Aaaand it's done! I can't believe it. Took longer than expected, but that's okay. Of all the stories I've written, finishing this one feels really bittersweet. I'm really attached to it; the themes and everything are ones very close to me. Also, I'm really glad everyone liked Stella's part last chapter. Her arc was the one I felt was most rushed, so I'm glad it was still well received :) If you're looking for a soundtrack for this, Avril Lavigne's music was my go-to whenever I was writing this story. I may have said it before, but Avari's appearance isn't a coincidence XD

Thank you WildeChild17, GinMado, and Starling Cosmos for submitting your OCs and putting up with my constant requests for more outfits. I'd write for them anytime :D As always, I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone who's taken the time to review: Guest, GinMado, WildeChild17, rokebuto, and Starling Cosmos! Extra thanks to WildeChild17 for keeping me on track to finish! I hope this final chapter wraps it all up nicely for everyone. Let me know what you think!

I do not own Metal Fight Beyblade.

"Hurry up!" Avari bellowed from the steps of the tour bus. The doors began to close as Stella and Gin rushed up them, arms full of bags. The girls stumbled into the living area, laughing as their disgruntled driver pulled back out onto the road. He seemed to be regretting his life's decision to be a driver more and more every day. For all his displeasure though, he never left without making sure all five girls were accounted for.

All of them were spread out across two couches that furnished the center of the bus, lounging and tearing into the bags of snacks they'd just bought at the gas station.

Their tour bus wasn't that big or luxurious- especially compared to Dauntless Inferno's, which had their logo painted on the side- but it was nice enough, and more importantly, it was theirs.

Other than the two couches, which made up the bulk of the bus, there was a bathroom and a small sleeping area in the back outfitted with bunk beds. Most of their belongings were kept inaccessible in the lower storage area of the bus with their instruments and equipment, but they'd each taken a bag or two inside and kept them on their respective bunks. It was all they could fit.

The bathroom was so tiny it hardly qualified as one, but it saved them from having to make constant stops at gas stations and rest areas, or worse, in the woods. The living area did have a tv and gaming console, which was a nice touch and good for killing the monotony during the long drives.

Most of their nights were spent in hotels, but there had been quite a few spent on the bus as well. Sometimes the distance between venues was too great and the time too short to allow them the luxury of sleeping in an actual bed. Unfortunately, tonight was one of those nights.

It was already past two in the morning on Saturday. The show Friday had ended promptly at eleven, at which point the girls had been ushered back onto the bus while their merch table was taken down inside and all equipment loaded up. There was no time to celebrate their latest performance this time.

There was nothing quite like walking out of the back door of the building to avoid fans, only to find them screaming, hanging over the barriers in front of the bus while security stood watch. It was amazing that people had rushed out of the venue in hopes of getting to the front for another glimpse of them, or maybe even an autograph if they were lucky as the girls were escorted by their guards.

Tonight had been no different, thrilling as ever. They were about to do it all over again, in another city with new fans.

Sleep would've been a great idea- if they weren't so amped. Even hours later, the excitement and adrenaline were still hard to ignore. It was the same after every show; they often didn't sleep after three am, and even later when they had hotel rooms. Those nights tended to be particularly wild. The band and crew members always wanted to let loose after a successful show.

Of course, it helped that the windows on the bus had blinds in the sleeping area, and that they generally never needed to be at a venue before five for the soundcheck. It wasn't uncommon for any of them to sleep past noon with their new schedules.

So far, they were nine shows into a thirty-show run and loving it. They weren't quite a third of the way finished, but that was more than fine with them. Three weeks on the road felt like nothing, although the grueling hours down endless lanes did tend to get tiresome. They were also learning to adjust to being near each other in more cramped spaces than usual. They'd had their issues and were working through them, but that was to be expected. No one had ever said it would be easy, but it was absolutely worth it.

The biggest change was adapting to all the downtime on the road. Sometimes they sneaked onto Dauntless Inferno's bus at stops to help combat boredom, but the visits were never long enough. When they'd done their own tour back in the beginning of the year, they'd been so busy trying to make sure everything ran smoothly they hadn't had time to be bored. Stressed sure, but not bored. Now, DNMM was handling every little detail. They still hadn't been paired up with an official manager, but DNMM assured them they would have one as soon as they found the perfect match.

