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[All Out]
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| Rockibase, at the music classroom, a week later… |
…
Taka sat on a worn-out chair, his back slumping as his foot's heel tapped constantly on the floor, his eyes unusually interested in the floor.
"Phew… So the time has finally come," he muttered, pulling out his phone and checking on the date with squinty eyes. Then, he checked the hour.
It was evening already, the darkness of the night already creeping in.
Having checked that fact, Taka put his phone down and sighed dejectedly.
However, just a second later, his gaze turned back forward, determination flashing from it.
"Tonight's the night." He said, this time louder. Whether to look cool or to encourage himself, it was unknown.
As to why he would be encouraging himself?
The answer was that today was the day he showed his song to the world. Today was the day his constant grinding and effort finally culminated in one result… Success, or failure.
Would the song he had taken three months preparing and refining be good enough?
Would his attempt at leaving the art of plagiarizing work?
Or would he realize that he should've never walked out of it?
His eyes darted to the side, where all the instruments he had been using for practice these past few months were.
A bass, a drumset, even an electric board.
All of them represented weeks of effort and constant grinding that, while he himself did not go through, the memories of his clones basically made it as if he had done so.
And it wasn't only practicing. Composing had been just as hard. He ended up modifying the entire song several times, fixing mistakes, improving parts, or simply changing his mind from time to time about certain parts, even while already being at the band-practicing stage.
That was why it had taken three months for this day to come. Otherwise, he would have been done a month or so ago.
Albeit, with what would probably be a much inferior version of what his creation had become nowadays… At least, that's what Taka thought.
Who knew how the masses would react, after all?
If this actually flopped… then forget the aura loss he'd have to bear, the shit feeling he'd get would last for the entire next year, and would probably make him bury his Rockinesis persona ten kilometers below the earth, never to mention it again.
… If it did not, however, today's gains of aura would be immaculate.
Especially because of the special preparations he had taken in advance. He had made sure that today's gains would be maximized to the limit.
While his excessive perfectionism may have had a lot to do with why the song's creation took three months, there was another factor that had led to today being the date when he struck.
And that was the existence of a concert—or, actually, a bunch of them, in Tokyo.
A musical festival, basically.
No hero or villain shit involved this time.
Yes. He was actually crashing a festival's show to present his song.
—Illegally, if it wasn't clear enough.
After all, he was currently a wanted vigilante. Attempting to inscribe legally would probably only get the police to come knocking, regardless of whether the organizers would allow him in there or not.
This was a rather bold move, since it moved from morally ambiguous vigilantism, to outright intruding forcefully in a festival and taking the scenery hostage to play his song before dipping.
This time, he was actually stepping into the path of a criminal—or a villain, in the words of the media.
But if that's what it had to happen for him to present, then so be it.
Today, he was going all out.
Cringe or epic… The line blurred today.
While he may feel a little sorry for causing trouble for the producers and organizers of this event, there was simply no better place he could think of where the presentation could be done.
No other place had everything needed to make this song's debut the best it could be. Equipment, audience, acoustics, vibe… Everything was perfect.
Of course, he wasn't planning on just landing on the scenery and then rocking plainly. That'd be like serving a gourmet meal on a cardboard plate.
He had actually meticulously planned this.
Throughout the past month, he sent clones several times to the place to investigate and learn how to use the scenery's implements and lights, along with learning the place's schematics, so he could plan properly where and how to make his entrance. He also checked some tutorials online to complement.
And since he was still feeling a bit sorry for just intruding like that, he also learned to some extent the schedule of all the bands and other events, so that he could make his entrance at the moment where he'd make the least problems for those involved.
All in all, his plans were as thorough as he could have done them. The only way this would go wrong was if his song actually turned out to be shit… Or if All Might appeared and punched him to oblivion.
He wouldn't be there, would he?
He could deal with the heroes that may be there as security; he had planned to station some of his clones as guards to hold them off while the song played… but if anyone like All Might stepped in, he was going to prison for certain.
Of course, to avoid that, he could simply have his clones do the entire show while he stood amidst the crowd, safe and sound from any powerful hero that might be there.
He could do that… But it didn't feel right.
