Author's Note: I hope that everyone's doing fine, and I would like to give a thank you to melia2 for reviewing. I've been on a roll with my writing. Oh, and keep an eye out for a reference in this chapter.
Drowned Out
Chapter 10
Finally, the day of the concert arrived. Although some people were unsure about how the Teenage Wolves would be able to pull it off with a mute lead singer, but they were curious to see them try. The show was being held at a different auditorium since the one Matt's band usually had their gigs in was being remodeled.
Tai and his friends sat next to each other amongst the hordes of fangirls as they waited for the concert to begin.
"Matt may not be able to sing tonight," he told the group, "but we're gonna make sure that he has a great time!"
Sora nodded. "That's right, we'll show him our support by being his loudest cheerleaders!"
"Even louder than Jun?" questioned Joe, somewhat nervously.
"There's strength in numbers, Joe." pointed out Izzy. "There's four of us and one of her."
Sitting a little closer to the stage were two men dressed in suits. The talent scouts arrived a bit earlier before the others, intrigued by what the Teenage Wolves had to offer.
"What makes you think that this band has what it takes?" one of the scouts asked his colleague. "I mean, we've sat through plenty of run-of-the-mill boybands and they break up before we give them an answer."
"Well, I've heard that these guys actually have talent," the other replied, "There were instances where they sold out seats and their popularity is even soaring outside the school!"
"You have a point, but let's see for ourselves if their talent isn't just for show."
After about fifteen minutes of waiting, the lights dimmed, and the spotlights flashed on the stage above as the band made their entrance.
"Hey everybody!" Yutaka shouted into the mic, "Are you ready to rock out tonight?"
He was answered by thunderous cheering.
"Well," he gulped, "I'm afraid that our lead singer, Matt has a… frog in his throat and can't sing tonight."
Matt rolled his eyes. That's an understatement.
The crowd groaned in disappointment but several of them booed.
"What a rip off!"
"I wanna refund!"
Breaking into a nervous sweat, Yutaka quickly addressed the audience again.
"B-but don't worry! That doesn't mean the show can't go on! In fact, you guys are part of the show!"
The talent scouts exchanged looks before writing some notes down.
With a nod of Matt's head, the concert began. As the music rose in volume, Akira and Yutaka motioned everyone to join in singing.
"Come on everybody!" Yutaka said, "Join in!"
"He's right! We can't do it without you dudes and dudettes!" added Akira. "Sing along with us!"
The concertgoers added their voices as the song reached its first chorus.
It was a little awkward at first, but gradually, the viewers began to put their hearts into singing while Yutaka and Akira took turns dictating who would sing next.
"Alright! Let's hear the people on left!"
"I can't hear you!"
Matt felt a smile tug on his lips as he continued the play. Convincing his bandmates to go ahead with the concert despite his condition was turning out great after all and the fans were loving every minute of it.
But while the Teenage Wolves continued to perform, Donzo and his gang had snuck into the backstage room, where they were discussing the finishing touches to a plan.
"So, it's all settled then?" the bulky teen asked.
"Yep," responded one of his goons, "Operation: Birdcage will commence once The Teenage Wolves plan to finish the concert with a bang."
"Excellent."
The gang of bullies opened the door to a crack, watching the band play their songs, patiently waiting for the right time to strike.
The concert was growing to be as successful as the previous ones. The band stopped to take a break and though everyone was hyped up with excitement, the band decided that after this last song, they'd call it a night.
"Everyone ready for the grand finale?" Akira shouted.
The answer came back in loud clamoring and applause.
"Alright, boys," Donzo said, "that's it, kill the lights!"
At the signal, the thugs threw the switch, and the auditorium went pitch black.
Members of the audience started to scream. Others grew excited, anticipating the final act of the concert.
Tai looked around frantically. "What's going on?"
"Do you guys think it might be a power surge or something?" Joe asked.
Izzy furrowed his brow. "It can't be! If it were a power surge, everything would have come back on by now!"
