Chapter Seven
By Sora
Mew watched as the sky grew grayer and grayer by the moment outside the window. She and Indigo had been sitting silently all day, and she wasn't surprised to look at her watch and see the numbers '11:30 PM'.
She scowled and silently cursed everything that had happened.
Why did everything have to screw up all of a sudden?
It's all Chloe's fault.
Sure, she could blame Chloe. Ever since Chloe showed up, bad shit had happened. She insists she didn't kill anyone, and now there was proof that she hadn't, but all the same… It felt good to blame her for seeing those bodies, killing Yo-Yo, and getting booted out of the GGs like scum…
She said the monster came from a record. But how did K get hold of such a record?
Wait…Mew sat up slightly, remembering.
"-I found a little 'gift', if you will, for all you listeners! It's a little record I picked up in some freaky little voodoo shop! Let's test it out, shall we? Hahaha!"
Voodoo shop? So this all had something to do with voodoo? Suddenly, Mew remembered yet another thing.
When we battled Goji's demon… didn't it come from a record also…?
Mew risked a glance at Indigo. She was curled up in the other chair, sleeping. Mew stopped herself from popping out and bombarding her with questions, just to make sure she actually had answers.
All we had to do was tag the buildings the rhino demon was protecting and it blew up…but this… 'thing' is different… How're we gonna go about destroying it?
She continued to brood.
It sneered as the crisp blue mind recoiled in deep thought. Smattered throughout the mind were hundreds of tiny, trivial questions, but one seemed to stand out more than the others combined.
How're we going to get rid of it?
It knew she was referring to him. But it didn't seem worried at the prospect that they were plotting against it. Rather, it looked amused.
"Incompetent fools…" it hissed, laughing maliciously. It had long stopped picking at the dust blue mind, seeing as it had wandered away several hours ago. The indigo mind was of no use, as it was resting, closed again. There were several other minds near the blue and indigo ones; however, very few of them were accessible. Only two of them had heard the song; therefore, they were easily available. But, they were all closed in sleep.
It shifted its attention, seeking other minds. It saw the Garage, and the many minds crowded around. One black mind was separated from the others, fully awake and active, most likely in the other room.
Of the other minds, only one was awake; a yellowish-green mind, inaccessible because it had not heard the full song. The black mind, however, was fully and completely usable.
It sneered again.
Cube opened the refrigerator and blinked furiously at the light that poured out, casting a chunk of silver across the kitchen floor, only punctuated by Cube's shadow. She yawned and bent over, rummaging through the fridge, searching for anything edible.
Shutting the door in a frustrated manner, Cube looked around the small kitchen before her eyes settled on the clock.
12:00 AM
She bit back a yawn and looked towards the open door, into the main part of the garage. In the darkness, she could make out the remaining GGs all scattered around the room, asleep. Well, five were asleep and one was awake.
Beat stood by the window, leaning on it. Cube could only tell that it was Beat due to the fact that a sliver of moonlight had fallen across his face, but soon disappeared as grey clouds engulfed it once again.
'Wonder why he's still awake…'
She yawned again and decided against a midnight snack. Just as she made for the door, she looked away and saw the window above the sink was open. Doubling back, she grasped the edge and slid it down quietly.
Cube looked down and let her arms fall back down to her sides. A cutting knife glinted in the sink.
As she stared, a weird sensation crept up behind her. She felt a heat wave wash over her, and before she knew it, drums and rattles were echoing strangely in her head, and a little girl whispered a strange language in her ear. She shook her head slightly, but the sounds only grew louder.
Before she knew it, she was on a dusty plain, the sun burning orange above her.
But… there was a storm coming! And it… wasn't it nighttime?
Suddenly, a drunken smirk crossed her face.
Mew has good taste in music…
She began to sway her arms around her, before moving her hips in a similar manner. Turning a circle, she looked down. Slowing to a stop, she smirked. A knife lay at her feet, covered in orange dust. She reached down and grabbed it.
With an explosion of light, the darkened garage, sleeping GGs and slivers of moonlight dancing on the floor rushed back to her, and the knife clattered to the floor. Cube looked around wildly to see Beat on the floor, clutching his arm and staring at her in shock.
"Cube!? What the – what the fuck's wrong with you!?"
Cube backed away, terrified.
"Wh- what happened?"
"You just tried to gut me with a knife! What the hell were you thinking?!"
She clapped a hand to her forehead and blinked furiously.
"B – but – I was in the kitchen! I had shut the window, a –and I heard that song… and then I started dancing! I couldn't have – I wasn't even here!"
"It's pretty easy for someone to walk from the kitchen and into here!" Beat spat, standing up with difficulty.
"No, no, no! I don't think I was even in Tokyo-To…" Cube finished weakly.
"You have no idea how stupid you sound right now-"
"Look, I have no idea how I got in here, and I have no idea what happened between the time I shut the window and tried to stab you except that I was dancing!"
"I'd like to make a correction: you didn't try to stab me. You did."
