Parappa Town was a usually quiet place, but that wasn't to say it didn't have its share of surprises. Parappa had discovered that the hard way in his excursion to PJ's house. He strode on a sidewalk, the area populated with a combination of humans, anthropomorphic animals, and miscellaneous objects walking and talking. It was warm and sunny out, the weather apparently compensating for Sunny's absence. The rapdog was unaware of the cacophony of the citizens around him, as he had King Kong Mushi's hip hop goodness playing in his head. He used this as inspiration for the new set of rhymes he would lay down at PJ's.
His phone broke his concentration with a text tone. Parappa stopped at a dank alleyway to read the text messages. Of course, there were the texts of sympathy (mostly) from the members of MilkCan.
Heard about ur breakup :'( sry 2 hear it didnt work out -KT
Sux to hear about what happened. -Ma-San
And one particularly disparate message from a person of interest:
hope things turn out well for you guys -Lammy
Huh, Parappa thought. Lammy's message was the only one that wished anybody well. Sure, the other two messages may have had the same intention, but it was subtext if anything. Peculiarly, Parappa was looking forward to Lammy's message out of anyone else's, and his heart beat a bit faster in anticipation...I just know she'd be the one to help me the most with this, for some reason. Mm-hmm. Just keep telling yourself that, pup. Even with Lammy's terse message, the rapdog felt a bit more contented already.
The rapdog continued on his path to PJ's house. Parappa saw an off-white one-story house with a small front porch. The house fit well with the rest of the neighborhood in downtown Parappa Town, as long as one didn't count the hip hop instrumentals emanating from it. Parappa stepped onto the porch and rhythmically knocked on PJ's door, dancing with his beat. On the other side of the door, PJ was dancing along with him before opening the door.
"What's up?" the bear said upon seeing Parappa. PJ's shades were propped against his forehead.
"Well, I'm single now," Parappa replied, a bit of dolefulness in his voice. However, the dog was smiling as he walked inside.
"You surely don't seem too sad about that," PJ commented, a sly smile on his face.
"It's a new beginning, I guess," Parappa remarked dismissively.
. . .
"...For modern hip-hop, I raised the scale,
You try to kick my butt in rapping? You ain't grazed the tail,
It's tragic how your short rhyming days have failed,
My rhymes, though, are blazing trails with amazing sales!"
Parappa moved away from the studio microphone and looked at PJ expectantly after he freestyled. PJ, with a blank stare, commented, "The lyrics are ill enough, but the flow wasn't up to par. What, is it the beat killing your rhythm?"
"It's a freestyle, PJ," Parappa defended. "My flow's always a little off the first time I'm rapping with a beat. The bass is too loud; I can barely hear the sax."
"How can you not? The mixing is just fine! You're a dog, so you got good hearing, right?"
Parappa rolled his eyes. "I just want this next album to be better than our first one. You remember I Scream and how the critics AND the fans hated it?"
PJ shrugged. "It was our first album, a lot of guys had bad first ones."
The rapdog squinted his eyes in disbelief. "King Kong Mushi, Tay-C, Big Daddy Payne, Ras? All of them had good first albums."
"Yeah, but you're listing the exceptions," said PJ as he produced a sandwich from out of nowhere.
"I just...need to make sure this next album blows the other one out of the water. Sure, I released three singles after the first album, but a good career can't be carried by just singles..."
Parappa was restless about his career. He had been dreaming about a rapping career ever since he first heard it. Like others, his ability when first starting out wasn't exactly favorable. However, throughout two games (three if you count Um Jammer Lammy's Parappa stages) his lyrical dexterity had matured, honed, ameliorated. If it weren't for his official debut with King Kong Mushi, however, Parappa didn't know how bright his career's future would have appeared.
PJ wasn't serious about most things, but when it came to his music, it wasn't wise to compete with his instrumentation. The bear had a shrewd perception of rhythmic accuracy and harmonious production. It was quite possibly the only thing at which he excelled. It was the bear's passion to make killer beats for rappers to use, along with creating songs used in clubs and the like. During the day, he wasn't too active, but at night, he was the main attraction to Club Fun. While the club lived up to its name for him, PJ aspired for even greater destinations.
