When The Gates Open
Jet Set Radio is a registered trademark of Smilebit and Sega Corporation. Any characters in this story from or based on characters in Jet Set Radio are the property of Smilebit and Sega Corporation. Any original characters are property of um, me! They are being used for entertainment purposes only. No money is being made from this fic.
And that's all the copyright mumbo jumbo done with.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 1: Prologue
Gum lay in the embrace of the darkness that covered Japan, deep inside her room. It was a hot, sticky, sweaty Summer night and she lay, restlessly shifting about in an awake state. Her naked body rubbed against the lacy spread; she'd already firmly booted the covers off onto the fluffy carpet below. She'd lost track of the amount of sheep she tried to count, and how long she'd been just lying, trying in desperation to drop off. It wasn't long, however, before she gave up altogether, and sat upright, rubbing her eyes.
She stumbled through the black entity to the edge of her room, flicking on the light and squinting as she adjusted to the light. Rubbing her eyes once more, she became aware of just how tired she was. She sighed with annoyance and fell back defeated on her bed, and began to think of the memories of the day.
It hadn't been the best of days. Maybe it was that affecting her ability to sleep. After all, Onishima and the Keisatsu were breathing down their necks harder than they'd ever been before; when she, Garam and Beat took the streets earlier to do some serious tagging, they'd been intercepted by a legion of SWAT officers - as ever, funded by the Golden Rhinos - and the short, stout, angry police chief himself. It had been a very close shave; Gum hadn't made it out unharmed. She slipped when grabbing hold of her escape route, a speeding car and gashed her cheek on the bumper. It was unlike her, normally packing all the elegance of a well-tuned tomcat, to lose her balance on such a textbook manuvore. The injury was still visible, even now. Gum lifted a hand to the cut and felt it. She winced; it still stung a little.
Then, of course, after getting home and getting the third degree about her ever detoriating school grades, she'd learnt that her mother was pregnant. Not only was that just totally sick to her, it also put the fear of God into her. She'd be expected to haul her weight in helping out around the house and babysitting. She sighed, once again, and looked at her skates. It wouldn't be long before she'd have to hang them up.
"Hang them up."
Gum heard it. In fact, the whole world probably heard it. The booming voice repeated the words.
"Hang them up."
Gum frowned and looked around. Who was that? It was going to wake someone up if it kept on.
"Hang them up."
This time, she got the courage to call out.
"Who's there?"
"It's your little sister!"
Gum raised her eyebrow.
"I don't have a little sister."
The voice, unsurprisingly, called back.
"Yes, you do. You'll have to change my nappies and baby-sit me everyday!"
She was brought back to reality from this haze when her father walked into her room without warning. As she saw the unmistakeable silhouette, her instincts made her lunge across the bed for the covers. However, her attempts to grab them were futile; they weren't there. She called out weakly.
"Dad, stop, I'm naked! Let me find some clothes!"
Her protests went ignored and unanswered, and the figure strayed closer and closer still, slinking up to her trembling, retreating body.
The next few moments were a blur. She remembered the warm breath on her neck, the sweet nothings that were whispered in her ear and the tongue that licked her from head to toe, and she could do nothing to stop it. She was too weak to battle.
'Is this real,' Gum whispered, barely audible as the pain and torment etched itself on her face. She repeated the phrase over and over again as she feebly pushed against her father. Her entire body shook up and down, her vision went blurry and her head felt like a ten-ton weight.
Then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. Her eyes widened at the image in front of her. Everything had reverted back to normal. Her door was closed, her father gone and her covers in a pile on the floor. She lifted a hand to her face, touching it lightly. The scar was gone; in fact, it had never been there.
She struggled to tell the difference between the reality, and the fantasy. It had slipped away from her without even the faintest moment to grasp the concept of what just happened. She sat there, and felt cold for the first time. After a moment of shivering in self-satisfying silence, before she felt collected enough to grab the covers and wrap herself in them.
