Gravity Don't Mean Too Much to Me

Bandit awoke suddenly, almost hitting her head against her bedroom ceiling.

She had fallen asleep last night with her headphones still playing in her ears, and she been startled by the beginning to one of her favourite songs; 'Thank You For The Venom'.

The song had a sentimental value to the young girl, as well as being a song she genuinely loved to listen to. Not only did she find the lyrics full of meaning and inspirational, she also found comfort in the man's beautiful voice as she listened to each lyric.
His voice soothed her, no matter how loud and energetic the song was, and she was amazed by how perfect he sounded.

Every time the song began she felt the sudden need to jump around and scream to her heart's content, and she often found herself playing air guitar and moving her head to the music. Although she had only just woken up, the song didn't fail to make her react in the exact same manner, and she soon found herself wide awake and full of energy.

"You're running after something, that'll you'll never kill, if this is what you want then fire at will!"

Bandit soon found herself singing along to the song without even realising how loud she was being, and she increased the volume so that she could only hear the beautiful music in her ears. She could feel her lips mouthing every lyric she heard, yet she could not hear herself.
She preferred listening to music this way. This way, she could hear only the angelic voice of her father, and the instruments that always made her jaw drop in shock at how wonderfully they were being played. She could not hear herself singing, which helped her to focus on the beat the song held and the tune of the two different guitarist's styles as they worked surprisingly well together, create a sound her ears loved.

"Give me a reason to believe...” She chanted, dancing around her bedroom energetically.

She smiled as she danced past one of her favourite items, one of her favourite toys, her bright yellow ray gun. Her father had given her the plastic pistol when he had finished the tour of the band's fourth album; Danger Days: The True Lives of The Fabulous Killjoys.

Her father had always given her the stage props he'd used, and although Bandit was almost twelve now and wasn't into toys as much, she still loved to play with the props he had given her.
Stopping the loud music playing in her ears, Bandit picked up her gun with a huge grin on her face. Party Poison was a toy she would carry everywhere if she could, she enjoyed pretending to be defeating Draculoids in Battery City, and she had even invented her very own Killjoy identity.

Of course, the fans never referred to themselves as Killjoys anymore, that era had passed. Yet Bandit still enjoyed listening to the old album, it held a special place in her heart.

Her father had told her that the album represented a more colourful view on life, and reflected his happiness at becoming a father. Bandit smiled thinking back to the day he had told her that, and she began twisting the gun in her hands.

"Dr. Death, we have to save Fun Ghoul immediately! He's been captured by the evil Korse, leader of BL industries!" Bandit gasped at her small action figure, twirling on her heal to face an imaginary Korse. "Stay back, I have my worthy pistol with me and I'm not afraid to use it!"

A grin spread across the evil man's face as he took a step towards her. He held a white ray gun similar to Bandit's. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. If you want your friend returned to you in one piece, you had better hand it over." He glared at the pistol in the small girl's hands and made a gesture for her to hand it to him. But Bandit remained brave.

"I will never back down! Now, tell me where Fun Ghoul is!" She shouted at the imaginary man before her.

Korse smirked at her and took another small step forwards. "You always were stubborn, Lady Sunshine."

With those words, Bandit began shooting at him with her yellow ray gun, and he fell to the floor with a thud.

"Oh, no!" She gasped, as she turned towards her action figure. "Now how will we know where Fun Ghoul is?"

"Bandit?"

She gasped and turned quickly on her heel pointing her gun towards the new voice. Her bedroom door opened slightly and her mother's face peered through the crack. Bandit sighed with relieve and lowered her weapon.

"Bandit, honey, what are doing up so early?" Her mother walked into her room looking tired, her beautiful blonde hair was ruffled from where she had been sleeping and her eye liner had been smudged.

Bandit squealed with happiness at the sight of her mother, and ran towards her with open arms. She loved her mother dearly, and as her mother hugged her tightly back, Bandit could tell she loved her just as much back.

"Ow, honey, you're gun is poking me." Her mother pulled from their embrace with a smile on her face, and she gave her daughter a kiss on her forehead.

"It's called Party Poison mom." Her daughter giggled as she put the gun on the nightstand next to her bed. "I was trying to save Fun Ghoul! He was in trouble again, and because dad wasn't here to help me out, I had to defeat Korse on my own."

Her mother chuckled and grabbed her daughter's hand, leading her to her bed. She sat down and put her arm around Bandit.

"Do you know how early it is?" Lindsey asked her playfully.

Bandit hesitated. "Well, it looks dark outside, so it must be pretty early."

Her mother chuckled and looked at her watch. "It's four o'clock in the morning my dear. Why are you up so early?" A worry line was forming on her forehead as she looked down at her little daughter.

"It was my headphones; I fell asleep and forgot I still had music playing." Bandit shrugged, getting up to play with another prop that her father had given her.

Lindsey sighed. Her daughter had made a habit of listening to her iPod at night whenever Gerard was on tour, and as she shuffled through her most recently played songs, she saw that Bandit had been listening to My Chemical Romance. She was becoming concerned with how early her daughter had been waking up, and she knew that she was missing her father.

"B, it's not good listening to full blast music, especially at night. You could go deaf."

"But mom, I like listening to music. It helps me sleep." Bandit replied, holding her Black Parade Jacket in her hands. She smiled and slid her hands into it, and began matching around the room.

"You know, you're father will be home tomorrow, B. You should get some sleep before he gets back. You know he doesn't like it when you look tired." Lindsey walked towards the small girl and slid her out of the oversized jacket. She led her towards the bed and tucked her in.

"But mom, I'm not tired." The girl complained stubbornly.

"Not tired? B, you need to get some sleep. You can play with your toys tomorrow."

"What time will dad be home?" The tiny girl asked. She had a look of concern on her face that Lindsey hated to see. She hesitated to answer the girl. She knew when Gerard was coming home, and it wouldn't be until late.

"Don't worry honey, he'll be home and then he can help you defeat those bad guys you keep telling me about." She smiled down at her child. Bandit had long, straight black hair that went way past her shoulders. She had her father's eyes and her mother's smile. She was the most beautiful child in the world in Lindsey’s opinion, and she loved her with all her heart.

Lindsey missed her husband's presence, and what she dreaded even more was that she would have to leave Bandit in a few days to do an interview with Mindless Self Indulgence. She hoped that someday her daughter would understand why her parents were always so busy.
Of course, Gerard and Lindsey took Bandit with them to shows whenever they could, but Bandit needed to have a steady education, and she couldn't be constantly on the road with them.

"Okay. I guess I am a little tired." Bandit confessed, closing her eyes.

"Shh, just sleep B." Lindsey brushed her daughter's hair behind her ear, giving her a kiss before leaving her to sleep peacefully.