Even after that gloomy ending of the last view he gave them, his audience acted...well, as every other normal human being - either they were chatting among themselves, or were patiently waiting for the next thing.
It somewhat pleasantly surprised Bob, seeing how all of them looked like the last clip never happened...
'Then again, they do live in a world where any of them might potentially die...and the Grimm not being the only way to go. Good to see they just go with it...'
Even Ruby, who cried when she saw Weiss' fate looked pretty cheery as she can get while talking to the Weiss in the room.
'It ain't gonna happen now, but sooner or later - one of them's gotta break, heh.'
Bob's train of thought was stopped by a certain fast-talking green haired professo-
"It's Doctor!"
Uh...okay.
Weird.
Bob's train of thought was stopped by Doctor Oobleck who adressed him with a peculiar question:
"So...every our look alike we see on the screen, no matter how different they seem to be, they are still us?"
"Like looking yourself in the mirror, Doc." Bob responded.
Oobleck had his hand on his chin, and his mind in deep thought.
"They also represent the subconscious - the inner desires...and the fears of people, do they not?" Watts inquired.
"Couldn't have explained better myself! In fact, it is not that your other selves are different - they only made different choices...choices that you could also make, if the opportunity is taken."
'While sometimes, the option of choice isn't possible, so you do what you can do.' Bob thought, deciding not to raise the issue even further...at least for now.
"What's next? Please don't be anything...well, sad. Like the last time." Nora asked.
"Before I do anything, I'll have to borrow some of the audience members here. Roman, Neo, Penny - follow me, please?"
Both Roman and Neo looked at each other and mentally concluded that there would be no harm in that, so they stood and walked towards Bob.
Penny almost happily jumped from her seat and strolled towards her host.
"You better not try anything funny with her!" Ruby warned in her most threatening tone...which wasn't threatening at all to begin with.
"Do I look like someone who would do such a thing? In fact, forget I asked." Bob said the moment Yang tried to reply, leaving her hanging in mid-start of a sentence.
Bob did turn suddenly, making the whole group with him stop in their tracks, and said:
"Tell me, James - is Penny old enough to be of legal age of consent?"
The question earned him a silent snicker from Neo, an eye roll from Roman and general expressions of confusion, shock and with some - even disguist.
"How-Why in Gods' names would you ask a question like tha-?!"
"HAH! Just messin' with ya Jimmy! Seriously, you REALLY need to get some R&R when you get back."
Bob motioned Roman, Neo and Penny to follow behind him.
Part of the wall near the White seats slided up, revealing a hidden doorway. All four of them went in with the door sliding down behind them, leaving the audience completely by themselves.
Of course, the room didn't remain completely silent, as chatter could once again be heard everywhere.
On the White seats, Qrow decided to start a conversation with his fellow colleague:
"So, how are the repairs going Glynda?"
"Quite well. In fact, the government officials of Vale are trying their best to keep me...happy", the last word being emphasized with annoyance,"once they saw how much money can be saved with a help of a telekinetic Semblance."
"I couldn't fathom what would we do without you, Glynda."
The teacher adjusted her glasses and responded:
"With all due respect, Headmaster Ozpin, if you gave me a penny-"
"Do you need me, Professor Glynda Goodwitch?"
"Not you, Miss Polendina - I'd already own half of Vale."
The former Beacon students smiled and laughed nervously when Glynda looked at them. In hindsight, Ren knew he should've gave more credit than his teammates and himself gave to the teacher.
"On the side note, I see you've grown a beard there, James. It suits you fine."
James sighed, even though he appreciated the compliment:
"I wish it were different circumstances over it, but thank you...for the compliment, that is."
Qrow giggled deviously and started silently chanting:
"Jimmy and Glynda sitting on a tree, K-I-S-S-I-" Ozpin interfered before Qrow finished:
"Now, now, Qrow - you're not a student anymore."
"I ain't, true, but my heart and spirit is one of a student!" Qrow joked, earning positive cheers from Taiyang and Port, while Raven eyes rolled.
"Old people, right?" Mercury spoke, and not too soon someone behind him responded with:
"You will become one yourself soon, Black."
Let it be known by the Black seat occupants that Arthur Watts knows two things - how to give results, and how to deliver burns.
Meanwhile, with the students of both Beacon and Haven...
"So - who do you think Bob likes the most?"
