Song Used Here: Daughtry - Alive (Sia Cover)
So, Nightmare drew Voltron in the outfits here: (https)(:/inspirashion.) (tumblr) (.com) post/656657209173868544/voltron-rock-band-au Remove brackets and spaces.
Rise of Voltron Pt. IV
Walking along the corridor, Keith looked miserable.
With his schoolbag thrown over one shoulder and gloved hands pushed into his pockets, everyone steered clear of the young man. That was until he ran into Lance, Hunk and Pidge. It was strange because he'd never run into them at this time of the day and wondered what could've caused this.
"Fancy seeing you here." Lance teased, but then he took notice of Keith's sour look. "What's with that face? Did Hunk vomit on you?"
"Hey!" Hunk shrieked and playfully slapped Lance on the head. "Where'd that come from, man!? We have the same classes! How the hell would I get the time to find Keith let alone vomit on him!?"
A chuckle escaped Keith's lips. There was never a dull moment with these three, and strangely, Keith was waiting on Pidge's snarky comment. However, it never came. The girl was too immersed in her datapad to realize what was going on.
Keith deflated.
He loved hearing when she destroyed Lance and Hunk although sometimes, he was on the receiving end of it as well. She was vicious, he knew, but it brightened their little circle, nonetheless.
It was when they rounded a corner and headed to the lecture theatre when Keith realized something.
"Uh, where are you guys going?" He asked. He knew he was heading to class, although a temporarily merged one. He nearly threw a shoe at Iverson two days ago when the lecturer announced that this stream was going to merge with one of Professor Montgomery's Critical Listening streams. It had just so happened that they had submitted their assignments —they were to create an original piece based on the theme "fantasy" using the approved musical software—and now they had a class merger. Keith feared that Iverson was going to make Professor Montgomery's students dissect his students' work since it was basically what they do for the class.
"To class." Lance replied with an eye roll. "Montgomery and Iverson somehow came to an agreement and now our class is doing a merger with one of Iverson's song writing streams."
"Stream three, I believe." Hunk added. "We're in stream four."
Keith stopped. "So, you're in Montgomery's stream three class…"
"And let me guess, you're in Iverson's stream three." Lance said.
"Unfortunately." Keith replied. "That's why we never run into each other."
It was here that Pidge finally looked up from her datapad. With a smirk, she said, "I guess we'll be hearing something from you today."
"Now you decide to join us?" Keith snorted and folded his arms. He then made a playful smirk. "Girl, you missed something."
Lance caught on Keith's drift and stood beside the male, resting a hand on his shoulder. He had a grin that stretched from one ear to the next.
Pidge looked unconcerned, "Missed what exactly?"
"Hunk epically vomiting on Keith. Man, it was a show to remember." Lance grinned.
Her expression changed. Pidge's face twisted with disgust as she backed away from the two. "And you're leaning on him like that? I see you love the smell of rancid regurgitation."
In the background, Hunk covered his mouth to not burst out laughing, but failed. He clutched his abdomen, and doubled over, even drawing attention to the small group. "You…you…" he said in between bursts of laughter. "…you walked right…into…that!"
"Shut up." Lance grumbled. Keith couldn't make a comeback from that one.
They then made it to the lecture theatre and took a seat in the middle. One thing they've learnt the hard way, was that sitting at the back drew too much attention and sitting at the front was too close to the lecturer. It was about five minutes to the hour, so there were still some students left to arrive. Curious as to what she was doing, Lance scooted over closer to Pidge.
"So, Pidge, what are you doing?" Lance asked, leaning over to see the screen. All he could see was what resembled an article, but the font was too small for him to see clearly. Keith and Hunk leaned over as well, but the former male couldn't see because Lance blocked his view.
"I'm looking up inspirations for our costumes." She replied, scrolling rapidly. Her eyebrows furrowed as she stopped at a ridiculously looking lion mask, even Hunk and Lance were disgusted. "And it's been really terrible." She murmured.
Lance hummed. "I had been thinking, since Keith wants to be a red lion so bad, why don't the rest of us have a colour too?" He suggested. "I mean, I call dibs on being the Blue Lion, just letting you know, because I'm cool." He flashed a smile, which had the others rolling their eyes at his antics.
"So, we have a Blue Lion and a Red Lion…" Pidge deadpanned. She typed something in a notepad app. "So, what colour would Shiro be?"
"Definitely white." Keith snickered. Lance leaned backward in the seat so that the others could get a better view of Keith. By this time, Hunk had pulled out his phone and started videoing the three. "His name doesn't mean "platinum" for no reason, right?"
