CHAPTER 26: The Spirit of Music Unites us All.
(Optional Chapter, Will not affect plot)
I won't focus on the songs/lyrics for the majority of the chapter. I will also warn you, this chapter will feel long for some, so if you want to skip over, that's more than fine by me. Like it states, this chapter doesn't affect the plot.
John's POV
For the days leading up to the show, our schedule was as follows. We would train in the morning like normal and during the afternoon, training would be cut in half so that each of the Five could work on their songs (practicing with and without lyrics) so that they feel ready for Thursday.
For the majority of the time, me and Tigress would be training, sparring and working on the songs together. Our friendship has really grown since we made amends the second night of my arrival. We've gotten really close and my feelings for her have gotten more affectionate as time went by.
Finally, the day arrived. Our training was cut to just a morning session and then after lunch, we brought down what we each needed for the show. For me, since the music store was providing the majority of the equipment, all I had to bring with me was two guitars and my multi effects pedalboard.
Tigress brought her yellow hanfu (from the third film) for me to wear for my disguise. We had planned to shock the villagers with me performing onstage with Mei's band. The plan was for me to become unrecognizable by not only wearing Tigress' hanfu, but to also have my face painted with corpse paint. That way, the crowd will have no clue.
We arrived at the venue, which was a theatre that had seated areas on two floors and even a section for the crowd to mosh.
"Wow, the stage is huge." Monkey said.
"Yeah, we could all perform up there if we wanted to." Mantis said.
"Well guys, I need to go and set my stuff up and go through soundcheck. Should take a couple hours." I said.
They all nodded.
Timeskip: 10 minutes until showtime.
My sisters had arrived along with their husbands, our parents, Hutch and Heather about a couple hours before the show so they could get setup and practice. We then went all together for dinner before coming back to the venue to get all prepped up.
Kate was helping me with the paint. A hobby of hers was facepainting, so I knew I was in good hands. She was just finishing up some final touch ups on my eyes.
"That should do it John. Take a look in the mirror and see for yourself." Kate said.
"Woah! That looks terrifying." A voice came from the door. It was my mother.
"Hey Mom. What do you think?" I asked.
"Like I said, terrifying. The crowd will have no idea it's you."
Tigress walked in.
"I believe you're missing something." She handed me her hanfu.
I went to put it on and then looked in the mirror.
"Holy shit Kate. You did awesome!" I said.
"Thanks bro."
"I don't mean to pull the plug guys but we hit the stage in 10 minutes." Mei Ling walked in.
"I guess me and your girlfriend have to leave you John."
"Mom!" I said.
Tigress went wide eyed. I on the other hand gave her an unamused look as I brought her out of the room and went for a little walk.
"What? She is, isn't she?" Mom gave me a suspicious look.
"Yes, girlfriend with a space in the middle. A girl who is a friend."
"You never know John. And now that I think about. Shouldn't it be time for you to finally find 'The One'?"
'She does have a point.'
"Well, can you keep this between us, because I do have feelings for her. BUT, I wanna wait until the right time, so it makes it less uncomfortable for both of us." I said.
"John, I've seen how you both look at each other. As your mother, I think that you are more than ready to tell her. But, I won't force you since you want to feel comfortable."
She gave me a hug, which I hugged her in return.
"My little boy's finally growing up."
"Little?" I asked laughing.
"You may be an adult, but that doesn't change anything."
"John!" Roman came running to us.
"Were on in 5 minutes."
"Well mom, duty calls."
"Good luck and give your sisters a hug for good luck on my behalf."
"I will mom."
We then went towards the backstage area that led onto the stage. Mei, Song and my sisters were waiting for us.
"Alright guys bring it in." Mei said.
We formed a huddle.
"No matter what happens out there tonight, we will give them our best. And we must make sure that John shall remain in disguise. So I will be calling him Juno until we decide to reveal him to the crowd.
Other than that, we play hard and loud like always. So 'hoorah' on three. 1 2 3-
"HOORAH!" We all shouted.
We then got into position on stage. A curtain blocked the crowd from seeing us walk on.
Once the intro song (Run to the Hills) finished, the curtain dropped and we dove head first into the first song.
I instantly became one with the disguise and went full mean face along with that I began headbanging. Normally I would either look at some of the spectators and acknowledge their excitement or point out to the crowd. With the disguise, I had to refrain from doing so.