Akira tried to calm everyone down, but then remembered that due to the outage, his voice was easily overpowered by the multitude.
As the band stood firmly in place, Matt could hear something being pulled downward and suddenly felt a sticky substance ooze down on him from above, followed by many soft things fluttering down and clinging to his form. Then, something fell and made a loud clatter next to him.
"What was that?" Takashi called out in the darkness. "You guys okay?"
"Akira and I are fine!" responded Yutaka, "but Matt can't talk, remember?"
"Oh yeah, hey Matt? You alright? Stomp your foot for 'yes'!"
The Bearer of Friendship did so.
"That's good," said Takashi, "I think there's a backup light switch somewhere. I just need to find it."
Matt froze.
He knew the minute the lights came back on; him standing centerstage, covered from head to toe and dripping with sticky goo was what everyone was going to see.
I've got to get out of here!
Feeling around and unplugging his guitar from the amplifier, he carefully maneuvered his way avoiding detection from his bandmates. Sneaking off the stage, he grabbed his guitar case and quietly disappeared out the backdoor. The moment he was outside, he broke into a sprint and ran.
"Okay, I found it!" Takashi grinned as he flipped the switch.
When the lights finally turned back on, the three remaining Teenage Wolves were just about to play their final song when they saw that their bassist had vanished. Matt was gone but in his place was a large puddle of molasses, some yellow feathers, and a fallen bucket.
The assembly went dead silent.
The four Digidestined just stared wide-eyed at the spot where their friend once was.
Seeing the bright yellow feathers triggered something in Tai.
"The band's nothing without their songbird!"
"Songbird Ishida…Songbird Ishida…"
Tai felt his rage begin to build as the clues came together in his mind, realizing who was most likely responsible for his friend's abrupt departure.
"This little canary…silly songs…doors and seesaws…"
"Hey," a spectator shouted breaking the silence, "it looks like Matt flew the coop!"
Some of the onlookers burst into laughter at the joke while others were confused by this so-called 'grand finale'.
"You mean that's it? A disappearing act?"
"This is worse than the time those robot monsters attacked the last concert!"
"Yeah. Totally lame."
The trio put down their instruments and walked over to where their lead singer once stood, their eyes widened seeing what looked like the aftermath of a vicious prank. Exchanging expressions that ranged from shocked to outraged, the three looked around the stage wondering what had happened to their blonde bandmate.
The crowd stopped laughing when they realized that the stunt was not part of the act. Growing uncomfortable, they started to get up from their seats and left the auditorium. The talent scouts looked over their notes, then to each other and left without a word.
Sora was appalled. "How horrible!"
"This is Donzo's doing," Tai growled, clenching his fists, "I just know it!"
"I knew he had a reputation for being a bully," Izzy said, "but I didn't think he'd stoop this low."
"Yeah," agreed Joe, "all just because Matt was more popular than him."
"I'll make that jerk pay!" Tai shouted, "I don't know how, but he will pay for what he did to Matt!"
The Bearer of Courage proceeded to go track down Donzo but was stopped by Sora.
"Hold on, Tai, I don't think we should be going after Donzo right now."
"Why not?!" snapped the brunette teen, "We're just going to let him get away with that?!"
"Look, I get where you're coming from," Sora said, "but I think our main concern right now should be Matt."
Joe spoke up. "Sora's right, Tai. Matt really needs us."
Tai closed his eyes sighing heavily as he calmed down.
"You're right. Come on! Let's go find Matt!"
…
Matt didn't know how long he kept running. All he knew was that he had to get away from there, but it seemed to him the further he ran, he could still hear them laughing.
Soon, exhaustion caught up with him and coming to a stop at a crosswalk, he was gawked at by other people waiting for the light to change.
"Look at that guy!"
"He waited too late to wear his chicken costume, Halloween's over."
"Ha! A giant chicken crossing the road!"
They then started to heckle and make clucking sounds at the blonde teen. Matt bit his lip, wishing more than ever that he could lash out at them for being cruel. The light finally turned green and he quickened his pace as he crossed the street, wanting nothing more than to go home.