Pidge face-palmed. "Shiro would be disappointed in you, Keith."
Keith chuckled. "Alright, alright. We'll let him decide later." His chuckling stopped after which he asked her, "So, what's your colour? Given how sassy you are, I would've said red, but you know…"
Pidge rolled her eyes. Shiro had warned them about Keith's love for the colour, and had even joked that one day, he'll show them what Keith's room looked like. "Oh, just hurry and dye your hair already." She hissed out.
Keith gasped dramatically. "I'll have you know that I'll do it when the time is right!"
Hunk sat and watched with amusement. A little after they met Keith, they heard rumours of the ace songwriter. He's heard that he was scary, snappy, and a lone wolf who'll chew people's heads off. But after getting to know him, Hunk realized that the rumours were far from the truth. Keith was just a music loving fanatic whose obsession with the colour red and the fire element was a serious cause for concern. Sure, Keith has a fiery temper and can be quite audacious, but he was a good guy to hang out with.
"Well, if it isn't Mister Ace Songwriter." A voice said from behind. Hunk looked at Keith's face and saw the most epic eye-roll ever done in human history. The larger male tried his best not to laugh but was relieved to see that he caught it on camera.
"And if it isn't Mister Wannabe Ace Songwriter." Keith clapped back, not even turning to face him. The male in question was James Griffin, a self-proclaimed rival of Keith's. They were doing the same major and unfortunately, had every class together. "So, what do you want?"
James chuckled. "By now, we probably know what's going to happen here, so I just wanted you to know, don't feel bad when my piece gets a higher grade than yours."
Keith rolled his eyes. "And?" He sighed. "So, what if you get a grade A here? Grades mean nothing in the real world, you know?"
That shut him up quickly, and to add insult to injury; Pidge, Lance and Hunk cracked up with laughter. A hiss escaped James' lips, and he turned to look at his friends. Nadia Rizavi covered her mouth, Ina Leifsdottir seemed out of it, and Ryan Kinkade didn't care.
Just then, the two lecturers walked in, and the theatre was silenced. All eyes looked at the two professors, awaiting instructions. With bright smiles, Professor Iverson announced, "Good day, donkeys! Today, you'll be listening to some of your peers' work, and grading them."
The lecture theatre erupted in a mix of cheers and screams, groans, and mumbling. Pidge, Lance, and Hunk sent devious smirks to Keith, and he could only pray that Iverson didn't call out their names as well. While he was confident in his skills, Keith knew that there would be some biases, especially when it came onto James Griffin.
He never knew what he did to attract James' attention, Keith had long surmised that it was probably his surname. There wasn't much, if any, whose family name was "Shirogane" and the only other one was the man the school revered as a legend.
"Oh goodie." Lance grinned. "I wonder which one will be Keith's." He said, sending a sly smirk to the young man and nudging him in his sides. "Or better yet," he leaned over to Keith and whispered, "You think Mr. Wannabe behind us will wow us to the moon and back?"
Keith snorted. "We shall see."
"In order to avoid any biases, we will play the tracks, but you won't know who wrote it." Montgomery said, bringing the group back to reality. "We know you'll grade your friends higher than others that you might hate or have some levels of dislike towards."
"Now, without further ado, we'll begin." Iverson said.
…
…
After school was done for them —which was about minutes after one o'clock—they headed to the Castle when Shiro had phoned Keith and the latter male had put the device on speaker. The serious tone in which the older man spoke stirred up worry in the rest of them, sans Keith.
"So…are we in trouble?" Hunk asked, looking around the lounge at the others seated in the beanbag chairs. He was in the kitchen, busying himself cooking up a storm. Pidge and Lance shrugged, indicating their confusion as well. "Did Iverson find out…?"
"I was wondering the same thing." Lance sighed, scrolling through his phone and then showing the screen to Keith. He had been searching for Lion masks like Pidge had been. "I'm thinking we're going about this wrong." He said to Keith before he addressed Hunk. "The tone in which Shiro spoke sent shivers down my spine. Like, I felt like I was gonna get chewed out for something I did."
"Then how do you think we should do this?" Keith replied to Lance. "I know I'm not wearing any of these atrocities."
"I know right?! Like…we're in trouble or something." Hunk repeated.
"How many conversations are you having at once, Lance?" Pidge asked, looking up from her laptop.
"I can handle it." Lance grinned.
