As they walked into the auditorium, Blake was getting more and more excited. There was already a decently sized crowd there, but she had to get in front. It was her dream to see the man in the mask in person, maybe even meet him. It was unlikely, but still, she hoped.
And as the lights dimmed, the crowd got louder and louder. So did Blake. She would finally see him.
5 minutes ago, backstage
Key (for the concert section):
HIGH SCREAM
LOW SCREAM
Extended sound
"Okay guys, group huddle," Keith instructed, getting his four backers to put their hands in the circle, his black painted one on top.
"It's been a long, hard tour for us," he started. "Klayton's snare broke mid-set," addressing his drummer, "Jared (Dines) had a hangover," addressing his rhythm guitarist, "Leo (Moracchioli) ran into his ex from five years back…" addressing his bassist.
"And you got into a bar fight because a bouncer was flirting with me," his lead guitarist, Angel Vivaldi, concluded.
"He saw what we were doing!" Keith replied, slightly muffled by his medical mask. "Anyway, before we begin, I just want to thank you all, so, so much for helping me with this tour. It's been hard, but it's been amazing as well, and because of that, you will all be remembered. By me, and the rest of the Disciples. So are we going to end this tour like keems, or end it like heroes!?" He ended in a yell.
"We're gonna end it like heroes!" His backers replied enthusiastically.
"Then let's get out there, and give them the show they will remember!" They yelled cries of approval, before quieting down again. "On 3! 1! 2! 3!"
"ABYSS!" They screamed in unison, throwing their hands in the air, before running out on-stage to the cries of the students. They began immediately.
"TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" Keith screamed into his mic on top of the front speaker, his backers jumping in at 'done.' "BLEGH!" He started dancing around, which caused the crowd to join him.
"It's time to OPEN YOUR EYES!
It's time to APOLOGIZE!
You see THERE IS NO DISGUISE!
YOU ARE JUST FUCKING BLIND!
I FIND YOU DISGUSTING AS SHIT!
YOU THINK IT JUST DOESN'T FIT!
AND YOU DON'T WANT TO ADMIT,
YOU'RE JUST A DAMN HYPOCRITE!
And DON'T you DAre SAy THAt
IT'S ALL MY FAULT!"
The crowd was going crazy by now. But it wasn't enough for him. He flipped his black, almost shoulder-length wig around a couple times during the short break between the verse and the chorus, and they screamed even louder. It was selfish, he knew, but it was satisfying.
"You're the cause of our demise,
And your own destruction!
Do you want to stay alive!?
I'll give you protection!
But the only catch is this:
You need to give up ignorance!
But I cannot believe
That you cannot see
…
THE SINS OF A SPECIES!"
"Fuck yeah!" he spit out in pure fun, scraping his (fake) sharp black fingernails against the mic. He already saw this one would be the best show of the tour. Which was a pretty low bar, but still.
Meanwhile, basically in front of him, Blake was having the time of her life. She was headbanging and dancing (well, sort of) and yelling more than she ever had before. It was honestly confusing to Yang. She was only this active on missions, and even then she tried to get everything done as quickly as possible. So how could one guy - that was only a year older than her for that matter - get her this excited? She promised herself that she would learn his ways!
As he went into the second verse, Keith decided to check on his backers. Leo was pretty chill as normal, even though this was one of the craziest songs on the album. Jared was matching the insanity a bit better, doing that whole "jump in a circle while hunched over and playing guitar" thing that some guitarists do. Klayton was doing perfectly, not letting his badass red hair get in the way of the drums.
And Angel… well, let's just say he looked like what his name implied. We'll leave it at that, because he could write a novel on how amazingly sexy he was.
As he went into the chorus again, Keith jumped over to Angel, having him join on a couple lines of the chorus. He wasn't a good singer, per se, but he was decent. And right before he jumped away again, Angel gave him a little peck on the cheek, still playing. Yes, he was that awesome.
At around that moment, Blake noticed a bit of a jump in the lyrics. She wasn't sure if he had to cough, or maybe someone behind her had flashed him, or what. But she noticed it.
As his lead guitarist lept into the solo, something dawned on her. Keith was right next to him for a couple seconds. She had heard that his lead guitarist was gay. Maybe…?
No, that was stupid. Of course Keith was straight! He had only talked about attractive girls in metal (a few she was happy to agree with(yes she knew she was bi)). But maybe he had just kept in the closet for a while? Or maybe-
Her thought was interrupted by the crowd, as "The Sins of a Species" ended. Yes, even the breakdown. She had been thinking so hard that she even missed the BREAKDOWN.
"How we doin' Beacon!?" Keith yelled, causing a cheer in the crowd. "Okay, real quick before the next song," he said when the cheering died down. "I just wanna thank this guy Scarlet David for managing our effects, volume n' shit." He walked over to the sound board guy, who stood up, waving to the crowd. "He's basically a younger, Vacuon version of Klayton; just look at his hair!"
Everyone laughed, including Klayton and Scarlet. He could be quite the comedian at times. "Okay, okay, haha. But I have a request for you all…"
He walked from the soundboard to the edge of the stage, leaning over a speaker. "When the Rain Pours, and Shadows Pull us into the Devil's Eyes," it was at this point when Angel began the song, "Let us join, as we do what we must…"
Yang went practically deaf when the vocals began, as everyone joined him.
"GAZE… INTO THE IRIS!
GAZE… INTO THE IRIS!"
Although nobody would see it, behind his surgical mask, he was smiling like an idiot, seeing around 500 huntsmen-in-training who he could barely even beat in a roast-off, screaming along with him. This was going to be one hell of a show.