Some of the students were caught off-guard by Nora's question. Jaune scratched his head in mild confusion and said:
"Well, I guess he likes Torchwick and that weird, mute girl..."
"And really hates that Cinder woman." Neptune added.
"Yeah, speaking of which - what was that? You know, when he grabbed her and his hand was all red and blurry?" Yang inquired, as she turned towards everyone else.
Blake shifted nervously at the mention of that, which didn't get unnoticed.
"Blake, do you maybe know something about that?"
"I-I'm not exactly sure, but...when he pinned her down and his hand morphed, it was...it felt like he was about to violate her very being with it. I could even see it in his eyes - he was ready to take everything from her soul that defined her." Blake stammered.
"Well, that's a bit...dark and scary, isn't it?" Oscar added.
"Eh, I thought it was pretty cool."
"Yang, I know you wouldn't be singing the same song if Bob did that to us." Weiss retorted. Ren stepped in with his own question, and asked:
"How did you know all that, Blake? Is it a Faunus trait, perhaps?"
"Well, if it is a Faunus trait, then I didn't sense anything from Bob at all. Believe me, I paid attention when that happened, but I can't describe that like Blake did." Sun said.
"Neither have I. Maybe it's a specific trait in question?" Illia asked.
Seeing that there were no clear answers for now, Blake dismissed the whole thing...for now:
"I don't know...and I think I don't want to know." She whispered the last part to herself before speaking, " Never mind that, we completely railed off from the first topic. Nora?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah! So - whaddaya think who's Bob's favorite here?"
"Are we seriously going to start that kind of discussion?" Weiss asked, with a hint of annoyance in her tone.
"We don't have to...cuz everyone knows I'm Bob's favorite! Guy likes my puns, enough said." Yang smiled, as she pointed at herself with both her thumbs.
"I think that he might like Pyrrha the most - he did bring her back, after all." Pyrrha turned to Jaune, feeling a bit surprised he might say that.
"So were Torchwick and Penny brought back too." Ren countered. Sun then spoke up:
"Yeah, speaking of Penny - she's probably the one, since, you know...he took her with him."
"Nah, that's too obvious! It's gotta be Renny!" Nora decided, which only served to confuse her partner as well as the rest of the guys.
"Uh, how so?" Ruby asked.
"Reasons!"
"Why don't we just ask him and get this over with?" suggested Blake, who was already tired of the whole topic.
"We can't just ask him like that-"
"Ask me what?"
The audience turned their attention towards the stage, or rather the peculiar shimmering of air that was happening on it.
The shimmering abruptly ended, revealing the quartet of Bob, Roman, Neo and Penny who were all equipped with various musical instruments and tech. Penny was sitting at the drums, Neo and Roman had a bass and an electric guitar respectively(with Roman having a mic in front of him), while Bob was standing above a chair on which an acoustic guitar was put.
Bob had his hands behind his back and his own microphone in front of him.
"Nothing important, really - it isn't." Weiss responded.
"Nah, I'm just messin' with ya again - I heard everything. And to answer your question..."
Bob presented a familiar grey corgi which he held in his hands.
"This little guy is my favorite!"
Both Ruby and Weiss yelped the moment they saw a happily panting Zwei who jumped from Bob's grip and rushed straight towards Ruby.
"No..."
"Aw, don't worry Weiss - you'll get to hold him too." Ruby said as she held Zwei in her lap.
"I'm fine either way as long as it's away from me." Blake quietly said, taking several glances of suspicion at the dog...who still had his happy expression on his face.
"So!"
Bob sat down and placed the guitar on his lap.
"Me and the gang are gonna play you a song. And before you ask, yes - we did practice this, none of this is improvisation..."
"Practiced? You've been gone for like 2 minutes!" Yang said.
"Well, this isn't the only room avaliable in this space. We went to, what I like to call it, the Studio room, where time is essentially sped up drastically - so your 2 minutes here were actually 2 hours in the Studio."
Seeing that the audience was satisfied with his answer, Bob continued:
"This song was written by a dear friend of mine, and, well - I hope you like it."
With that, Bob took a shallow breath...and started playing the tune of the song.