That and I had to change my vocal style. Instead of my normal mid range scream, I had to stick with low gutturals that would blend with Mei Ling's vocals since she could both sing and scream.
I had to admit, after a few songs in, my face was becoming a bit sore. I wasn't complaining though because the disguise was working. That and the crowd in the pit were going fucking bonkers.
Every once in a while, I would get a glimpse at the Five, who were sitting along with Shifu next to my family's table. Seeing Crane's beak drop during every song was fucking hysterical, especially since he now got to hear his girlfriend's (Mei Ling. Yes it happened during their date in the last chapter) powerful screaming voice mixed with her equally powerful singing.
The first half of the set was coming to a close and Mei Ling decided to address the upcoming halftime and much anticipated second half.
"Man, you guys are the rowdiest crowd this band has ever seen since we first began MAKE SOME NOISE COME ON!"
The crowd cheered on.
"We have one more song before we take a quick 30 minute break. But before we go, we have been testing you all night so far. As you can see to my left, we have a guest performer for the show tonight. Our good friend Juno has been kind to lend us a hand and help us out.
He's been paying very close attention to all of you guys and he thinks that you are worthy of a little surprise. BUT, on 2 conditions. One, you sing this next song with the intention of busting your vocal chords, and two, you all stick around for the second half of the show because that's when we will need your help. Can you do that for me Valley of Peace?!"
The crowd screamed in anticipation.
"Very good, now you may recognize this one. Roman...give me a four count."
Cue The End of Heartache.
We decided to do this song in particular, so that I can re-do what I did on the day of the ceremony, which was doing both the first scream and the breakdown after the second chorus with my regular scream. That way, we could give that sense of recognition to the crowd as a teaser.
Finally, with the song finished, we went backstage and I began cleaning the face paint off my face. The Five were then brought into the greenroom we were in to get themselves ready.
"That was fucking insane!" Monkey came in.
"You looked so sick up there." Mantis followed along with the others.
"All I can say is you looked terrifying John. I think the disguise worked." Viper said.
"Thanks guys. Tigress, I believe this belongs to you. I hope I didn't dirty it too much." I gave her back the hanfu.
"It was my pleasure John."
We then relaxed for the majority of the break before we went back to the backstage area waiting for the signal. The curtain was put back up and this time, a pre recorded video played to showcase the surprise we had for the crowd.
The video starts with Mei showing off her bandmates getting ready before panning over to Kate and Lilly picking up their instruments (they were not in the first half), which got the crowd cheering on. Then it panned over to the Five telling the camera that they were performing, which riled them up even more. Then I popped into the frame and snapped my fingers, which made the crowd explode.
"They seem ready!" Viper said.
This may seem rushed and that I'm rambling, but I'm gonna simply summarize what goes on during each of the Five's songs from John's POV. Like I mentioned before, I won't be adding the lyrics of the songs. I will put the song titles for those that want to check them out.
Fight Fire with Fire.
The curtain falls and we start off Monkey's song. During the intro, both me and him walked out and got the crowd to split down the middle. Monkey literally flipped when he saw the wall of death hit, he had gotten his wish. He was going nuts and really was into the song. It was awesome seeing the look of shock and amazement in his face. The crowd was loving it even more than I was. The intensity and fluidity of movement that I could see was simply breathtaking.
The way that the second half of the show went as follows. After Monkey's song, we would play a couple songs where I could finally sing how I normally would before bringing on the next member of the Five and the cycle would repeat.
Before getting Mantis onstage to perform, Roman had actually talked the band into doing the song Nothing Else Matters where me and him would switch roles. That being he sang the song to confess his love for Su and I would play the drums for both this song and for Mantis' song.
Just seeing him doing this whilst playing along was just amazing. To know I had helped out a friend of mine confess his love for someone onstage felt really special. Especially when Su ran out and embraced him after the song finished. Seeing them embracing each other had me smiling to the point my cheeks hurt.
Bulls on Parade.
For this song, I was on the drums, Kate and Lilly were on guitar and bass. Essentially a family jam session with Mantis on vocals. Because of his size, we were able to place a microphone on top of the main bass drum so he could just stand there and sing along. I decided that since this song hits like a brick, I hit every kick pattern in the song as hard as I could. I gotta give the guy credit, he was able to command that crowd and get them jumping high and scream the lyrics with him.