It had to be him who stood there.
He was showing the results of his own effort to the world. Leaving it all to the clones while he stood aside, that didn't sound very aura farmer-like.
Even if it was unnecessary, and maybe dumb… Sometimes showing off was that.
Sometimes, Aura Farming was like that.
"Probably…" Taka snorted wryly before glancing around. "You agree with me, right, system?"
But even after several seconds had passed, no answer came.
Taka raised an eyebrow, glancing around with an odd look.
After a bit, though, he let out a snort and shook his head helplessly. "Yeah, I suppose having doubts isn't very aura farmer-like."
Heaving a sigh, Taka stretched for a bit his arms and back, and then stood up, his gaze now gaining a resolution unseen until then.
Without further ado, he went to a nearby locker and took out his Rockinesis outfit.
Black hoodie, black mask, and black pants. Edginess to the limit.
A cape would have been good to have, but changing his street-like outfit to having a cape would have been too brusque a change.
Maybe once he entered U.A., he'd ask for a cape for his hero suit.
But that was for the future.
Having changed his clothes, Taka let out a nervous breath and walked to the center of the room.
From his aura, suddenly several clones began materializing next to him, all of them wearing the same Rockinesis outfit.
And then, out of nowhere, all of his clones took dramatic poses beside him, making him the only one standing normally.
Taka sweatdropped, turning to look at them, flabbergasted.
Why were his clones like this?
'No matter.' He sighed and shook his head wryly, already somewhat accustomed to his clones' antics.
A neck crack and a shoulder-loosening later, he glared ahead with determination.
"Alright, let's fucking do this!"
"Swearing doesn't make you cool." One of his clones chimed in.
The rest nodded in unison.
Taka sighed.
"I know, just nervous."
Another clone spoke, tilting his head slightly. "By the way, why did you summon us? It's a three-hour trip to Tokyo. Moving in tandem like this doesn't seem very efficient."
Taka snorted.
"It was for the dramatic effect."
""..."" His clones looked at him weirdly.
And then, they disappeared.
"Ahem." Taka cleared his throat.
It was time to move.
…
°
°
°
| Hours later… |
…
A huge crowd stood before a stage, at least one thousand people jumping, bobbing their heads, and singing along with the main band standing at the center of the show. The air around was thick and hot, but even then, it did not lessen the spirit of those enthusiasts of music, who rather than dislike it, seemed to revel in it along with the music.
Their hearts drummed, and goosebumps flowed through their body, forcing them to move to release such energy. Their eyes getting teary as they stared at the people in the middle of the stage.
But just like all in life, the song being played eventually began reaching its end, and in unison, the emotions of the crowd began dimming as well.
A minute or so later, the song came to an end, and the band performing it gave the audience a deep bow before stepping off the stage while the crowd called for them and clapped feverishly.
Simultaneously, the announcer stepped in and walked towards the mic, waving at the crowd.
{"That was epic, wasn't it, everyone?! Let's give the band 'I Just Ate a Banana' a big round applause!"}
Cheers and applause from the crowd intensified, with some whistles adding onto them, flooding the entire place.
The announcer nodded satisfiedly, laughing heartily.
{"Hahaha, I can feel the love you guys have for this band in the air! Hopefully, this won't be the only time we are honored with their presence!"}
The crowd cheered.
After laughing a bit more, the announcer glanced fakely at his wrist as if he had a watch there, and turned back to the crowd.
{"Anyway, folks. We'll be taking a small break. Go buy something or go take a break from all that jumping around so you can be fully recovered for when we come back with the next band, 'My Shirt is Itchy', in ten minutes!"}
Another cheer came.
And with that, the announcer got off the stage.
The crowd also started to disperse, with some people rubbing their bellies, wondering what they should eat, and others planning to go to the edges of the festival to lie down for a bit and recover.
But just as they were beginning to leave for good—
-Bang!-
Everyone got startled as all the lights in the area went off, summing the entire place into darkness.
"What's happening?"
"A blackout? You've got to be kidding me!"
"They better not cancel this. I spent more than half my salary on this!"