Today your world is gonna break
Reactions overdue
I pray you never again wake
The demons within you
It's all a ploy to get you under their control
But sympathetic heroes hide their scars beneath their soul
The fingerstyle tune kept repeating, and Bob sang again:
Tonight you'll say that it's your time
Just like you always do
But I know somehow it won't be right
Doing without you
Something just feels off without you being here
Something I cannot explain, yet I still hold so dear
The electric guitar started playing as Roman went on a few different chords. The acoustic didn't pause there and kept continuing it's tune in the background.
From the outside looking in
It seems you've finally found the cause
But nothing's over when you think it is
Don't give up the fight or
Let the people judge you
Based on what they think are flaws
After all, you don't want them to win
Do you?
Penny lightly tapped her drums near the end of the verse. After it finished, the drums became more dominant and the beat got more complex. Neo started playing the bass at the end of the verse, the tune supporting the main guitars. A faint sound of violins can be heard in the background, being played by the automatic synth.
Penny's drums then got more active with the beats.
I know you think I'm gonna break
Just like they always do
But I'm so much stronger than those fakes
Just wanting to hurt you
I know where you've been and what you're going through
'Cause even if you don't believe it, I've been in your shoes
Roman changed his tune again, now being supported by Penny and Neo.
From the outside looking in
It seems you've finally found the cause
But nothing's over when you think it is
Don't give up the fight or
Let the people judge you
Based on what they think are flaws
'Cause everybody has their share of sins
And you'll be alright
The drums then went switched to a marching beat as the chorus began:
Just let me in! Let me in!
I don't know where to begin
So let me in! Let me in!
Because I know where you have been
Just let me in! Let me in!
I don't want more broken skin
Just let me in! Let me in, please!
Let me in!
The drums changed their rhythm once again.
Let me in...
Both the drums, bass and the acoustic were silenced. The electric guitar toned down as an atmospheric synth was played in the background.
From the outside looking in
It seems you've finally found the cause
But nothing's over when you think it is
Don't give up the fight or
Let the people judge you
Based on what they think are flaws
'Cause everybody has their share of sins
Do you?
All four instruments went in overdrive and uped their volume as Roman provided back vocals and Bob sang:
Let me in! Let me in!
I don't know where to begin
So let me in! Let me in!
Because I know where you have been
Just let me in! Let me in!
I don't want more broken skin
Just let me in! Let me in, please!
Let me in!
Let me in! Let me in!
I don't know where to begin
So let me in! Let me in!
Because I know where you have been
Just let me in! Let me in!
I don't want more broken skin
Just let me in! Let me in, please!
Let me in!
All the instruments and sounds went silent for a few moments...before Bob started playing the acoustic guitar, signaling that the song will end:
Today we're finally gonna break
Just like we always do
Today we're finally gonna break….
(Can't do it without you)
The acoustic played a different harmony, and the song ended.
The newly formed band was met with an applause from both White and Black seats.
"It was...alright, I suppose." Winter idly commented.
"Never knew you can actually sing, Bob!"
"Hey, don't judge a book by it's cover, I say." Yang grinned at Bob's response.
"Satisfactory. It was a pleasant song to hear - your friend has talent." Watts spoke, which surprised Bob a little.
"Yeah! It kinda sounded like a love song - was it one?" Sun asked, to which Bob replied:
"Kinda, he wrote that for a person special to him."
"That's sweet!" Nora chirpped.
The band stood idly for a solid second before the host turned to his three bandmates and asked:
"Wanna go for an another one?"
Neo and Roman happily nodded, although Roman also had a very devious grin on his face...which aroused some suspicion for Ruby.
"I am performance ready!"
"A second song?" Blake asked.
"Yep. It'll be a little different than the previous one - perfect to, aheh, lift some spirits up."
Bob, to the surprise and shock of many, unequipped his guitar and started violently smashing it on the floor. After several hits, Bob threw the guitar in the far corner of the room and detached the mic from the stand.
A distorted guitar riff started playing as Roman screamed:
JUMP!
The riff went on going...and it didn't look like it's going to stop any moment.
BOUNCE!
Bob head pumped to the sound of the riff. A few younger members from the White seats joined in the activity.
DOWN!
Safe to say, Taiyang was very surprised at how the whole thing escalated without any warning.
Not that he minded it.
UP!
Ruby wasn't sure how to feel about this since she didn't like this particular style of rock, but she could see Penny clearly having fun as she rapidly hit those drums.
JUMP!
Pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo!
Bob started singing in a very, VERY gruff voice - almost like the original singer of the song.
BOUNCE!
Pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo!
UP!