This gave me a huge sense of satisfaction and even relief seeing the crowd enjoying the Five stepping out of their comfort zone and doing this sort of thing for the villagers.
Over the Mountain.
Viper came out a couple songs after Mantis and like she intended, the crowd was joining along with her singing this classic Ozzy track. She was no stranger of performing in front of a crowd thanks to her experience as a ribbon dancer. This song, me and Kate were able to play the solo in a dual harmony fashion. Even with my in-ears in, I could still hear our mother screaming her lungs out because this was her favorite song.
Smells Like a Freakshow
"How are you all doing tonight Valley of Peace?!" I took the microphone as the crowd cheered on.
"I gotta say man like Mei Ling stated earlier, best crowd we have ever played for. Make some noise.
We are all here together to celebrate the start of something new. Now I know that the ceremony last week didn't end the way it should have and instead of crowning one of the five with the Dragon Warrior title, it was given to me. However, as much as I wanted to relinquish out of respect for the five and for all of you. I decided that now is the best time for me to prove to all of you, my friends and family, that I will do my absolute best to take this role and prove myself that to all of you that it wasn't a fluke choice. I will do whatever it takes to keep your way of living safe and this valley danger free until the day I die!"
I then did the speech Johannes from Avatar does before starting the song. As we had planned, I would scream the verses whilst Crane would sing the choruses. I have to say I was proud of him. The nervousness that he was showing when we first planned the show was gone thanks to Mei Ling.
Finally, we had one more song left, and I decided to introduce the last song.
"Thank you so much!
Unfortunately with all good things, they have to come to an end. That being said, we decided to save the best for last. As you all know, there is one final member of the Five left to perform and that...is the leader and founding member. Master Tigress!"
She walked out and after a few seconds of cheers, she spoke.
"This song is a very personal song for me emotionally. So if during the song I choke up and make some mistakes, I apologise."
Human.
After singing the first lyrics, Tigress looked over at me, smirked before hitting that first scream of the song. Unlike the album version, she decided to continue the scream until the first verse (how Chad does it live).
I was stunned and awe struck by her doing so. I then regained my composure and continued with some headbanging. Following the first chorus, me and Tigress walked into the crowd heading for the tables, specifically my family's table. We got there in time for me to give the boys (Humphery, Garth and Hutch) a callout before hitting the solo.
We then finished the song and just like that, our show had come to an end and the crowd erupted into the loudest cheers of the night. I looked over to Tigress and gave her a smirk that meant she nailed her performance. To tell you the truth, I was looking forward to hearing her voice and she did not disappoint.
Timeskip: After the show.
After a group photo onstage with everybody, packing up the equipment I brought down and a much needed shower, I made my way out of the venue where I met up with my parents. The others had already either left for Marshal or made their way back to the Palace.
"Well, what did you guys think?" I asked.
"Absolutely amazing." Dad said.
"Tigress really stood out tonight. She really amazed all of us." Mom said.
"John, are you ready to head back?" Tigress walked over.
"Yeah, just let me say my-"
"Actually, before you leave. A quick photo of just the two of you?" Mom cut me off.
Both me and Tigress looked at each other. I blushed a bit, after the talk me and my mother had earlier about me telling her my feelings for Tigress. I was certain she felt just as awkward about it as I was.
"Why not." I said.
We then got together and I decided just for the picture, I put my arm around her shoulders as she put her arm around my waist.
After snapping the picture, I went over to hug both my parents to say my goodbyes before me and Tigress began making our way back up the mountain.
"Sorry about that." I said.
"About what?"
"The whole picture situation."
"You don't need to be. Like I said before, I'm used to it."
"That helps I guess. You did amazing tonight Tigress."
"Thanks John. You weren't that bad yourself." She smirked
We arrived back up the mountain about an hour later. I went straight to my room, put my stuff down and went to bed.
'Tonight ruled.' I thought before falling asleep.
And there you have that. The last music based chapter of the story. I apologise for anybody who has read and felt like it was a major amount of rambling, I wanted to get all the ideas out without taking up more chapter space.
With that said, stay tuned because John's time to prove himself is about to begin.