Summary: How do you measure a year? Days, weeks, months? Minutes?
Ever thought of measuring in love? A KH II/RENT crossover
Disclaimer: Do I look like Squeenix or Jonathan Larson? Didn't think so.
Dedication: To QQ/Qzil/Summer Snowstorm and Ari. And to Silver and Keeps for getting together.
0o0o0o0
The scene opens with bits of film, random shots from the city.
A voice is heard.
"December 24th, Nine PM Eastern Standard Time.
From here on in I shoot without a script.
See if anything comes of it, instead of my old shit."
The camera cuts off, showing a blonde woman, Larxene, holding up an old 16mm movie camera. She attaches it to the bicycle she's riding and pedals onto the street, heading back to the loft she shares with Demyx, her best friend.
"How do you document real life
When real life is getting more
Like fiction each day?"
She sings out, swerving into a side street.
"Headlines -- bread-lines
Blow my mind."
She gets off her bike and carries it towards the building.
"And now this deadline
'Eviction -- or pay'
Rent!"
Larxene rips an eviction notice from the door and goes inside, where Demyx is on the couch, tuning a guitar.
The two live in an industrial loft on the corner of 11th street and Avenue B, the top floor of what was once a music-publishing factory. Old rock 'n' roll posters hang on the walls. They have Demyx's picture advertising gigs at Tifa's and the Oblivion Club. An array of electrical appliances is plugged into one thick extension cord, which snakes its way out a window. Outside, a small tent city has sprung up in the lot next to the building.
"How do you write a song
When the chords sound wrong
Though they once sounded right and rare?"
Demyx sings, looking over a sheet of music.
"When the notes are sour
Where is the power
You once had to ignite the air?"
He gets off the couch and takes the notice from Larxene.
"We're hungry and frozen!"
She sings, sighing.
"Some life that we've chosen!"
He counters.
Larxene and Demyx start singing together, putting a trash can in the center of the room.
"How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
Last year's rent?"
Their answering machine picks up.
"Speak" ... Beeeep!
We zoom onto the front-door area of Larxene and Demyx's building.
Nearby is a battered public pay phone. Axel, an old friend of theirs, stands at the phone.
"Chestnuts roasting ---" He's cut off as Larxene answers the phone.
"Axel!" Demyx and Larxene both call out.
"I'm downstairs."
Larxene goes to the window and tosses Axel the keys, while Demyx continues the song.
"How do you start a fire
When there's nothing to burn
And it feels like something's stuck in your flue?"
The power shuts off, and Demyx goes over to the breaker box, which sparks when he flips a switch.
Larxene sings the next lines, lighting candles around the loft.
"How can you generate heat
When you can't feel your feet…"
Demyx joins in with her.
"And they're turning blue!"
"You light up a mean blaze"
Demyx rips several of his own posters off the wall and lights them on fire, tossing the pile into the can alongside the Eviction notice.
"With posters--"
Larxene gathers up old scripts and tosses them in.
"And screenplays."
They sing together again.
"How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
Last year's rent?"
0o0o0o0
We are shown Axel, who's been beaten up by thugs, who have stolen his jacket.
"How do you stay on your feet
When on every street
It's 'trick or treat'
And tonight it's 'trick'"
He stumbles into an alley, wiping blood off his mouth.
"'Welcome back to town'
Oh, I should lie down
Everything's brown
And uh -- oh
I feel sick."
He slumps up against a wall.
0o0o0o0
Larxene is at the window, waiting for Axel.
"Where is he?" she asks.
0o0o0o0
It cuts back to Axel, who is about to faint.
"Getting dizzy..."
He collapses.
0o0o0o0
Now it is back to Demyx and Larxene. Demyx is stoking the fire and Larxene is gathering up more paper for the fire.
"How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
Last year's rent?"
They sing together, sounding more defiant.
Larxene reads off a page from a screenplay.
"The music ignites the night with passionate fire."
She tosses it into the fire.
"The narration crackles and pops with incendiary wit."
Demyx tosses another page.
Larxene pokes the papers with a stick.
"Zoom in as they burn the past to the ground…"
They both hold their hands above the can.
"And feel the heat of the future's glow!"
0o0o0o0
Outside, the owner of the building is pulling up in a range rover.
0o0o0o0
Larxene and Demyx grab the can and go outside to the stairs/balcony.
"How do you leave the past behind
When it keeps finding ways to get to your heart?
It reaches way down deep and tears you inside out
Till you're torn apart!
Rent!"
0o0o0o0
The tenants of the buildings on the block are gathered outside on balconies, tossing flaming eviction notices to the street.
The entire block sings the next verses
"How can you connect in an age
Where strangers, landlords, lovers
Your own blood cells betray?"
Larxene and Demyx turn the can upside down over the railing, letting the fiery contents fall to the street.
"What binds the fabric together
When the raging, shifting winds of change
Keep ripping away?"
The
owner, a man named Xigbar, gets out of his car.
"Draw a line in the sand
And then make a stand!"
He sings.
0o0o0o0
Back to Demyx and Larxene on the balcony.
"Use your camera to spar!"
"Use your guitar!"
0o0o0o0
"When they act tough - you call their bluff!"
The whole block is alive with people freezing themselves in the name of song.
"We're not gonna pay
We're not gonna pay
We're not gonna pay
Last year's rent
This year's rent
Next year's rent
Rent, rent, rent, rent, rent
We're not gonna pay rent!
'Cause everything is rent!"
0o0o0o0
Author's note: Okay, I'm stopping that here, so I don't try and write the whole thing at once. Enjoy and review!
-Ja Ne,
Liah Cauthon.