Jet Set Radio Five Years Later: Deus Ex Machina

By Jason Winter (Zrex V.)

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--Tokyo-to--

Ahh, Tokyo-to.... The city of opportunity. Its 4 districts, each with its own time of activity... Shibuya-cho, where the daylight brings out its residents. Kogane-cho, where the sunset makes the people shine. Benten-cho, where the nightlife is king. And Rokkaku-cho, where business is booming 24- 7, but holds its most beauty at night, when its many lights shine.

Five years ago, today, was the anniversiary of the defeat of Goji Rokkaku, an insane businessman with plans of world domination by the city's rudies, graffiti vandals on special inline skates with a great sense of fun. But it was not all the gangs, but a gang known as the GGs. A lot had changed through the years, the city had become somewhat larger.

However, the condition of the town had returned to what it had been over 5 years before. The police were cracking down on rudies after a long time of indifference to them. The police force was led by a man named Syco, with an obvious hatred for rudies and all that they stood for...

Also, a peace that had once been between the city's gangs had been shattered. The 3 ruling gangs were still united, but 3 new gangs had come along to challenge them. A new war was rising to its peak...

But all the rudies had a common interest besides graffiti... A radio station called "Jet Set Radio". 5 years ago, it was a pirate station, but soon went public, until Syco came along and returned to its pirate ways. It played all the songs that had been deemed illegal by the cops. So, using special radios, the rudies listen to the station and its wide variety of "illegal" music.

The ruling gangs were made up of 5 members each. Benten was ruled by techno- freak girls with VR getups called the Vitrua Crush, but during the time of Goji, they were called the Noise Tanks and only contained 3 members and wore totally different clothes.

Kogane was ruled by anthropomorphaholics knowmn as the Anthtro Morphers. They originally came after Goji's demise, the city was once ruled by a gang called Poison Jam... But they went on to bigger and better things and now run a horror film business called "Poijam Incorporated". Like the VC, the AMs started with 3 members.

And finally, Shibuya... A group of very unique in their own ways, and as already mentioned, these were the GGs. When Goji was defeated, they had contained 10 whopping members, but 4 of them left to the other 2 gangs, and the others had returned to Grind City, where they had been before the whole Goji mess. But that left 4, right? Well, that was until about a month ago, when a new rudie had appeared and joined their ranks...

And then, there's the 3 new gangs... Rivals for the ruling of the districts, stopping at nothing to chase the other gangs from what they want. Now, let's join the 3 ruling gangs as they clash with the 3 rivals...

--Benten-cho--

5 feminine figures burst through the streets at night, their VR visors glowing in the darkness. Each wore a t-shirt, jean shorts, and treadlike skates. These 5 girls were named Charla, Tia, Marie, Gum, and Mew. This was the Virtua Crush.

"You see them yet?" Marie asked.

"They've gotta be close." Gum replied "Their tags are everywhere..."

"Yeah, and we just redid this place yesterday!" Charla sighed, the leader of the bunch.

The tags were midevalish, swirling with black red and purple. The girls tagged over them with bright, technoish colors as they moved along. But where were the nuts who had made the tags the girls were tagging over? They were discreetly moving above them, making sure not to be seen. These guys were dressed as knights, with black and purple armor and long capes, black on the outer, and red on the interior. Like the VC, they wore VR visors, which were embedded in their helmets. There were 3 of them, and they called themselves the Knight Riders.

Its 3 members consisted of Arthur, the leader, along with Lancelot and Merlin.

"So, thy think thy can keep thy territory, do thy?" Arthur grumbled "Well, we'll have to bloody well show them who's gonna be the masters of this city!"

"Agreed, King Arthur." Merlin chuckled "Thy don't stand a chance!"

"To the conquering of Benten-cho!" Lancelot smirked under his helmet. And that's when they lept from their hiding places, right in front of the Virtua Crushers.

"So, we meet again, Arthur..." Charla grumbled.

"Yes we do, foolish maiden." Arthur sneered "So, you think you can keep your city?"

"We know we can!" Mew yelled.

"I doubt it." Merlin chuckled "Your reign is almost over, Virtua Sluts."