He let go of his arm, and Cube backed away farther, eyes wide with shock. Blood was caked all over his right arm, unusually dark against his pale skin.
"Oh… my God…"
Indigo blinked a few times and stifled a yawn as she woke up. Shifting in her chair, her eyes roved around the room. Desk, chair, trash bin, desk, Kell, chair – she did a double take. Kell was sitting cross-legged on the desk near Mew's chair, examining her nails. She looked up to see Indigo staring at her.
"Ah, you're up," she stated dryly. Indigo raised an eyebrow at her and the Love Shocker responded with an almost undetectable nod in Mew's direction. Indigo glanced at Mew to see her curled up in the chair, looking on the verge of tears.
"Mew, you okay?"
Mew looked up quickly, startled, before settling back down again and answering in a half-hearted voice, "Y – yeah. Just – thinking about my old gang…"
Indigo looked from her to Kell again.
"What're you doin' here?"
"I woke up, and I couldn't get back to sleep. Besides, I don't think I wanna sleep on the fear of being stalked down by a monster looking for revenge."
Indigo scowled.
"It's not going to want revenge on you. It'll want me 'cos I'm the one that almost gutted it."
"Whatever. Well, it's around one AM last I checked – but, since we're all sleepless at the moment, and the other Love Shockers are asleep, I think a conversation is in order."
Indigo sighed as both Kell and Mew looked at her expectantly.
"It's like I said before, K got hold of an old African voodoo record and decided he had to share it with us on Jet Set Radio. Well, because the song played beginning to end, a monster was summoned. This – thing is out in the streets right now, killing rudies left and right."
Mew shifted slightly.
"But – why?"
Indigo rested her chin on her knees and hugged them close.
"Way back when, this thing would only kill animals and the sort, just for food. But, it soon decided sport hunting was a lot more fun. Well, it got bored of killing animal for thrills and decided it'd rather do humans." She blanched slightly before continuing, "A group of voodooists came together and banished it into the record, seeing as it would be near impossible to destroy it completely. So, it's back, and it's got a whole rudie population to hunt."
Kell looked between Mew and Indigo thoughtfully before speaking.
"What about kitty's friend? The thing didn't kill him directly."
"That – we have a slight clue as to what was up with that." She decided against telling her about the little fight Mew and she had several hours back. "The thing, we think it can like use people as puppets and the sort. Like, mind-control. The problem is, it seems extremely intent upon getting into my head."
Kell instinctively back away a few centimeters.
"Are you sure about that??"
Indigo nodded.
"Why?"
"Er – I never told you this, and I was really really intent upon not letting it slip when I was a Love Shocker, but – well, I have a split personality, or alter ego, or something. Well, I guess that the thing has got her – or something – and is trying to get in where she was, because it will have a much longer hold than just controlling a random person. Get what I'm saying?"
Kell looked at her like she was nuts.
"You're a schitzo?"
Indigo sighed. "No, she's a completely different person, and looks way different. Yellow eyes, black hair. NOT me. She's like another being, living in my head. But… I can't feel her anymore… I don't know what happened to her, and I regret to say this, but I'm worried."
"You should be! I mean, you could got nuts any second and hack us all to pieces!!" Kell jumped off the desk and began backing away.
Indigo shook her head.
"I'm not letting it. I'm used to pushing Scarlet away - this time is no different. It's just a little stronger, but I can handle it."
Mew snorted and muttered under her breath, "Yeah, like you handled it back then…"
Indigo glared at her.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kell asked, looking between the two. "You might as well say because I could always throw you back out on the street," she added, almost triumphantly.
"The monster decided it wanted fun so it took over Mew here and made her almost kill me, then switched over to me and almost made me try the same thing." Indigo stated bitterly, shooting another glare at Mew, who just smiled sweetly.
Kell sat down again.
"So it enjoys insinuating chick fights?"
Mew hiked an eyebrow at her, but didn't say anything.
"No, it enjoys seeing people die. Gettin' it yet?" Indigo answered, shooting another evil look at Mew.
Kell noticed the looks exchanged between the two girls.
"Okay, I know you two used to make life living hell back in school for each other, but this is just ridiculous!"
"One, I never even bothered her – she's the one who was a bitch to me. Two, we've agreed to work together, so we're putting most of our differences aside. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna like her." Indigo ended bitterly.
"Same." Mew added shortly.
Kell breathed out a sigh and crossed her legs carefully.
"You two are so immature – I just don't see how a grudge can last this long…"
"All right – back on subject-"
"YO YO YO!! DJ Professor K here, bringing you the low-down on the streets along with the music of the future – JET SET RADIOOO!!"
All three girls jumped violently at the sound of K's voice from their wristwatches.
"Well, well, well… I've just been informed on quite a big piece of advice!! It seems the GGs made a mistake when they kicked kitten out of their group!!"
"No fuck…" Mew muttered.