At last, Matt made it back to his apartment. Locking the door behind him, he threw off his shoes and made his way into the bathroom. Taking off his ruined clothes, Matt tried to get as many feathers as he can out of his hair and cleaned his bass guitar before heading into the shower.
He managed to wash out most of the stickiness off his hair and himself after nearly scrubbing his skin raw, he changed into his pajamas and left a text message for his father, saying that the concert was a bust and that he came home early. Setting his instrument aside, he crawled on the bed and looked forlornly at Gabumon's colorless digi-egg.
The Bearer of Friendship hugged the digi-egg tightly in his arms as he pressed his back up against the frame of the bedpost.
Oh, Gabumon… I wish you were here right now…
There came a knock on the door. Confused, Matt got up from the bed and made his way towards the entrance hall.
"Matt?"
It was Tai.
"Come on, Matt, open up!" Tai called, knocking harder, "We know you're in there!"
The Bearer of Courage's voice was soon joined by the other Digidestined.
"Please let us in, Matt." Sora pleaded. "You know we're not here to laugh at you."
"She's right," Joe added. "Besides, we would never hurt you."
Tai cringed at the blue-haired teen's statement, both he and Matt were guilty when it came to fistfights in the past, but he would never go as far as to publicly humiliate his friend.
Outside the door, the Digidestined could hear Matt's feet shuffling towards the entrance however, the door did not unlock.
"Uhhh…Matt?" Izzy asked, speaking for the first time since the group walked over to the apartment, "Are you going to be okay?"
The bushy-haired teen fought the urge to smack his forehead. Of course, he's not okay!
From under the door, a note slid out. Picking it up, the word, 'yes' was scrawled in the blonde's handwriting.
"I don't believe you." Tai said firmly. "Open the door, Matt! We want to help you!"
Joe agreed rather awkwardly. "Yeah, come on. It's not fun talking through a solid door, much less the mail slot."
You can help me by leaving. Matt thought in response.
Tai was growing irate at his friend's stubbornness.
"Do you want us to tell T.K. what happened to you?"
Another note quickly slid out which said, 'NO!'
Izzy couldn't believe what he just heard. "Tai, are you crazy?!"
"Matt," Sora began, "please listen, we'll make sure that Donzo or his gang never ever try and hurt you again."
"You're our friend, Matt," the auburn-haired girl said gently, placing a hand on the door, "and we love you."
The blonde felt his heart skip a beat.
Love. Matt swallowed hard and took a deep breath.
Slowly, Matt's hand moved toward the doorknob. His fingers started to tremble as they edged closer and closer to the lock. He was just about turn it when he heard Tai give a disheartened sigh outside.
"Let's go guys, we're wasting time, he's not gonna let us in. We'll try again tomorrow."
In an instant, Matt's hand fell limp at his side.
The others reluctantly agreed and started walking away. Sora lingered for a moment longer with her childhood friend before following behind Joe and Izzy.
"Just remember this, Matt," The Bearer of Courage stated as he turned to leave, "Friends don't shut other friends out. After all, Gabumon never shut you out, did he?"
Matt stood there, staring at the door, completely stunned by what Tai had just said.
He bent his head down, unlocking the door with a click.
Then he slowly trudged his way back to his room, holding his digi-egg close to him as he crawled into bed and fell into a restless sleep.
…
"Say T.K.," asked Yolei, "How did your brother's concert go last night?"
"Uh, well, Dad said that his concert ended in complete disaster," T.K. explained glumly, "and Matt's pretty bummed out about it."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Kari said.
"Hey," Davis said, changing the subject, "you guys want to hear something funny?"
"What is it?" asked Cody.
"Last night, there were sightings of a guy covered in feathers running around the Odaiba district! Like some mutant chicken man!"
"Mutant chicken man?" repeated Ken, unconvinced.
Yolei raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're not making this up?"