The 5 girls snarled at Merlin's comment.

"Watch who you call sluts, you freaks!" Marie yelled.

"We can say whatver we want." Lancelot chuckled, as the trio brandished their spraycans.

"Prepare to meet thy doom!" the Knight Riders announced.

--Kogane-cho--

5 figures were out, the sunset making an orange tint on their figures. Each one of them wore a different outfit. One, was a tall man with silver hair and a black jacket with a wolf's head on it, dark grey torn-up jeans and a dark grey shirt with the kanji symbol for "dog" on the front. This was Lobo, the leader. Once upon a time, he was one of Goji's henchmen, but decided he was better suited to Rudie life. The second guy was heavy-set, with a shaved head, and wore a dark brown pilot's jacket with the "dog" kanji symbol on the back. he wore dark brown khakis and a white shirt with a bulldog on the front. This was Canis. Then, there was the girl... tall, slim, and a total babe. She had fire-red hair, a red jacket with an anthro fox on it, a blue tanktop, and black jeans. This was Vix-N. And then there was the tallest of the group, thin as a beanpole. He wore a dark blue raincoat that covered his mouth and was positioned under his hideously large and round nose, black and red striped pants, night vision goggles on his forehead, and his head shaved except for 3 upward-sticking dreadlocks. This was Slate. And then there was the shortest. A kid in a light green hooded sweatshirt, with black jeans. He wore the hood down, with fire-red hair in a short ponytail. he wore a pair of sunglasses with 2 colored lenses, making them look like 3D glasses. This was Yoshiharu, but everyone called him Yo-yo.

"Ugh, there's the damned tags..." Slate said, his voice muffled by his jacket, pointing to a group of sickly green tags.

"Those guys have been real trouble ever since they arrived." Lobo sighed, pulling out a can.

"I don't know what's worse... The tags..." Vix said.

"Or that horrid chemical they put in the water, yo..." Yo-yo added "Correct, babe?"

"Very noted, my Yo-yo."

"Let's just get rid of these tags, shall we?" Canis sighed, as he painted over one of them....

"We better be careful, they might be waiting to strike." Lobo said...

Suddenly, a green fog flew from an open manhole, very close to the quintet.

"Great, here they come." Slate said.

The fog billowed up, and then began to fade out, leaving 3 figures surrounding the manhole. They wore green suits about the same color as Yo- yo's sweatshirt. The pants had a teal stripe that went down from the pockets to the ends of the leg. The shirts had another stripe running down the front, and a radioactive symbol on the left shoulder. On their chest was a small teal air tank with a radioactive symbol, and a tube connecting to a faceplate that went over their mouths. The ight side of the plate was green, and was the one with the tube, and connected to it was a red visor that covered their right eye. The other side was higher and teal, with vent slots. Their skin was white was a sheet, and they had messy green hair to top it off. Anthrax, Flu, and Rabies were their names, and collectively they were called the Disease Patrol.

Anthrax, the leader spoke.

"Ah, so you have come." he hissed, his voice garbled by the mask "I knew you would."

"What do you want, Anthrax?" Lobo snarled.

"I want you and your gang to LEAVE. This is our territory now. You're all washed up, it's our turn to have Kogane."

"Yeah, so get the hell out." Rabies garble-sneered "Kogane is ours now."

"Yeah, RIGHT, yo!" Yo-yo snarled "This is our turf, yo, and we'll never give it up, yo!"

"Yeah, Anthrax." Canis said "Why don't you go shoot up or something... Maybe we'll be lucky and you'll overdose! Hah!"

Anthrax's visor suddenly glowed a bright red...

"Just because we work with chemicals DOESNT MAKE US DRUGGIES!"

"Suuuure it doesnt." Canis said mockingly.

"That's it... Boys, ten-tag 'em!" Anthrax yelled, whipping out a can of spraypaint, the other 2 following suit.

--Shibya-cho--

The sunlight shone throughout the city, as people walked around buying stuff from the shops, taking the buses to see the sights, or to just hang out and talk.