Ironically, for the first week before the tour, Ryuto had been acting as manager despite having no experience just as a fill-in. They didn't want him on tour, though, requiring him to stay at headquarters, and it was decided his relationship with Avari would be a conflict of interest anyway.

Instead, Dauntless Inferno's tour manager was taking care of them as well for the time being. The poor woman looked frazzled every time they saw her, but that wasn't on them. Taking care of two simultaneously touring bands couldn't be easy, but she at least had an assistant until another manager was sent over. Organized as DNMM was, this was definitely an oversight. They'd wondered if the initial plan hadn't been to send both bands on tour, which was why the label was scrambling now, or if there was something else at headquarters they were unaware of requiring more immediate attention. Regardless, it was out of their hands and things were going well enough that they weren't all that worried.

"Do you think we're finally done with all of the training sessions?" Gin moaned, rubbing her eyes.

"I hope so," Stella's eyes were troubled. "What more can they go over this far in?"

For the two weeks leading up to the first show, in addition to coming up with a set list, working on a new single to debut live, and regular practices, they'd been attending the same trainings Dauntless Inferno had, constantly being pulled in to headquarters. They'd spent mind-numbing hours learning about interacting with the press. Midnight Embrace wasn't doing official meet and greets like Dauntless Inferno, but they were spending time after their set at the merch booth for autographs, photos, and to promote themselves, so they needed to go over etiquette for that and dealing with fans, too, especially more aggressive ones. DNMM was more controlling than they'd realized; they did everything they could to avoid a scandal and present their talent as "model" rock stars. Still, the help was appreciated. They were able to be themselves, but they had a deeper understanding of the industry and how not to bring unwanted attention to themselves, which could only be more useful as their fame skyrocketed. The paparazzi still lurked, but they couldn't keep their entire lives secret regardless anymore, unless they hid out on the bus or in a hotel room the whole time and no one was willing to do that.

Christina closed her eyes. "If I hear one more lecture about 'interview decorum,' I'm going to lose my mind."

"Or not harassing the fans," Ninel agreed. "Did you see when those girls tried to rush the stage during Dauntless Inferno's set last night? And somehow the label worries we'll be the ones out of control?"

Touring with Dauntless Inferno was working out really well for them in a way they hadn't anticipated: their fans overlapped. Despite being hard rockers, Dauntless Inferno brought in a slew of female fans thanks to their good looks and skill, and those fans were more than happy to support the girl power Midnight Embrace brought. This worked out particularly well, as now was a crucial time for growing their fanbase. DNMM planned for the girls to work nonstop through the end of the year. As soon as they were done touring, recording would begin, along with photoshoots, another video, and interviews galore. Their debut album would drop early in the new year at the absolute latest.

Stella ripped open a bag of gummy worms. It hadn't been easy, but with King's help she'd come clean about her food struggles and was almost feeling back to herself, though she knew it would take time, a fact she'd come to terms with after some deep thought. Even if it hadn't felt that way, she'd been through a lot. She met with a counselor monthly, and had joined an anonymous support group that met virtually to help while she was unable to do so in person. She passed the bag around.

The day before the tour began, she and the other girls had taken the scale from their bathroom to the back of the apartment parking lot. There, they'd taken turns smashing it to bits with a hammer King had obtained from who knew where practically the second Stella had asked. After cheering and stomping the scale into the dust, they'd taken the remains and tossed them in a nearby dumpster. It had been incredibly cathartic, and afterwards all of them felt renewed and ready to start their new chapter.

"I'm so pumped for tomorrow's show," Christina commented. "It's one of the biggest!"

"And it's nearly sold out," Gin couldn't conceal her grin. Once word had gotten out about how well their lineup worked together, tickets had really started selling. A few of the venues on the latter half of the tour had already sold out weeks in advance.

"We should probably think about getting some sleep," Ninel realized, looking at the time on her phone.

"You guys can," Avari stated, whipping out her own phone. "I'm gonna call Ryuto."

"You know it's pretty late," Stella raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"He'll answer," Avari paused in the doorway leading to her bunk. She brushed the adjoining curtain aside, not looking at the others. "He always does."

With that, they all got up to start getting ready for the new day. With one of the more important, pivotal shows coming up, they needed to be properly rested. Every night was a party these days, so turning in early for once didn't sound all that bad.