The mind is always active, even when the body rests. To lose control of your thoughts is the scariest thing of all.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Foolife - 6th December 2002
Jet Set Radio is a registered trademark of Smilebit and Sega Corporation. Any characters in this story from or based on characters in Jet Set Radio are the property of Smilebit and Sega Corporation. Any original characters are property of um, me! They are being used for entertainment purposes only. No money is being made from this fic.
And that's all the copyright mumbo jumbo done with.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 1: Prologue
Gum lay in the embrace of the darkness that covered Japan, deep inside her room. It was a hot, sticky, sweaty Summer night and she lay, restlessly shifting about in an awake state. Her naked body rubbed against the lacy spread; she'd already firmly booted the covers off onto the fluffy carpet below. She'd lost track of the amount of sheep she tried to count, and how long she'd been just lying, trying in desperation to drop off. It wasn't long, however, before she gave up altogether, and sat upright, rubbing her eyes.
She stumbled through the black entity to the edge of her room, flicking on the light and squinting as she adjusted to the light. Rubbing her eyes once more, she became aware of just how tired she was. She sighed with annoyance and fell back defeated on her bed, and began to think of the memories of the day.
It hadn't been the best of days. Maybe it was that affecting her ability to sleep. After all, Onishima and the Keisatsu were breathing down their necks harder than they'd ever been before; when she, Garam and Beat took the streets earlier to do some serious tagging, they'd been intercepted by a legion of SWAT officers - as ever, funded by the Golden Rhinos - and the short, stout, angry police chief himself. It had been a very close shave; Gum hadn't made it out unharmed. She slipped when grabbing hold of her escape route, a speeding car and gashed her cheek on the bumper. It was unlike her, normally packing all the elegance of a well-tuned tomcat, to lose her balance on such a textbook manuvore. The injury was still visible, even now. Gum lifted a hand to the cut and felt it. She winced; it still stung a little.
Then, of course, after getting home and getting the third degree about her ever detoriating school grades, she'd learnt that her mother was pregnant. Not only was that just totally sick to her, it also put the fear of God into her. She'd be expected to haul her weight in helping out around the house and babysitting. She sighed, once again, and looked at her skates. It wouldn't be long before she'd have to hang them up.
"Hang them up."
Gum heard it. In fact, the whole world probably heard it. The booming voice repeated the words.
"Hang them up."
Gum frowned and looked around. Who was that? It was going to wake someone up if it kept on.
"Hang them up."
This time, she got the courage to call out.
"Who's there?"
"It's your little sister!"
Gum raised her eyebrow.
"I don't have a little sister."
The voice, unsurprisingly, called back.
"Yes, you do. You'll have to change my nappies and baby-sit me everyday!"
She was brought back to reality from this haze when her father walked into her room without warning. As she saw the unmistakeable silhouette, her instincts made her lunge across the bed for the covers. However, her attempts to grab them were futile; they weren't there. She called out weakly.
"Dad, stop, I'm naked! Let me find some clothes!"
Her protests went ignored and unanswered, and the figure strayed closer and closer still, slinking up to her trembling, retreating body.
The next few moments were a blur. She remembered the warm breath on her neck, the sweet nothings that were whispered in her ear and the tongue that licked her from head to toe, and she could do nothing to stop it. She was too weak to battle.
'Is this real,' Gum whispered, barely audible as the pain and torment etched itself on her face. She repeated the phrase over and over again as she feebly pushed against her father. Her entire body shook up and down, her vision went blurry and her head felt like a ten-ton weight.
Then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. Her eyes widened at the image in front of her. Everything had reverted back to normal. Her door was closed, her father gone and her covers in a pile on the floor. She lifted a hand to her face, touching it lightly. The scar was gone; in fact, it had never been there.
She struggled to tell the difference between the reality, and the fantasy. It had slipped away from her without even the faintest moment to grasp the concept of what just happened. She sat there, and felt cold for the first time. After a moment of shivering in self-satisfying silence, before she felt collected enough to grab the covers and wrap herself in them.
The mind is always active, even when the body rests. To lose control of your thoughts is the scariest thing of all.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Foolife - 6th December 2002