The silence was suddenly broken, as 5 figures appeared from an alleyway. The sounds of their netrium skates crackling as they made a mad dash, the crowds moving out of the way. 2 of them split from the group and began to grind on the stairway near the buses. A figure lept and tagged the billboard. It was a redhead kid wearing headphones and a pair of green electric goggles. He wore an orange t-shirt with green trim, black fingerless gloves, black jeans, and orange and yellow netrium skates with green wheels. This was Beat, the leader of the Shibuya Game Gears, or GGs for short.

The other figure had lept from the bus shelter, and tagged the side of the bus, which already contained a pink tag with a skull in the middle of it, but the tag was quickly covered by the new one. The tagger was a brownhaired Japanese kid with a conical baseball cap on his head, which hid his eyes. His lips were puffy and red. he wore a brown jacket with a yellow shirt under it, with a teal backpack. he wore teal pants with red flames at the bottom of his legs, and golden yellow skates. Tabris was his name, but everyone called him Tab.

The other group also split, one figure trailing behind the other two. The 2 together were a guy and a girl, both black. The guy was balded and wore a freaky set of flyeye goggles. he was lean and muscular, and wore a grey vest, but no shirt, and black electrical gloves. He wore camaflage grey shorts, and grey and orange bootlike skates. The girl had her hair in spiky dreadlocks and a pair of red goggles positioned above her eyes. She wore a tight white shirt that showed off her cleavage and midriff, with 2 red stars placed where her nipples would be, along with a black stripe running down the colar through the center of each star and to the bottom.. She also wore a black choker around her neck. White, tight bellbottom pants, with 2 black stripes running down her legs and ending in red stars. There was another star on the right side of her butt. She wore grey and yellow skates with back wheels. Garam and Piranha were their names.

Suddenly, Tab and Beat rejoined them. The last guy was grinding on the green rail next to them now. And he was a sight to behold. The right side of his long hair was jet black, and the left was pure white. He wore a rediculous pair of sunglasses that totally covered his eyes, and for good reason. They were both ruby-red and were made like a snake's eyes. He had shown Beat once, and Beat had nightmares for a week. He wore a dark grey uniform shirt that went over his waist, with a blue stripe running down each arm, blue cuffs, and blue gloves. It had red buttons, and he wore a blue belt with a silver buckle around it. His dark grey pants had a blue stripe running down each leg, and he wore blue and purple kneepads. His skates were red and purple, with teal wheels. His name was Zrex V. Besides his name, not much was known about him.

They went down some stairs that led into a drainage ditch, and sped through the tunnel, which came to a tall stairwell, and up tp a raised platform, which was cut in half, a crane the only way across, and you had to jump. There was a park below the side of the platform with the crane, this area was aptly named "Park Street".

Suddenly, a shower of rose petals fell down on them, and 3 figures appeared and landed right in front of them. All 3 were female! They had spiky neon pink hair, with lipstick the same color. They wore sleeveless red dresses with white trim, showing off the skull tattoo on their left arm. They had a belt on the dress with an ivory skull-shaped buckle. They were pretty muscular as well. They wore red and white netrium skates, with a red skull insignia on the toe, and another ivory skull on the side of the inwards area and black wheels. They also wore red fingerless gloves. They were the Skull Roses, led by Rika, the other 2 were named Hikari and Sora.

"I knew you were lurking around here somewhere." Beat snorted "What do you want?"

"What do you THINK we want?!" Rika bellowed "Your territory! Now then, give up and go away."

"That isn't happening, yah bitch!" Piranha yelled, pointing at Rika.

"I may be a bitch, but at least I ain't a skanky ho."

"Take that back!" Garam yelled.

"No."

"Hold me back, cuz I'm gonna kill her!" Garam snarled, flinging his arms around wildly while Tab and Zrex held onto him.

The Skull Roses began to laugh.

"Sure you wiil." Rika smirked "Now, you gonna give in?"

"Yeah, right." Beat said "We'll protect Shibuya til the end."

"Very well then." Rika said, and snapped her fingers, and then the Skull Roses whipped out their spraycans.

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To be Continued!

And so begins Deus Ex Machina. Please Read and Review! =)