"Look, you probably just had a rough day, considering what you did earlier. It's getting late, so I'm heading off to Club Fun. Oh, and I almost forgot; the girls are doing a promotional concert for their new album. Did they say anything about that to you?" PJ said, getting up from his couch.
"Uh," Parappa began before receiving a text message. It was from Lammy, announcing the same thing PJ stated. The rapdog looked up from his phone to see PJ's smug grin, the bear apparently predicting when they would text the rapdog.
"And they told me to give you this, plus let you do sixteen bars as an introduction before MilkCan starts," PJ continued, showing a backstage pass. Parappa took the pass and put it in his pocket. Then a thought occurred in Parappa's mind, his expression panicked. PJ noticed and asked, "What?"
"Was Sunny invited to the concert, too?" Parappa asked with concern.
"Yeah, why? You planning on making up with her there?" PJ teased.
"No..." the rapdog replied with anguish...
Parappa imagined the throng of partygoers jamming out and headbanging to the rock goodness exuding from the stage. MilkCan performed brand new songs, the performance better than ever before. The melodic notes from Lammy mixed with the fastidiously precise drumbeats from Ma-San integrated with Katy's silvery vocals and compelling bassline. While everyone in the band was great, he couldn't help but particularly glance at Lammy playing that guitar. The red hair and comely purple eyes were especially appealing...Wait, I don't like her! Parappa thought in this reverie.
Familiarity was in his peripherals during the concert, so he chanced a peek at the right side of the dance floor. His emotions became mixed upon seeing Sunny. It was good she wasn't feeling sad enough to abandon her friends in a big event like this, but it was bad since she was whispering into a handheld transceiver, a look of pure vengeance on her face.
The next second, the club entrance was breached with an explosion. At the entrance, Parappa could see no other than General Potter aiming a sniper rifle at him, a red laser on his body. Before Parappa could react, General Potter fired his rifle, a loud PAOW enunciating the occurrence. The rapdog immediately felt agony in his chest, right where his heart was. Clutching his wound, he heard MilkCan suddenly switch their song to one Parappa had heard from a skit.
"Mmm, whatcha say, mmm, that you only meant well?
Well, of course you did,
Mmm, whatcha say, mmm, that it's all for the best?
Of course it is..."
Parappa collapsed to his knees and dramatically looked at Sunny, whose expression would have been comical if taken out of context. At the moment, however, her face contorted with purest loathing, watching with bloodlust Parappa's last few moments on Earth. His torso then fell to the ground, his face still toward Sunny. The flower approached Parappa, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Now you know how I feel," she said before spitting in his face.
"...Parappa? Parappa!" PJ said for the sixteenth time, snapping his fingers to summon the rapdog back to reality. Parappa shook his head when he saw PJ instead of Sunny in front of him. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Whatcha say..." Parappa stated stupidly, obviously not fully recovered from his daydream. Then the question actually connected with him. "Uh, what?Yeah, I'm good. I just need to go out for a bit. I'll meet you guys there."
Swiftly did Parappa dash out of PJ's house awkwardly, eager to clear his mind. PJ looked at the track marks left on the carpet and shrugged. "That guy's weird sometimes."
. . .
Should I say anything? wondered Parappa as he walked toward Club Fun. He would have driven or taken a taxi there to get there more quickly, but gas prices, bruh, and taxis weren't cheap, either. He stared at his phone as he traveled, in the midst of typing a message to Sunny. So far, the message read:
hey sunny you going to the concert? -PTR
It was innocuous enough. But Parappa considered many factors. One, he didn't know if Sunny would read anything from him; the flower probably had his number blocked already. However, if that happened, it wouldn't hurt anything, right? Another might be where she was going to the concert to help clear her head from Parappa, and seeing Parappa's text may convince her to not attend. Finally, just talking to her nonchalantly like that may have come off as crass to her and to others.
Before going off into another daydream imagining the outcomes, he pressed "send" and continued walking to Club Fun. The club was within his sight, it being one of the only illuminated areas in that side of the street. Parappa could hear chatter and house music from yards away, evident the place was chock-full of people. He approached the bouncer at the front of the door. The bouncer, who was a horse from the waist up and a toad from the waist down, recognized the rapdog and said, "You're gonna want to go to the back, it's packed in here."