"Uh huh." Pidge left it at that. She closed her laptop, deciding that whatever she was working on, she needed a break from it. She settled in further on the green beanbag chair but that was when she realized something. The beanbag chair that Keith always sat in was red, and Lance sat in the blue one, even before he said he wanted to be Voltron's Blue Lion. Hunk would always sit in the yellow one, being that it was close to the kitchen. Shiro's chair was black and was the biggest of them all. And here she was, in the green one.
She didn't know if this was a coincidence, or Lance had noticed this which was why he suggested that they should all have a colour. Looking at it, she realized that it really wasn't a bad idea, and if she were to be extra, she could add a little more spice to their Pride of Lions concept.
"I'll be the Green Lioness." Pidge said out loud. It grabbed the attention of the others, and now that she had it, she continued, "And like Keith, who loves the Fire element, mine will be Forest."
Hunk nearly dropped the wooden spoon. He narrowed his eyes at her and noticed that both Lance and Keith looked as dumbstruck as he was.
"What?" Keith asked, totally confused. He made that face where he furrowed his brows, narrowed his eyes and turned his head slightly. "Sure, I did say that but how is this…?"
"Yeah, no one told me that our Lions had to have an element too." Lance huffed and folded his arms.
"But aren't you Mister Cool? So naturally, your element would be water, Sir Blue Lion." Keith teased.
"But, but…wait." Hunk all but stammered out. "We already are a Pride of Lions, why do we need to add elements too?"
Pidge shrugged. She rose to her feet and stretched, Keith getting a glance under her shirt. The young man turned his reddened face away because he was a gentleman. Lance looked a bit spooked at the sudden attention Keith gave him. "We don't have to. But I thought it'll give things a little more spice. Voltron has five different Lions of five different colours, don't you think people are gonna ask why? Elements are the perfect idea for it."
"Yeah, we could even use it as an excuse for Keith's audaciousness. Or temperamental episodes." Lance chuckled.
Keith rolled his eyes. "Say whatever you want. It's those two things that make me perfect to be the Red Lion of Fire, right?" He then asked Pidge, "I get you want to be a Green Lion but why Forest? You don't seem like the type to go hiking."
Pidge smiled. "Technology is more my thing, but it's not an element. The Forest is like technology being that it's like a vast network that spreads across the globe that connects one place to another. And in fantasy fiction, people who connect to the forest can see the world through the forest's eyes."
"The Forest and Technology are similar in that sense." Hunk nodded. "Woah, we're going all out for this one event huh."
But the moment he said so, he noticed the looks in the others' faces. Hunk never meant anything malicious but reading the mood, he picked up what his words sounded like. This band was just made for the Battle of the Bands. Afterwards, they'd go their separate ways, and life would return to the way it was before they met each other.
"Guys, I…" Hunk started. "…I never meant anything bad. If anything," He paused and looked at Keith. "Keith…there's something I'd…we'd like to ask you." Hunk moved from the kitchen and stole glances in Pidge and Lance's directions. "You see, we want to —"
"What's with the long faces?" A deep voice broke in, making Hunk stop abruptly.
"Shiro…" Keith greeted before he replied, "...it's nothing. Hunk was just about to ask me something."
Shiro never believed that statement. He knew Keith well enough to know when he's hiding something. He decided that later at home, he'll get his answers.
"So, what did you want to see us for?" Pidge asked, changing the mood. "You said it was urgent."
Shiro nodded. "You see," he looked across to Keith, trying to find the right words to say. He didn't want to scare them, or better yet, he didn't want them to feel as though he was forcing this upon them. "Keith and I want to make a band. It's always been our dream to have a career in music, travel the world and perform in front of thousands.
"But, as you can see, there's only two of us. And after working with the three of you for the little time that we have, both Keith and I want to ask if —"
"Yes!" Lance shrieked, jumping onto his feet. It was almost as though the earlier statement didn't affect him at all. "Yes!"
"Keith! That's what I was gonna ask you about!" Hunk joined in.
Shiro and Keith were startled by the sudden outburst, given that the older male hadn't even finished his sentence yet. Pidge only nodded her agreement amidst the screaming.
"Well, I imagined this going completely different in my head." Keith said, half in shock.
"We wanted to make a band as well, but we couldn't find the right people who'd fit with us." Hunk chuckled. "We had been planning to ask you guys, we were just waiting for the right moment."
Shiro smiled. "I guess Voltron is going to be more than just a band participating in BotB."
Pidge and Keith smirked. "We're gonna take over the world."
