,"
Beat said. "That right?" he asked Amy. She nodded.
"But what we gonna do?" Combo said. "Carry on listening to Jet Set
Radio or what?"
"If we don't, we'll miss out on a lot of news," Tab said. "You know,
stuff like 'the cops are staging a raid on Benten-cho, folks!' It could get
tricky."
"Does Professor K know what's happening?" Mew said, yawning.
"He doesn't seem to," said Cube. "After the music stopped playing, he
didn't say anything – no 'what happened there?' I think probably he just
carries on talking and doesn't realise we're not picking it up."
"Maybe we should tell him."
"Okay. And we can work on resisting it. But everyone be careful,
okay? This is dangerous stuff."
Cube sighed. "Yeah." She flicked on the TV.
"And now we go live to the Rokkaku building for a press conference
with Koji and Camilla Rokkaku…"
"Oh, turn it off!" snapped Mew.
"No, leave it," Beat said. "Let's check them out."
Amy watched as the camera showed the elegant siblings. Someone
asked, "Mr Rokkaku, what is the motive behind your act of generosity to
Tokyo-to?"
Koji gave a charming grin, and replied, "My sister and I feel that the
corporation have had a bad press in recent years…"
"Well, duh!" Tab snapped.
"This action is the first step in the long road to reconciliation between
the corporation and the city."
"Mr Rokkaku," another reporter said, "What is the real truth about your
father's demise?"
Without missing a beat, Koji replied, "He was killed in a construction
accident."
All the GGs snorted or rolled their eyes.
"Why then do you feel that it is necessary to give a free video recorder
or computer to everyone in this city?"
"Free video or computer? Cool!" Mew said.
"Because I am well aware that there are some rumours circulating in
Tokyo-to about my late father's actions prior to his death, and in giving these
free items I wish to show that the Rokkaku corporation wishes nothing but
good for Tokyo."
Amy tried to see whether the man was sincere or not, but it was very
hard to tell. He could be lying, she thought…or he could be just trying to suck
up.
Mew flicked off the television. "Well, what do you think?" she said to
Beat.
"I don't know. He seems pretty concerned with trying to make the
company look good. Would he really do something like this now? It could
screw up the whole corporation."
"But not many people know what actually happened," Cube said. "Not
those who matter, anyway. Maybe he's just trying to stop us blabbing."
"Do you think he knows we know about Goji?" Tab said.
"Dunno." Beat leaned back on the sound system. "He must know a
group of rudies had something to do with it. But if it is him, how'd he find out
about Jet Set Radio? I mean, come on. Italian suits and big cars – he's not
exactly the type to listen to it."
"Nor's Amy," Cube said. "No offence meant."
"But I only found out about it after you guys let me join. It's not an
easy frequency to pick up."
"Maybe it's not just us," Tab said. "Maybe the whole city's getting
splurged with rhino-music."
"If it has the same effects, surely someone would have said something?"
Amy said. "I mean, people hitting each other and stuff. And it wouldn't work
in the same way with the general public – we make pictures all the time so
we're bound to seem like we support the Rhinos. If people end up drawing
rhinos in guest books or letters they'll just think they're going crazy."
"Talking of the Rhinos, what happened to them afterwards?" Combo
said.
"I think a lot of them got sent to jail," Beat said. "But some of them are
still out there. If Koji did want to regroup them he could do it."
"And he's got the money to buy anyone out of jail that he wants."
"Well, who else would want to reanimate the Rokkaku plot?" Amy said.
"Noise Tanks or Poison Jam or Love Shockers might do it as a joke, or
to try and scare us so they could attack…" Mew said.
"Not Poison Jam or Love Shockers," Tab said. "They ain't smart
enough for this. Noise Tanks maybe – but why? What's the point?"
"It's not immediately obvious that it's them doing it," Cube said. "And
they are getting to us, right?"
"Maybe we should ask them what's going on." Beat yawned.
"Anyway, I'm getting tired. Let's think about it some more tomorrow."
"What time is it?" Amy's heart sank.
"Half-eight. Why?" Tab looked at her.
"My aunt's gonna kill me!" Amy's mouth went dry with fright. "I've
got to get back – sorry –"
"I'll walk you home," Tab said. They got up and left the garage.

Gum was standing in an alleyway in Benten-cho, sulking. She knew she was
acting like a kid, but she hadn't had to cope with friendship blues for some time
and she'd forgotten how angry she could get.
It was a cold night. She shivered, wrapping her arms round herself. She
wished someone would offer her sympathy for once. But no – it was always
her fault because it was always her who lost her temper.
She was about to put on her radio, but then thought better of it. Being
lynched by the Noise Tanks for spraying rhinos on their turf would be the
perfect ending to a really sucky day.
Light rushed over Gum's face as a car passed the alleyway. She sighed.
She knew it wasn't a great idea to be hanging around in a place like this, but
she couldn't think of anything else to do. She just wanted to hide in the
darkness and forget that everyone hated her.
Suddenly she heard footsteps at the alley entrance. She squinted in the
darkness. There were three figures standing there, watching her.
"What do you want?" she snapped, trying to calm down her panicking
heartbeat. "I'm not selling anything, if that's what you're after."
They came closer. Gum forced herself not to step away. They weren't
Noise Tanks – weren't rudies at all, there was no hiss of skates – but that was
all she could tell.
Until another car rushed past them, and neon light glinted for an instant
on sunglasses – black suits – shiny shoes – Gum's stomach flipped. The
Golden Rhinos. It couldn't be. But it was.
"That's the kid," one of them said to the others.
The exact same words. Gum froze. She had to run, she had to, she had
to – but her legs wouldn't listen. They'd obviously decided to stay still and
hide and hope nobody saw them.
Suddenly they dashed towards her. Gum tried to skate away, but she
collided with one of them. Stumbling back, she saw a knife blade spark in the
moonlight. Then, before she could even panic, the shadowy Rhino had moved
towards her – she felt something shove into her ribs – and she fell – and saw
blood spreading out over her minidress, black in the darkness.

(Thank you for reading – what do you think? All feedback accepted! R+r!)