Christina flicked off the light as they all filed to their beds. She looked around the room, then at the dark world outside.

This was what they had always dreamed of.

Every day was the same. Christina yawned as she furiously blinked herself awake. Well, maybe that wasn't entirely true, but it felt like it. The nights of course were unique, and wonderfully so, but she always awoke on the bus or in a room, in which case she was usually hurriedly checked out of said room and rushed onto the bus. From there, it was just hours of waiting. At least no air travel was required for this particular tour; that would've added a whole new dimension.

They were getting fast food for breakfast/lunch again. Ninel had just woken the others up so they wouldn't miss it. They had about a 15-minute window to grab everything they needed to get through the afternoon.

At least it would be different once they reached their destination. After soundcheck, they usually were pretty much free to do whatever they wanted as long as they stuck close to the venue. Unfortunately, today's schedule was so tight they wouldn't have time to do any sightseeing, but there would be other opportunities in other cities. Today just happened to be one of the shows where the organizers were pushing it; the two venues were almost ten hours apart. Maybe they should've traveled by plane. After today though, most of the venues were within a few hours of each other, or multiple nights at the same venue, giving them time to really enjoy their time off on tour.

She had another reason to be excited: pretty soon Chris would be meeting up with them, once the shows got a little closer to his hometown. He'd already promised to stay with them for a minimum of three shows. She couldn't wait to see her brother again. All the same, that wouldn't be happening until later next week.

Christina slumped off the bus, purse in hand. It may have been 11, but as far as she was concerned it was too early for this. She yawned again, rubbing her eyes.

Up ahead, she saw Dauntless Inferno getting off their bus, loud and cheerful as ever. It figured. They had previously gone to bed way later than the girls, yet they always seemed to have endless energy.

This truck stop was the same as all the others: crowded, huge lines for the bathrooms, and four or five restaurants rounding out the building.

"Wanna see the sights?" A voice whispered in her ear.

Christina jerked upright. Bao had appeared out of nowhere to her left. She could've sworn she saw him right by the entrance a second ago.

She decided to play along. "Sights at a rest area? Oh sure, we can time how long people spend in the bathroom and see who takes the longest."

Bao's face was serious. "No, there's a waterfall right nearby. Can't you hear it?"

Christina strained to listen, but the child screaming five feet away made it difficult. "Not really."

He touched her arm. "C'mon, I'll show you." The others started to disappear inside the building.

"Bao, we have like ten minutes before we have to be back on the bus and I'm starving-"

"So have someone else get your food. We're wasting time."

Deciding her food would have to wait, she resigned herself to calling out to Gin, the only other girl still outside. She and Kyoya were holding hands, but the dark-haired girl spun around anyway. Christina gave Gin her order amid mutual confusion, then Gin and Kyoya slipped inside.

"All right," Christina gave Bao a skeptical look. "Since my lunch has to wait, this 'waterfall' better be good." She was half-expecting him to take her to a bridge with a river dam. She had to wonder where he got his information.

Bao took her hand and started leading her at an unexpectedly fast clip. Christina felt a thrill run through her.

They picked up speed, racing down the winding dirt road against the force of the wind. It was oddly exhilarating. They weren't exactly sneaking away- at least not as long as they didn't hold the bus up, and they were adults. But then, this wasn't exactly something they were supposed to be doing either.

The road sloped downward into a hill, and Christina found herself digging her feet into the ground with every step, trying to root herself and not topple over. Bao had let go of her hand was struggling the same.

Over the sounds of her carefree laughter and the wind dying down to a gentle breeze, she heard a rumble. Rushing water.

She still couldn't see too far ahead, but from what she could hear, Bao had been right after all. There was a secret waterfall hiding out near the rest area.

"Just a little farther," Bao was out of breath, too, as they reached the bottom of the hill. "I think."

"You think?" Christina panted. "How did you even find this place anyway?"

"I was bored and knew we were stopping here," Bao shrugged. "I looked up the area on my phone."

"I wish our driver gave us a heads up," Christina muttered. The boys had gotten luckier than she'd realized with the way travel arrangements had worked out.

They didn't waste any more time. Up ahead, they could see a small viewing platform with a wooden railing.

When they reached the platform, they found it deserted. The two of them fit comfortably, but no one else would've been able to join them unless they really wanted to make it a tight squeeze. It turned out, the platform was actually a tiny overhang, something she hadn't been able to tell at first glance. Below them, water churned.