Parappa nodded at the bouncer and went around the club toward the back entrance. A minute later, he was in the backstage area, meeting MilkCan and (gulp) Sunny among the backstage people. The first thing Parappa did was notice her, only to realize he had just broken up with Sunny a few hours prior. The flower looked reserved, determined not to catch Parappa's eyes. Of all the things that could have happened as an aftermath of the breakup (Whatcha say...), Parappa figured it wasn't the worst thing in the world.
Katy emerged from the shadows of the backstage, a bass guitar slung across her back. Her eyes switched tentatively from Sunny to Parappa. Even she seemed to know about the awkwardness of the situation, but she wanted to break the ice.
"Hey, Parappa! Glad you could come!" Katy assured, trying for a smile toward the rapdog. Parappa returned the grin to reduce the awkwardness. Behind her were Lammy and Ma-San, the former tuning her guitar to the right key, and the latter simply reading a magazine.
"Glad I was invited," Parappa replied, shifting a bit uncomfortably. A human wearing a headset approached the group of performers.
"Two minutes," he said before walking away to tend to other managerial business.
"So, you're introducing us?" Katy asked Parappa.
"That's the plan, I guess," Parappa shrugged. He seemed meticulous in his words given his friends were Sunny's friends, too. Forgetting about his troubles for a little bit had seemed to make him unprepared to get into normal talk with the others. Thankfully, PJ's voice sounded from the back of the club.
"How's everybody doing?" the DJ asked the crowd, who replied with jubilant cheers. "All right, I know you all came for MilkCan, but we got something special for you guys. Here to introduce the band is the hip hop hero, Parappa the Rapper!"
The rapdog heard the loud cheering of fans outside the curtain. He took one more glance at the guys before throwing a peace sign and emerging from the backstage. The Club Fun members yelled even more loudly at the sight of their favorite local rhymer. Being surrounded by the public eye in such a way was always a good feeling for Parappa, and that day was no exception.
Parappa approached the microphone and winked at PJ. The DJ smiled and played his new instrumental to accompany Parappa's rapping. Full of energy, Parappa began rhyming.
"Here in Parappa Town, other bands are makeshift,
You get some other bands just learning the basics,
But with silvery vocals and the monster bass hits,
2K's gonna break this city's rock stasis,
Ma-San has got drumbeats for weeks,
Songs are released to streets, and all the freaks critique,
Every precise rhythm'll make you leave your seats,
The new album coming soon, she'll release the beast,
Finally, we got the third part of the band,
Whose guitar skill goes farther than grand,
Her musical integrity's the law of the land,
So, charter the band; the next song will start with the lamb!"
The rhymes were enough to get the crowd hyped for MilkCan's performance, screaming more loudly than ever. The band then burst through the curtains, beaming at the legion of fans going crazy for them. Parappa humbly stepped away from the girls, his arms out in a presenting manner. PJ stopped the instrumental and nodded to Katy, who was approaching the microphone with the bass guitar in her hands. The other members had their respective instruments. Katy gave a thumbs-up to Ma-San, who rhythmically clicked her sticks four times.
As Parappa had said, Lammy began with four-measure guitar riff to kick off the rock song. Meanwhile, Parappa had clambered down to the front row of the crowd, cheering on MilkCan as they performed. Not too far from him was Sunny, who had smiled for the first time in that performance, as far as Parappa knew. The rapdog had nervously looked behind him for General Potter, but the pugnacious, potted paternal unit was nowhere to be found.
The band had played four singles from their next album and two of their old songs that night. Parappa and Sunny jokingly joined the rest of the crowd in wanting an encore, laughing at their antics. The two looked at each other, grinning for a few seconds. When they saw each other, however, their faces turned serious before they looked away.
So, she's still feeling a bit salty about it. But she can't hate me; she stood next to me the entire time, unless this was the only open spot, Parappa wondered.
