Disclaimer:

I OWN NOTHING! Especially not the characters or the music!

Note: There are some parts where the song doesn't entirely tie in with the story, and I apologize if it degrades the quality of the story. This was the closest match I could find on my brother's Ipod.


Chapter 3: Remember (by Disturbed)

As Cliff Meisters prepared to hurl himself into the open vat of acid, in a sudden wave of common sense, he realized something was really wrong: Why wasn't anyone stopping him for trespassing on their property? Moreover, why weren't they stopping him from hauling himself over the balcony edge, obviously with the intention of committing suicide?

As if his thoughts asked the question for him, all of the workers just stood there and (musically) droned,

Good Bye to You, Good Bye to you...We're taking up your time.

Upon hearing one of the lines from the song he was singing, his feelings changed from total hopelessness to...curiosity. He pulled himself back over the edge, looked at the workers, and found that they all were as immobile as statues! Every single one of them! He snapped his fingers in front of one of them, and got no response!

His suicidal plans almost forgotten, he imagined a person dancing in his head...only to be met with the workers performing the exact same dance right before his eyes! He thought about it for a minute, and suddenly tried an experiment: With him clicking his tongue to a random beat, he imagined them all doing a conga line...and they did so, in perfect time with his click-beat!

With this, he suddenly realized; he was doing this to them, somehow! A sudden rush of ability, and what he could possibly do with it, made him reconsider his suicide entirely!

Sensation washes over me,

I can't describe it;

Pain I felt so long ago

I don't remember.

Upon hearing his voice, renewed with confidence, all of the workers started twirling around him in perfect time with his song. Having people actually listen to his song, and not taunt him for being a nerd, was quite a change for him given the past year.

Tear a hole so I can see

My devastation;

Feeling strong so long ago,

I don't remember

Holding on, to let them know

What's given to me, given to me;

To hide behind the mask this time

And try to believe!

He thought about it for a little while longer, and suddenly realized why all of this has been happening: His mother always said his Grandmother was like a siren. What if she really was a siren? Then his inhaling that strange cloud from a few minutes earlier must have reawakened his dormant genes! (and possibly mutated them a little, because instead of lusting after him, they were obeying his mental command.)

It didn't take long to put all of the pieces together, as he figured out that he now had the supernatural ability to take control of people that hear him singing. Of course, now that he had a super-power, he probably wanted it kept secret. So, he looked at the workers around him intently...

Blind your eyes to what you see,

You can't embrace it!

Leave it well enough alone,

And don't remember.

Cut your pride and watch it bleed,

You can't deny it;

Pain you know you can't ignore,

I don't remember...

And as he paused, the subliminal message was received: to forget all that they are seeing here once he left. Which he proceeded to do, with leaping, entranced...backup dancers...flanking him on every side, as he talked about the possibilities opened by these new powers:

Holding on, to let them know

What's given to me, given to me;

To hide behind the mask this time

And try to believe!...

If I can't remember

To know this will conquer me,

If I can't just walk alone,

And try to escape...

Into me.

Later, he had picked up his bike, and immediately headed home. As soon as he got home, he put his bike away in the garage, put his hoodie on it's rack, and waited for the inevitable: Sure enough, his mother, Ms. Meisters, grabbed him and hugged him so tightly he could hardly breathe.

"Ohhh, Cliff! I was so worried! I almost thought I would never see you again! The radio said was a robbery at the chemical factory today, and...and..."

"Traffic just got a little snarled, Mom. Mad Hatter caused a few accidents with his armored getaway car, and I kinda had to stay and describe the accident to the cops."

"*Sniff*...Ohhh, thank God...Where are your bags?"

"Still at school. Don't worry, I'll get them back."

And with that, Ms. Meisters hugged her son once more, and then allowed him to loot her case of glasses. Eventually, he came across what he intended: A pair of specially-designed glasses from his grandmother. These glasses looked like a sheet of music with an eighth-note pair on them, and the orbs on the bottom are the eyepieces. Holding these glasses up, Cliff asked his mother "Um, Mom? Do you think, maybe, I could-"

"Of course, sweetie! You can have them for as long as you want! You'll look so handsome if you wear those to school!"

Under normal circumstances, he would have been forced to wear these glasses, and probably have gotten them broken by the bullies. This time, however, he chose to wear them, and he could assure that they would never be broken. Thanking his mother, he went up to his room. Once there, he finished the song he was singing in the factory, partially uncertain of what the next day will hold...

Sensation washes over me,

I can't describe it.

But he knew that if those gangsters tried to pick on him again, he'd be ready...

Pain I felt so long ago

I don't remember

I'm just

Holding on, to let them know

What's given to me, given to me;

To hide behind the mask this time

And try to believe!...

He even thought of a name for his new super-powered self: The Music Meister.

If I can't remember

To know this will conquer me,

If I can't just walk alone,

And try to escape...

Into me.


In the end, he did survive the day; but what will the next day hold?

Thanks for encouraging me, reviewers! I promise, what I have planned for this story will not disappoint you!