They were at the top of the falls, right below the river where water surged toward them at great speed. The rapids slammed against the rocks, then continued onward toward the waterfall itself where the water crashed below.

It was beautiful. Christina stared in awe. The falls were so powerful, yet they were tucked away in this secluded place less than a mile from the nearest sign of civilization. She never would've known if not for Bao.

Even with the pounding sounds of the raging water, it was so peaceful. Part of her wished she could stay there forever, just her and Bao. There was nothing out here to bother them, nothing to get in their way. All the daily pressures of touring and trying to please the world felt so far away, irrelevant.

"Thanks for bringing me," she whispered to Bao, not even looking at him as nature continued to mesmerize her.

When she finally pulled her gaze away and finished snapping photos, Bao was looking at her.

"Wanna get a selfie?" Bao asked, holding up his phone.

"Sure," Christina pressed herself right against him in close, to the point where she could just make out his heartbeat.

Bao pulled the image up after they broke apart, looking it over. "Perfect. That'll be great for the social media posts they keep bugging me to make for my 'image.'"

"It'll give people something to talk about," Christina agreed.

"Let them."

He made it impossible to resist him. Christina wanted to fling her arms around him. They'd been getting closer every day of the tour, but neither of them had made a move yet. She still couldn't believe he'd chased her all the way back home the day she'd run away. She wasn't quite sure if he knew how much that had meant to her.

"Do you think we have time to check out the bottom of the falls?" she asked instead, peering over.

"I'd say-" Bao checked his phone. "Oh, crap. We've got to get back like, now."

Before he'd even finished speaking he'd broken out in a run, practically leaving Christina behind in his dust. They'd overstayed their welcome a little too much. The drivers were not going to be happy, not that Midnight Embrace's ever was to begin with. If nothing else, that was a constant.

They raced back up the hill. Christina's thighs throbbed combined with the impact of jumping all around the stage last night, but she ignored it. There wasn't time to slow down. She gritted her teeth and pushed through.

A few minutes later, the rest area came into view. Putting on a burst of speed that surprised her and allowed her to surpass Bao, she rushed for the back of the parking lot, where she knew the buses were presumably still waiting.

When they got there, only Midnight Embrace's bus stood out amongst all the coach buses and tractor trailers.

Bao skidded to a stop. "They left without me?" Disbelief was written all over his face.

"Well you are the bass player," Christina teased, earning herself a dirty look. "Okay, okay, no more bass player jokes. They must've thought you were already on in the back."

They didn't question it further. They hopped onto Midnight Embrace's bus, and the driver slammed the door shut behind them. Christina ignored his glares and grumbling, leading Bao through the beaded curtains into the living area where the other girls were waiting.

"What took you guys so long?" Stella asked as she finished her bite. She and Gin were sitting on the fuzzy rug; Avari and Ninel occupied one of the couches against the wall separating them from the back portion of the bus. They joined the others on the floor.

"Oh hey, is that mine?" Christina reached for an abandoned sandwich still wrapped on the table. "Thanks!"

The bus pulled out of the lot with a lurch, sending them all scattering around unexpectedly. Christina got the feeling it had been on purpose.

Bao's phone rang all of a sudden. He switched on the video chat.

"Oh good, he got on the bus," came Kyoya's muffled voice from somewhere just out of view of the camera.

"Hey!" Bao's tone was indignant.

Laughter came roaring in from the other end.

"Sorry," Dashan said, appearing to be biting his lip to remain composed. "We couldn't resist. We knew you wouldn't really be left behind."

"Oh, because that makes it so much better!" Bao shot back sarcastically.

King pushed his way into full view of the screen, a bundle of energy. "But seriously, dude! You were over five minutes late! What were you doing?"

Kyoya smirked. "Well, have fun without your stuff for the next three hours. It's gonna be a long ride."

Bao rolled his eyes. "I think I'll be fine." He placed his arm around Christina. In response, she kissed him on the cheek. Bao turned off the phone and grabbed some of the extra food from the table.

"Don't worry, Bao," Gin giggled mischievously. "You're on the fun bus now."

Christina leaned back into him, enjoying her greasy sandwich as much as she could considering how many of them she'd had this past week alone.