After the concert, the band, Sunny, and Parappa finished loading the instruments in the MilkVan, Katy proposed, "Why don't we get down to the dance floor, guys? Let's celebrate our new release!" Everybody assented and followed the cat inside the club. In the midst of the dancing madness that transpired inside the club, the group found an open spot to showcase their moves among themselves. They had gathered around in a small circle, dancing and carrying on with themselves. Having fun like that was great and all, but Parappa had felt an urge to say something to Sunny in private, and being in a club with blaring music and loud partygoers made it somewhat difficult to accomplish such a feat.
hey PJ could you play a slow song? i'm gonna try talking to sunny about something -PTR
The DJ looked at his phone and smirked. "Sly dog," he said to himself before grabbing his microphone. "All right, the next song is dedicated to all the couples out there in the club tonight. If you're here with your bae, say 'yeah!'" A copious amount of people cheered on, while Ma-San rolled her eyes at the usage of the word "bae." "And for those of you who are not, don't worry, because the last song for tonight is where magic's gonna happen." PJ smoothly pressed a few keys on his laptop and started a romantic R&B tune.
The clubbers turned down for a bit and got with their "baes" if they had one and slowly danced in rhythm to the song. The minority of people there without a dance partner were either looking for one or awkwardly shifting toward the bar section of the club. Parappa eyed Sunny a few feet away, standing by herself within the dancing crowd. Knowing how pretty she was, Parappa was aware he needed to act swiftly before Sunny was swept off her feet by another partygoer. He stretched toward the flower, passing through the crowd.
Finally Sunny had intentionally made eye contact with the rapdog. Her expression was neutral at first, which turned irate.
"Sunny, I-" Parappa began before Sunny cut him off.
"What, so you changed your mind, and you want to win me back with a slow dance?" she snapped, her fists balling. Parappa took note of her body language and proceeded with caution. "Is this why you asked if I was coming here tonight?"
"No!" Parappa said defensively, too quickly to thoroughly think of his answer. "Well, yes, kind of, but it was mostly to talk to you about something..."
"You want to rip my heart out again with some other *$^Y#* (!?" Sunny cursed loudly enough for a few of the dancers around her to turn to her in surprise. Parappa's ears twitched in response as he sweatdropped.
"Uhh..." It seemed as though anything with which to respond was volatile enough to send her away, slap him, or worse. "Whatcha say?" Parappa said in reminiscence of his daydream.
It was enough for the flower. Sunny about-faced and stormed off, mumbling, "I can't believe you, you dirty dog!" She didn't take twenty steps until she had come across another person of interest. Attired in a wifebeater shirt under a black denim jacket was Joe Chin, standing in front of Sunny. From Parappa's perspective, it looked as if they were talking. He couldn't tell what they were saying because he was too far away from them. Then the flower took one more glance at Parappa and walked away from Parappa's sight, trying to drag Joe by his hand. Joe and Parappa stared at each other for the a few seconds before Joe smiled in a self-satisfied manner and followed Sunny.
A part of Parappa had felt infuriated about Joe being there and, well, simply existing. The rich dog seemed to have a one-dimensional personality, defined merely by women, money, and making the ninety-nine percent feel bad about their finances. However, Sunny seemed just as shallow as Joe, Parappa thought. Besides, Parappa and Sunny weren't dating anymore. In reality, then, he had no reason to oppose Joe making moves on her if that was what he was doing. So, with a defeated shrug, he turned back and went toward the other girls.
Or at least, he thought he was going toward them. Parappa was certain the members of MilkCan were in the same spot as before he left to talk with Sunny. However, not a single member was there. A quick look around had revealed Katy dancing with Matt Major, Ma-San impatiently waiting for the slow song to end, and...wait, where was Lammy?
Apparently, she was right behind him. Parappa felt a finger tap his shoulder and found the red-haired lamb there, looking more nervous than usual. Upon seeing his eyes, the lamb's pupils seemed to dilate. But if that was anything obvious, it was nothing compared to Parappa's tail wagging.
"Uh, hey, Parappa," Lammy started the conversation. Her eyes flitted above Parappa, as though to see somebody in the other end of the dance floor. She saw Katy and Ma-San looking straight at her, mischievous grins on their faces.