"The attacks on the GGs haven't stopped! Word up: American Goth-chick Cube just attacked their leader! And now she's on the run – my informant on the streets just saw her running for her life from the Garage! Mew, kitten, you better get back there quick-like if you wanna straighten things out! Also, to GG member Tab, get back to the Garage right now unless you want Goth-chick to slice you to ribbons!!!"
Mew paled slightly.
"Cube attacked Beat!?"
She stood up quickly, almost knocking her chair back.
"I gotta get back there – what if she killed him!?"
"Woah! Sit down! I'm sure he's alright- K woulda mentioned it if he'd died."
Mew stared at Indigo strangely for a second before sitting back down again.
"Do you have any idea why your friend attacked your leader?"
She shook her head.
Indigo was silent in thought for a second before speaking again.
"Did she hear the song?"
Mew nodded, hugging her knees to her chest.
Indigo snapped her fingers. "That's it! The thing took over her and made her attack your friend – Beat, right? That means that your name might be cleared now."
"I don't see how that helps…" Mew muttered bitterly.
Suddenly, she looked up, panic crossing her face.
"He told Tab to get back to the Garage – that means Tab's out there with that – that thing!! It could attack him, or – or send Cube after him or something!! I gotta go find him!"
She jumped up again, dodged the desks and chairs littered around the room, and was out the door in a flash of blue.
"Mew, WAIT!"
Indigo leapt to her feet, snatched up her scythe, and dashed after Mew.
Kell sighed heavily.
"Here I come…" she muttered, rolling her eyes. Sliding off the desk, she chased after the two.
Center Street – not a good place to be in the dark, on skates. Going down an incline at top speed in the dark is as dangerous as charging head on at a bomb wielding kamikaze Golden Rhino – one railing, lamppost, or street light unseen is enough to take out even a Poison Jam member, or Combo.
But, Tab really didn't care. He'd been to Center Street so many times he knew it like the back of his hand – at least he hoped he did. He really didn't want to smash head first into a lamppost and hobble back to the Garage not only without the person he ran out to find, but also with a dent in his head.
Turning Jet Set Radio up a few notches, Tab stepped through the open gate and onto the steep incline, immediately feeling its effects. He pushed off slowly and rolled down the hill, crouched down to reduce speed.
He reached the bottom with no incidents, and took a sharp right turn. He began dashing up the hill parallel to the main street, constantly glancing to his right for any movement in the allies leading back there.
Tab began to feel the burn in his legs as pushed up the hill, but ignored the aching feeling as he neared the top.
"Tab!"
He braked quickly and looked around wildly. Turning down Sweet Soul Brother, he listened harder.
"TAB!"
He nearly toppled over as a blue blur ran right into him, grabbing him around the neck.
"Woah – Mew!?"
She looked up at him, grinning.
"Thank God you're safe!"
"What do ya mean?" Tab questioned as she hugged him closer. When she didn't answer, he pried her off gently.
"What do you mean, 'safe'? Is there something I need to worry about?"
Mew sighed.
"There's someone out there killing people. I didn't want it to get you."
"What makes you think that? I'm the incredible Tab, after all – I'm not that easy to take down!"
He gave a goofy grin. Mew giggled and hugged him again.
"Uh – Mew?"
Mew let go of him. "Yeah?"
"I wanted to ask you something –" he began, fidgeting slightly. Casting his eyes up at the cloudy sky, and then throwing them back at the ground, he continued. "Erm – this may sound weird, but – well, back at your school… were you – like –" he broke off, at a loss of words. He couldn't think of a way to ask her if she really did do all that stuff – tease that Chloe girl, and be a ditsy little bitch – wait. He knew Mew – she'd never do anything like that! Why was he even asking??
Mew looked at him curiously, but he could've sworn he saw fear in her eyes.
Was she - ?
No – she couldn't have!
Sweet, innocent Mew – she'd never hurt a fly!
What if she's not as innocent as she seems?
But – he knew Mew. He loved Mew. She'd never do anything like that – could she?
She blinked a few times as he stood there, looking at her.
"What is it Tab? Was I like what?"
"Nevermind. I'll ask ya back at the Garage – let's get back."
Mew nodded and was about to follow him as he left, but stopped.
"Tab!"
"What?" he stopped and looked back at her.
"Did you hear the broadcast a few minutes ago?"
He shook his head. "Nah, just turned Jet Set Radio on a minute ago."
"Cube attacked Beat – and they said she was running for it."
Tab looked frozen for several seconds.
"Wh –what?"
"I don't know much, but he said that Cube attacked Beat and ran for it. We need to get back quick-like if we wanna see how Beat's doing."
Suddenly, Tab grabbed her wrist and the two rocketed back down the hill, tears stinging their eyes as the wind whipped at their faces. Just as they braked at the bottom of the hill and began dashing up the main street, rain began pattering down on their backs and speckling the concrete.
In mere seconds, it was pouring down hard, and Mew and Tab were finding it hard to find a good foothold as they pushed up the hill.
This storm was gonna be bad…