The bus ride was going to be a lot better than she'd expected. He'd followed her home, then brought her here. Whatever the future had waiting for the two of them next, she was ready for it.

Gin sat up as perfectly still as possible in her chair while the makeup artist dusted another layer of powder on her face.

It was such a weird sensation to get used to, the stage makeup and someone doing her makeup for her. They only wore stage makeup for the larger shows, with bigger stages, where the bright lights were more likely to wash them out.

Midnight Embrace didn't have an official makeup artist yet either. For the bigger shows, DNMM hired someone local to do their makeup. For the shows that weren't quite as large in areas with smaller populations, they were left to do their own. Thankfully, they'd had plenty of experience doing makeup for shows so looking less than their best those nights wasn't something they were worried about.

It was oddly quiet backstage and throughout the venue, but shortly that would change. Already die-hard fans were beginning to line up outside, desperate to make it to the barrier right in front of the stage. Soundchecks had just finished up, too.

In less than an hour the fans would be let in. After some more waiting, a local band added to the lineup would open up the show. Then Midnight Embrace was on. The local band's equipment was being set up on stage right now while the bands rushed to get ready. It was crunch time.

The makeup artist dismissed Gin from the chair. Gin looked over her reflection. Her lips had been painted a berry color, matched with some silvery eyeshadow and black eyeliner and mascara. Now all that was left was to change and do her hair. DNMM hadn't splurged for a hairdresser for the girls, but that was fine. With all the running around getting sweaty on stage they did, it wasn't worth having anything too intricate or elaborate. She still needed to peek at her guitars, now that she thought about it. She checked the time. Her appearance could wait a bit.

Gin walked over the rack of guitars kept off to the right backstage.

It was ridiculous, the number of guitars they had with them. Hers, Christina's, and Kyoya's all hung together neatly in a line. Gin had two up there, the same as she'd been using for a while now. It'd been super cool, having the guitar tech hand her a new guitar for songs in different tunings while trading off her signature one, without having to do it herself while performing. She felt like a real rock star.

She was a real rock star, she reminded herself giddily. Or at least well on her way.

"Back again?" Dauntless Inferno's guitar tech grinned. The techs all took immaculate care of the instruments they were charged with. They found Gin's constant checking to be funny, rather than taking offense that she might not trust their ability with their job. They knew she wasn't like that. Lovushka's sabotage had taken its toll, and Gin figured it was something that would follow her for a long time, but for now she accepted it.

"There are worse places to be," Kyoya answered as he came up beside her. Gin looked him over.

He looked good; he must've been the first one to get ready, because Dauntless Inferno wasn't usually put together this early. He was the one who really looked like a rock star.

Because it was so caked on, Gin could see the stage makeup applied to his face. He also wore a teeny bit of eyeliner, to help accentuate his eyes and make them stand out from a distance for all watching.

He wore black torn-up skinny jeans with combat boots. His t-shirt was torn so one sleeve hung down his arm. Over that, he wore a frayed denim battle vest with patches. Combined with his usual spiky hair, he looked every bit the guitar god he was destined to be.

It was hard not to stare.

Gin drew her attention back to his face. She knew he didn't care, but she wished she was dressed and ready to go, too. She'd been touring with him for weeks now, but every time she saw him before a show, she got excited.

"Ready?" Kyoya nodded toward the stage. It was one of the biggest she'd ever played on and the pit was enormous. The nearly 10,000 people the venue was set to hold would soon be filled close to capacity.

"I'm not nervous," she said, reading the question in his eyes. "Fine, maybe a little. But I'll be okay."

"You will," Kyoya kissed her forehead.

The day she'd met him at the casino while the others were drinking, she never could've seen this coming. She expected any day now someone would snap a photo of them and the world would know, but for now she was content to keep their relationship under wraps for just the two of them. Thanks to the others, she'd be ready when the news finally broke, though. Avari was figuring out how to manage the tabloids and Ninel and Dashan's relationship had become public rather quickly, too. They hadn't bothered trying to hide it once the story came out, and Ninel was taking the articles in stride. Nothing new courtesy of Selen had come out recently, either. DNMM must've been doing a good job keeping her in check.

Gin hadn't heard much about the Garcias since the tour started, and she didn't care. Their album seemed to have been put on hold, as far as she could tell. It was so satisfying knowing Argo was finally facing justice after he'd nearly destroyed everything between her and Kyoya, and after being a jerk in general.