Confusion soon took over the entire mass of people, with many looking around to see if there was any staff that could tell them what the hell was happening, and some others already getting angry.
But then, just as some of the crowd were starting to wonder if something bad might actually be happening—
-Bang!-
A single light turned on, aiming at an empty spot on the stage.
Everyone turned confusedly to the scenery. The confirmation that a blackout had actually not happened created more questions than answers. Even more oddly, something seemed to be happening at the stage, judging from how a sole light had fallen at the center, as if highlighting someone—who wasn't there.
Was there a special event or something? Was someone important coming?
The crowd only grew more restless as nothing happened.
But then, the sole light on the stage began moving upwards, until it landed on the top of the stage, where half of the light was lost in the night sky, while the other half illuminated the beams that gave the scenery form.
For a moment, everyone tilted their head.
Was something actually malfunctioning? Nothing was there.
But all confusion was turned to shock once, from high above in the sky, a figure descended, landing cleanly and elegantly on the beams with his arms crossed.
"What the hell?"
"Who's that?"
"Wasn't this a break? Why is the show restarting?"
"Hold on—I know that guy."
Soon, some of the crowd began noticing a certain familiarity in the figure.
Black hoodie hiding the hair, black mask hiding the mouth, and black pants that only added to the edginess… There was only one person with a fit like that!
"Rockinesis?! Why is that guy here?!"
"Rockinesis? That guy? In this place?!"
"Why would he…?"
"Don't tell me…!"
Every single gaze centered around the same person, some annoyed, others excited. The emotions of the until-then relaxed crowd began surging again, turning the entire place noisy again.
But just when the chatter and noise seemed to be stabilizing, something happened that threw the entire vicinity into pure chaos.
"W-what's that?!" A man pointed to where Rockinesis was.
"Holy." A woman went agape.
"So it was true!" A teenager beamed.
Suddenly, several more figures began descending from the sky and landed next to Rockinesis.
Same clothes, same stature, same constitution…
What had been a single Rockinesis had turned into Rockinesises! (idk man)
Then, to everyone's surprise, the group jumped down in tandem, a loud bang echoing as the group landed in the middle of the stage while the light followed after them.
—Only for them to, right as all eyes settled on them, pose dramatically.
—save for the Rockinesis who had arrived first, and who stood at the front of the group now with his arms crossed.
At least that was the case until all of them raised their hands into the air simultaneously.
Instants later, instruments of all kinds flew in from all around. Landing perfectly on their palms, or in the case of those heavier instruments, landing right in front of them.
Thus, making it quite clear what was about to happen.
"Holy shit, a Rockinesis concert?!"
"I don't know why they didn't advertise this, but I'm all in!"
"Wonder which song he'll play?"
"Must be Animal I've Become."
"Nah, appearing at a concert like this, what else would it be but the first song he composed? It's gotta be Future In My Hands. Now improved and with more instruments!"
"Why not both?"
The crowd went wild as the realization of what was about to happen dawned on them. Constant chatter, cheers, and whistles filled the vicinity.
Meanwhile, the Rockinesis group remained at the center of the stage, unmoving, like statues, illuminated by a single light, until suddenly—
—BANG!—
All the lights turned on at the same time, blinding the crowd and making them cover their eyes.
But as their sight became negated, their other senses heightened.
—CHA-KA-CHAN—
Soon, the familiar riff of guitar that announced Rockinesis' arrival reached their ears, turning frowns into disbelieving smiles.
And then, as their eyes regained their sight, they saw it.
The group of Rockinesis, standing with the blinding lights hitting their back, their fronts shrouded in black,
An image that would imprint in the minds of many that day.
And so, as the hearts of the crowd began beating as one…
—The music began.
...
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-To be Continued…-
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(A/N: I'll be straightforward with you, I'm no musician, so I ain't going to write lyrics for a song that doesn't exist. That'd be corny beyond my limits.
So, let's do it like this.
You can imagine whatever song you like and think would be appropriate for the character to be playing, and lorewise that song won't exist in Taka's old world, hence being his original creation.
And in case you don't feel like it, I also chose a song on my own. Which?
It's a very SPECIAL song.
So you can just imagine Taka playing that.)