The rapdog was unaware of the situation. "Hey, Lammy," he said just as nervously, putting his hands in his pockets. Was she going to ask him to dance? Or was she expecting HIM to ask her?
Both of their eyes had shifted anxiously. Then both of them had sprung the question concurrently: "Wanna dance?"
The event had caught them both by surprise. Their eyes locked for a split second, both left to their thoughts regarding how they should react. Parappa thought it over: How would others perceive him if he danced with a girl after having broken up with another one IN THE SAME DAY? If it was the other way around, and Sunny broke up with Parappa, all stress regarding the situation would have been lost, and he wouldn't have hesitated to accept. Would Sunny get even angrier? Would she think it was all a set up to make her feel jealous?
Then Parappa saw Sunny in the west side of the dance floor, only this time, she was not alone. He had seen a sight that had haunted some of his worst nightmares: Joe Chin dancing with Sunny Funny. Although, when he should have had a ruptured spirit, Parappa couldn't have felt more relieved.
"Sure," he said to Lammy. He had just taken his hands out of his pockets, anticipating a slow dance with Lammy when the slow song had faded away. The couples around them had broken away from their "baes" and prepared to exit the club.
Both Lammy and Parappa's faces turned a bright shade of scarlet, abashed by their failed attempt to dance before the slow song was over. Parappa was about to ask her if she wanted to dance the next slow song when PJ made his next announcement.
"All right, guys, thank you for coming out here tonight! Hope you all have a good night, and I'll see you guys on Monday," PJ said over the microphone.
That's right, Parappa thought, facepalming. PJ said it was gonna be the last song of the night...It was quite embarrassing for that to happen, the club closing down right when he would have had his first dance of the night. Lammy's countenance implied the same emotion. The two made one last look at each other before going their separate ways for a bit, avoiding the exiting partygoers in their paths.
Seeing Lammy that ashamed had sparked something in the rapdog. Parappa turned back to Lammy and beckoned for her attention. "Hey, Lammy, wait!" The lamb turned, curiosity in her face. "Uh, can we dance together some other time?"
Her eyes had dilated once more, and she blushed for an entirely different reason that time. "Uh, s-sure," she stammered, a bit taken aback from the inquiry.
"Cool, I'll see you later," Parappa declared. His tail wagged once more as optimism coursed through his body. He gave a smile at Lammy before turning around again. The rapdog had caught a glimpse of Sunny hugging Joe in his peripherals, so he didn't worry about where she'd be going for the night...Parappa laughed to himself.
Upon exiting the club, he pondered over the past events. So, any time he would try to talk to Sunny, about anything, it seemed, she would become infuriated. It was understandable to a degree, he guessed. But he didn't say or do anything to make her that mad, did he? He tried being respectful about it, and he didn't even let loose with the harsh reasons why he broke up with her. Deep down, a part of him knew this was one of the reasons why, though. One could be the most respectful guy she knew, and Sunny would try to make the guy feel guilty about it. She didn't seem keen to take responsibility for things she may have done.
As for the dancing situation...What had made Lammy willing to dance with him? Of course, he had no objections for that, especially since Sunny seemed to have moved on. But where exactly did he stand in Lammy's perception? Did she like him? Was he just a good friend? Or was he somewhere in between? Was there a between?
And how did he feel about Lammy? It was definite Lammy and Parappa were friends. However, he didn't feel something click between them as he did with PJ or Sunny. That's probably why the Romantic Love thing happened, Parappa thought with a shudder. And yet, in the latter months of his relationship with Sunny, he became more and more interested in Lammy than he was in Sunny. But why, though?
Parappa was so lost in his thoughts he bumped into his front door. He unlocked his door and entered his house.
There was also that time in my second game when she was looking at me real friendly-like at the concert...Parappa blushed at the thought. Then, realizing what he was doing, he snapped out of it. "I'm hopeless," he lamented before climbing into bed.
Next time on Playing With My Commotions...
"I think he likes you, though, no joke..."
"You blush when you think about him..."
"What do you guys think I should do?"
"Maybe I had chosen the wrong person..."
"'Just a friend,' my eye!"