Gin unwillingly broke from Kyoya's embrace. "I really do need to start getting ready."

She knew Kyoya was too prideful, but she could've sworn she almost saw a pleading look cross his face. She chalked it up to her imagination, but she wished she could spend more time with him. She envied Christina for those unexpected extra three hours she'd gotten with Bao on the bus.

"Okay," she decided. "Let me change, and if the others are cool with it, you can come in the dressing room while I do my hair."

He didn't say anything, but Kyoya's eyes lit up just a little and he followed her.

Avari was finishing up her makeup when Gin and Kyoya knocked on the door. She hopped off the chair and Stella took her place a second later. No one had said anything about Kyoya's presence or appeared off-put, so Gin took that as confirmation they were fine with it.

She grabbed her outfit off its hanger on the moveable clothing rack.

"Be right back," she promised Kyoya, then slipped into the small closet they were using as a changing room.

She hung her outfit back up on a hook in the closet and flipped on the light. She took a step back admiring it. She'd been exciting about wearing this one since she found it, but knew she had to save it for the right show. She wore a black tank top with two straps on her left shoulder and one on the right; a wide sparkly reddish-purple stripe ran diagonal across it. Her ripped, dark denim shorts had black tights beneath them that went with the heeled ankle boots she wore. As a final accessory, she added on a silver circle belt, the excess end of it hanging off on her right side.

"Sweet," Kyoya commented when she reemerged.

"You like it?" Gin looked herself over for any quick adjustments.

Kyoya leaned forward to kiss her. "I do."

"Eew." Avari pretended to be grossed out as she finished putting a top coat on her nail polish. She waved her hands around to help dry them.

"If you think that's nasty, I guess I better head back home." The voice came from the doorway, unmistakable, and Avari spun her chair so fast it went around twice before she did a double-take.

"Ryuto!" she squealed and flung herself out of the chair into his arms, careful not to smudge her freshly painted nails.

"I got permission to follow the tour for a few days for 'business purposes,'" he explained using air quotes. The two of them left the room, vanishing from sight.

She only felt happiness for Vari. With Ryuto here, it felt like their group was finally complete.

Gin took over Avari's station, pushing aside nail polish bottles and plugging her straightening iron in. She didn't really need to, since her hair was practically pin-straight already, but she wanted it to still look good after the first two songs.

"How much product do they put in your hair?" Gin joked.

"Please, this is all natural," Kyoya scoffed. The silence grew uncomfortable as he paused. "…A little." Gin giggled. If she was doing her hair, there was no way Kyoya was being allowed on stage without at least a little something to help it retain form when he started to get sweaty.

Kyoya ran a hand through the section she'd just finished straightening. "You have such pretty hair," he murmured.

"Careful," Gin admonished him lightly. "I don't wanna have to do it all over again."

Once she was finished, she doused her hair in a thick coat of hairspray. She'd applied a little to each layer as she went, but now it was time for serious hold. After adding in a dusting of glitter spray to catch the lights as she played, she felt complete.

She stood next to Kyoya, checking out their reflection. They looked like the ultimate rocker couple.

Gin stood on her toes to kiss him. Tonight, they'd probably call him onstage to play one of her solos like they had at the past few shows. It was so much fun. They were all starting to learn each other's parts and were taking turns making appearances during each other's sets. Just last night, Christina had played a song with Dauntless Inferno. Gin loved the feeling she got when she and Kyoya were onstage playing together.

She couldn't wait.

A few hours later, the first band had taken the stage with Midnight Embrace waiting in the wings. The excitement backstage was palpable.

Avari had returned from her rendezvous with Ryuto, though she was still wrapped around him. After weeks apart, they were inseparable. Gin couldn't blame them. Outgoing as Vari was, it must've been pretty lonely watching the others with their guys during the celebrations and other touring craziness night after night.

Avari's cropped corset top and thigh high boots were a perfect match in a holographic red that was guaranteed to stand out thanks to the stage lighting. Her black shorts were covered in tiny black glimmering rhinestones. She'd been persuaded into wearing a rhinestone-covered black cape, too, one she could take off halfway through the show to change things up. Fishnet leggings peeked out from the small space between her shorts and boots.

Avari threw back her pre-show shot and broke away from Ryuto, motioning the rest of Midnight Embrace to follow her down an empty hall. Gin took a moment to peek at the others.