Pogo, pogo, pogo!
DOWN!
Pogo, pogo, pogo!
JUMP(Pogo)!BOUNCE(Pogo)!UP(Pogo)!DOWN(Pogo)!
The heavy guitar riff transitioned to string picking as Bob began to sing:
I went out on a date with a girl, a bit late
She had so many friends!
(Gliding through many hands)
Roman sung the back vocals in an unusually high-pitched voice while Bob stroked the air around his crotch:
I brought my pogo stick just to show her a trick
She had so many friends!
(Gliding through many hands)
Safe to say, the more mature members of the audience were either visibly shocked or mildly annoyed by the blatant display of sexual action.
The more sophisticated members just laughed their assess off at that.
The guitar then returned to it's previous riffs while Roman and Bob screamed out:
JUMP!
Pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo!
BOUNCE!
Pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo!
UP!
Pogo, pogo, pogo!
DOWN!
Pogo, pogo, pogo!
JUMP(Pogo)!BOUNCE(Pogo)!UP(Pogo)!DOWN(Pogo)!
Unannounced Twister games, all players with no names
They lined up, double quick!
(But just one pogo stick)
Everyone gets to play, runaway, exposé
It was so exotic!
(But just one pogo stick)
It took a moment for Ruby to realize just what the song was all about. She covered her blush by putting her palms to the face.
Oscar was still confused by the whole situation.
JUMP!
Pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo!
BOUNCE!
Pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo!
UP!
Pogo, pogo, pogo!
DOWN!
Pogo, pogo, pogo!
JUMP(Pogo)!BOUNCE(Pogo)!UP(Pogo)!DOWN(Pogo)!
Roman abruptly stopped the riff and started picking strings in a different way. Both Neo and Bob approached the criminal, and Bob positioned himself between the both as he put his hands on their shoulders.
Roman then changed the picking into rhytmic distortion riffs as all three of them headbanged to them.
Out of all the members, it was Nora who took the cake as she presented a remarkable amount of passion of enjoying the song, with Yang and her Dad coming behind her.
The harmony slightly changed as Bob provided a melodic "oh" throughout the whole section.
The riffs got slightly milder as Bob slurred the lyrics out:
Ooh, I like to spread you out
Touching whoever's behind!
JUMP!
Pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo!
BOUNCE!
Pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo, pogo!
UP!
Pogo, pogo, pogo!
DOWN!
Pogo, pogo, pogo!
JUMP(Pogo)!BOUNCE(Pogo)!UP(Pogo)!DOWN(Pogo)!
WHOAH!
The end was now greeted with a small cheer of the resident crazies (including Tyrian Callows, to which Cinder wasn't surprised at all).
Blake would never admit it openly, but she really, REALLY liked the song. Not so surprising, considering what her favorite literature is.
"Welp, I'll never look at pogo sticks the same ever again." Neptune casually said, which earned him a chuckle from his team leader.
"For Gods' sake, why? WHY?!"
Bob turned his attention to a rather fuming Weiss, who continued:
"Why would you ruin a feeling of a perfect,gentle song by adding this, this...PERVERTED TRASH!"
"Hey, c'mon - now you're turning from an Ice Queen to a drama queen!" Yang smirked, ignoring the death stare Weiss was giving her.
"It was fun."
"Yep- wait, you liked it, Ren?"
"Of course Jaune, why would I not like it?"
Both Jaune and Pyrrha were caught of guard by a direct answer from Ren, not really expecting that the music might be in his taste.
Nora giggled at that.
"Was the...smashing really necessary?" Glynda asked, to which Bob simply responded:
"Hey, I had to prepare you somehow for this. Well, that - and I just like to break stuff."
As all the band members returned to their seats, Bob went to the opposite direction towards the same corridor he went through just several minutes ago.
"Bob?"
"Yes, Weiss?"
"I hate you."
He knew that she didn't really mean it - it was just the typical 'Weiss-Schnee-wannabe-tsundere' act.
"I love you too."
"UGH!"
The RBY couldn't help but smirk at that. Weiss calmed afterwards and patiently waited for the next thing. That is, until Mercury decided to voice himself with a legitimate question:
"Uh, where is Taurus?"
Everyone looked at the empty spot where a Black seat was, with both the seat and it's occupant...gone.
Almost as if he was never there in the first place.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Honestly? I think we need to have a little...heart to heart talk between us, don't you?"