Prologue: Rock N Roll Baby Goodbye
Throughout the town of Kingrah, the sound of loud, raging rock music could be faintly heard on the nighttime breeze. The music got louder and louder as one travelled down the streets until they finally came upon the black and white Hathor Bandshell standing in the middle of the large, mostly grassy Qetesh Park.
Bright spotlights shone down upon the well-known rock band The Assassins as they played for the cheering, mostly teenaged, black-clad crowd. Drummer Kizu pounded wildly on his set near the point where they were close to breaking in half, bassist Kataki let her low, harmonious sounds fly out over the crowd, and electric guitarist/lead singer Keigai played the most unforgettable, seemingly impossible riffs. The three sported the stereotypical rock star look in their black leather jackets, wildly colored T-shirts, black leather pants for the guys and a mini-skirt for the girl, and various pieces of black jewelry decked with silver studs and spikes.
By the end of their grand finale, the crowd's cheers had reached a decibel level comparable to a supersonic jet engine. Keigai pumped one fist into the air and yelled out to the crowd, "THANK YOU KINGRAH!" making their cries even more impossibly loud. Kizu tossed his drumsticks out to the crowd, sparking a small riot between fans over who would get to keep them.
The Assassins slowly made their way through a crowd of avid fans to the soundproof black tour bus painted with flames and red swirls parked at the back of the bandshell, being forced to push and shove a little before they could enter. Once inside, Kizu and Kataki sat down at the booth to the left and pulled down the shade for the window right above it to keep the practically unstoppable fans, mouths wide open in screams, from peering in while Keigai sat himself in the driver's seat, propped his feet up on the steering wheel, and picked up a magazine entitled The Spinnin' Rocks lying by its side, turned to a particular page. He started to scan it intently, ignoring the mesh of people who jumped up onto the front window and silently yelled down at him.
Suddenly, a shocked look overtook Keigai's face. He slammed the magazine down onto the floor and, lightning fast, started up the bus. Fans had to quickly scramble off of it and away as Keigai shifted it out of park, slammed his foot on the accelerator, and sent the bus zooming out of Hathor Park, down the street, and all the way to the outskirts of the city.
When Keigai finally zapped at the bus with red sparks and put it into 'auto-drive', he turned to his band mates and saw the two of them were staring at him with wide eyes.
"Geez, man, what's the matter?" Kizu cried out.
Keigai picked up the magazine, walked over to his friends, and flung it onto the table between them. "That," he said, pointing at the particular page it had been turned to. The heading at the top read, Spinnin' Rocks Top 100 Songs: The Biggest Current Hits of the Dimension of the Gods. At the Number 2 spot on the list was the song "No Mercy" by The Assassins, with the added note that the week before it had been Number 1.
Kataki brushed a lock of her pink-dyed hair out of her eyes and stared in horror at the list. "WHAT?! We've been at the number one spot for eight weeks straight! Who kicked us out of it?!"
Keigai pointed up at Number One. The song was "What Am I Doin' Here" by C.J.
"C.J.?!" Kizu cried. He flipped a couple of pages in the magazine until he came upon a centerfold featuring a young woman with a light blond pageboy that extended to just below her shoulders, wide, black eyes, and creamy skin. She, too, wore a rocker getup of a white jacket with faux fur trim, an aqua tube top, white mini skirt and knee-high white boots. The caption read The Angelic Rocker: After a long road, the soft-hearted, hard-rockin' teen has made it to the top rung on the ladder of stardom.
The three stared intently at the picture of the beautiful girl for a few moments. Finally, Keigai looked up at his friends and asked them, "Guys, how did we get rid of those punks The Battered Souls?"
Kizu tapped a finger to his chin and asked, "Hmm…I think those guys were the ones that met their, ahem, untimely demise from a strong wind which blew those heavy spotlights above the stage down onto their heads."
"Ah, yes, right," Keigai said. He started pacing back and forth the bus aisle, muttering to himself, "Stage floor crashed in, T-shirt firing thing malfunctioned, special effects caught stage on fire…what haven't we done yet…"
Kataki flipped through the magazine, scanning the article on C.J. and her band. When her gaze fell upon a spread of C.J. and her band performing on stage, with C.J. crooning her song into a mike still held in its stand, her eyes widened. "Oh!" she cried, pointing a finger into the air. "I know!"
Keigai stopped his pacing and turned to face her.
"How about if this time, something goes a tad bit wrong with the electric wiring to her mike. She's singing her latest hit to the crowd, when all of a sudden she feels this strange jolt run through her body. She starts shaking and tries to let go of the mike…but unfortunately, by the time someone realizes what's happening, it's far too late for anything to be done."
Keigai stared at her for a moment. A smile slowly crept onto his face. "Ingenious, Kataki…" he murmured.
Kizu clapped his approval as Kataki stood up and gave a mock bow.
"This could be doable…All we'd need to know is when exactly C.J. is performing next…"
"They've got her touring schedule right here," Kataki said, flipping through the magazine and putting her finger onto another page. "Her next concert's supposed to be right at that very Hathor Bandshell we just played at a week from today."
"Hope C.J. has a quite enjoyable week, then," Keigai replied, letting his outline glow with red magic. "'Cause it's the last one she's going to be alive…"