Christina had pulled out all the stops with her incredibly glittery black jumpsuit. The bottom half was mesh flare pants, interspersed with large sections of sparkling glitter designs. The equally brilliant top half had almost looked like a vest, connected in the center with two narrow lines of fabric and a halter neckline that created the illusion of a choker. Her blonde hair was straight, adorned with a hat that perfectly matched her jumpsuit, large crystals and all. Her heels were just barely visible below the hemline of her pants.

Ninel had completely changed up her hair since the tour started. The bassist's hair was now a shimmering amethyst, styled in a straight, messy chin-length bob. Her customized white one-shoulder long-sleeved blazer was cropped, covering her black cropped collared shirt. Atop the she shirt she wore a navy blue tie with small white dots. She wore navy blue high-waisted fishnet tights paired with black leather shorts accented with straps at the bottom and black leather knee-high boots. On her hands, she wore white leather fingerless gloves.

In keeping with her outfit, Ninel was rocking navy blue smoky eye makeup with thick black mascara and rose gold lipstick. She reached into a bag of sour candy, a determined expression on her face.

They huddled up.

"We've got to kill this," Aari said confidently, settling into her pep talk. The black and red glitter on her face sparkled under the lights. Her eyes were done up with red eyeshadow and heavy defining liner, along with three black rhinestones under each eye. Her top lip was bright red whereas her bottom was black. "This is our biggest show yet. Bigger than the summer festival that got us here. We're gonna show the world how badass Midnight Embrace really is."

"Time to take over," Stella said enthusiastically. Stella's usual black shorts had a black belt over them, with a series of silver chains that looped from the front of the belt to the back on both sides of her hips. She had lime green fishnet leggings with matching gloves that went up to her elbows. A black zip up corset with green accents and stitching completed the look with her ever-present black converse. Her eyes were dark and smoky, a dash of electric green on the inner corners.

Gin held back a laugh. It was like their first show DNMM had set them up with so long ago, only this time they were all unintentionally wearing black, like it was some sort of predetermined theme they'd all agreed to go with. It just kept happening and she loved it.

The band finished playing. Moments later, they could hear faint cheers and sounds from the crowd, as well as the crew taking everything away to reset the stage. Half an hour to go.

It should've been scary with so many people out there, but they felt at peace with it. So much had happened in less than six months, they were starting to feel like nothing could shake them. Out there were fans and people who would become fans, people who wanted them to succeed.

It was a powerful feeling.

When the lights dimmed and the crowd started screaming as they took the stage, the energy stirring in them bubbled over. Gin led the group and held her guitar as the lights rose and the audience roared.

She started off with a solo, fingers deftly plucking strings, until Christina joined in, then Ninel and Stella. Avari burst forth on stage a moment later belting out a crystal-clear note through her bejeweled microphone, and there was no stopping them.

They were jamming, Avari's vocals soaring over them. They hadn't even officially started the song yet, but the crowd was losing its collective mind. Gin knew then at the end of their set, as had been happening a lot lately, the audience would be singing right along with them for "My Apocalypse." The song meant to be a tell off to Spiral Force had become their anthem, though only they knew how ironic it was.

Gin played better than ever as camera lights flashed and she danced around the stage with her best friends beside her. Somewhere back where they couldn't see, the five boys who were becoming something more to each of them every day watched.

Christina spun as she cranked out the rhythm, landing with a jump. Stella's cymbals crashed with intensity as they reverberated throughout the entire building. Ninel's bass line pounded through their ears. Avari drew as close to the crowd as she dared, reaching out, knowing the fans were going ballistic trying to shake her hand as she teased them.

The world was theirs for the taking.

There was only one direction to go from here.

This got pretty emotional, I think this might be one of my favorite stories I've written. It's crazy to think the title stems from a song my friend wrote just over a year ago, right when I started working on the first chapter and now it's all done- and he's recorded an entire album. I think my writing's come a long way through this, especially when it comes to characterization, and I'm quite pleased on my end :) I never thought I'd have a second OC, but I'm so glad I got to meet Avari and learn how to write for a totally new character for me. I hope you've all enjoyed reading! In all honesty I might not be around for a little while, planning to focus on original fiction for a bit, but I still have plenty to finish here. Catch you guys soon!

~GhostFairy