"No, it's true!" insisted the goggle boy, "one of the neighbors in my apartment complex saw him!"
"What was he doing," T.K. joked, "trying to get to the other side?"
The younger Digidestined, including Cody, began to laugh and laugh. Steadily, their laughter died down as the six left the computer room and headed out the school doors.
"Aren't you going home, T.K.?" asked Cody.
"No, I'm staying afterschool for basketball practice."
"Oh yeah, that's right," Yolei recalled, "your big game is coming up soon!"
The Bearer of Hope nodded. "I've been practicing hard and the coach says that with me on the team, there's no way our opponents will stand a chance!"
Ken smiled. "Well, we'll be sure to be there to cheer you on."
"Thanks, and I'll see you guys later!" the blonde said with a wave.
The others waved back and left the school.
…
Following basketball practice, the Bearer of Hope was getting ready to head for home when he heard someone talking on their cell phone out by the soccer field.
"Ha! The plan was success but it's too bad he escaped before his fans saw him looking like that."
T.K. stopped.
He moved closer, hiding behind a wall, quietly listening in on the conversation.
"Yeah, the Teenage Wolves' popularity will go down the drain and then all the girls will be flocking back to The Don!"
The voice on the phone laughed back in response.
"Uh-huh and if the canary's little friends decide to play bodyguard, they'll get what's coming to them. Still, we sure showed Songbird Ishida last night, or should I say, Chicken Ishida."
Chicken Ishida?!
The blonde felt himself growing angry but then he gasped in realization.
Everything began to make sense now: why the concert failed, why the older Digidestined weren't talking about it and the sightings of someone coated in feathers that night.
And that someone was his older brother.
Guilt started festering inside the blonde as he recalled how he and his friends had laughed at the unfortunate person earlier, realizing too late that it was Matt whom they were cruelly mocking.
"Plus, if that Songbird decides to have another gig next time, he'll be drenched in something worse than molasses."
T.K. had heard enough. He stepped out from his hiding place and stomped his way towards the thug who had hurt his brother.
"I gotta go," Donzo said, "I've got fresh meat coming my way."
He hung up his cell phone and put it away just as the blonde stopped, glowering up at him.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Matt's younger brother!"
The brute loomed at the younger boy as he towered over him. "Oh, I thought I saw something familiar about you. You've almost got the same canary hair…"
T.K. stepped back but continued glaring at the hulking teen.
"So, you're Songbird Ishida's little brother, eh?" Donzo sneered, "What was your name again, was it, Topper?"
"My name's T.K.!" the younger boy shouted, throwing his bucket hat and backpack on the ground. "And you're gonna pay for what you did!"
The angry boy swung at the bully, but Donzo calmly caught T.K.'s fist. Gritting his teeth, T.K. put all his strength into moving his fist but it would not budge. He tried with his free hand but again, Donzo caught it without any effort.
"You're annoying." Donzo said flatly.
He tightened his grip, putting on intense pressure on the younger boy's hands.
T.K. yelled as pain surged up his arms, looking down, he aimed a kick at Donzo's shin, but he shoved the blonde backwards, causing him to stumble slightly.
"I think it's so cute how you wanna stand up for that canary of a brother but let me show you how The Don deals with those who don't know their place."
Before T.K. could react, Donzo slammed his fist hard into the blonde's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He fell to knees, clutching his stomach as he struggled to regain his breath.
T.K. was then lifted by his shirt collar and punched across the face. The force of the blow knocked T.K. back a foot or two as he landed into a patch of grass. Still wheezing for air, he could feel warm blood running down his lip as his left eye painfully swelled shut. He tried to stand but his legs buckled and collapsed from under him.
Donzo brushed himself off, smiling smugly at his work.
"That'll teach you not to mess with The Don, Wimp! But thanks for the warmup."
Feeling satisfied, he turned and picked up the younger boy's hat lying in the dirt.
"Oh, and here's your hat, Topper." Donzo said, spitting on the hat before chucking it at the injured blonde as he walked away.
-To be continued…