"Yup, I can see it now." Lance grinned. "Voltron: Legendary Rock Band."
…
…
At dinnertime, the table was bursting with laughter.
Shiro told stories of when he and Keith were younger —Shiro was just five years older—and how they'd usually get in trouble for toying with their father's guitars. Lance would second that, remembering his days when he'd sneak into his uncle's private room and try to play the instrument.
This would prompt Pidge to share her stories of her family as well, the others realizing how much of a terror she was. Colleen and Matt's piano and keyboards would be smeared with all sorts of things, her little fingerprints leaving behind the evidence.
Hunk was the only one who wasn't a terror like the others, instead, his time was split between the kitchen, the drums and musical equipment.
Their little story sharing session over dinner came to an end when the entertainment news came on, featuring the Blades of Marmora making a return to Plaht for the Battle of the Bands. All eyes lingered on the TV, Lance especially wanting to know if he'd be able to meet Krolia before Battle of the Bands.
« The Blades of Marmora had concluded their tour just in time to make a guest performance on this year's Battle of the Bands at the University of Music, West Coast. So, this means, the turnout will more than likely exceed that of previous years. »
Hunk's jaws dropped, the fork falling onto the plate in a loud clatter. "Guys…guys…" He stammered out. "I think I'm going to be sick!"
"Calm down Hunk!" Lance tried to soothe. "Just, just, ignore it."
With his quick thinking, Keith dashed for the remote and changed the channel in hopes of having Hunk think about something else. By now, they all knew about his stage fright, but even so, he's tried to overcome it.
"Is that better?" Keith asked, hand still pointing at the TV. "Or should I just turn it off?"
"Just turn it off." Lance, Pidge and Shiro said in unison.
Without a word more, Keith turned the TV off, and went to the kitchen. He got Hunk a glass of water and settled it on the table before the male. Just then, he saw Lance pipe up, and made a beeline for his bag that was beside his chair.
"You know," Lance started as he rummaged through his bag. "This is like the start of a dream come true." The others didn't rely, not that he wanted them to, he just wanted to get Hunk's attention to calm him down. "I mean, we wanted to make a band with the right people, and it just so happened that the right people were Shiro and Keith. It's almost as though fate brought us together."
After a few seconds of quiet, there was a chuckle from Hunk. "Gotta thank Iverson for that God awful assignment then."
"Of course." Pidge grinned, finally glad that Hunk was coming around.
Lance finally pulled out the book from his bag and walked towards the worktable. He cleared a section of it (Keith always has tons of papers scattered about) and placed the book down.
"Let's start working on our outfit designs." He said, taking out his pencil and twirled it around his fingers. The others quickly assembled at the table, wanting to see his creations. Apart from being musically inclined, Lance was a really good artist, and when asked, he replied stating that he found peace in drawing.
Shiro had all but laughed at this revelation, Keith was a great songwriter while Lance was a great artist. In essence they were both really good creatives.
Without looking at the others, Lance said, "I thought Voltron should have a symbol that people can identify us with easily. I didn't want to use a Lion because other entities use a Lion for its symbol. Plus, I wanted ours to be simple where even a child could recreate it."
"Fair enough." Pidge nodded. "But what is simple enough, yet let people know it's Voltron?"
Lance grinned. "Thanks to my nieces and nephews, I have the ultimate symbol that we can't go wrong with." The Cuban male skipped the page and showed her. It was a stylized "V" —it looked like it spanned from one side of the chest to the next, however, there was an open diamond in the middle.
"It's…" Keith started. "…really simple." He wasn't sure if he liked it's simplicity or not.
"But this way, once you see it, you'll know it's Voltron." Shiro added. He then looked at Lance and said, "Well done, Lance."
"Now that leaves us with our outfits." Hunk said. "We could have these printed on shirts in our colours!"
Shiro blinked at him in confusion. "Colours?"
Exchanging glances, Keith then told Shiro what transpired as to why they —him, Lance, Pidge—have specific colours and elements for their Lions. Shiro agreed wholeheartedly with the new idea and decided that he would be the Black Lion —because cool main characters are always in Black, he said—and his element would be Sky.
Hunk then chose his colour, yellow, matching his beanbag chair. Lance added saying that the colour accentuated his skin. They had to play around with ideas for Hunk's element until they settled on Earth.
Next, they returned to the topic of their outfits.
"Okay, back to what Hunk suggested. We have the Voltron logo in our colours on shirts." Pidge said as she typed in a notepad on her phone. "But the issue is, if the logo is in our colour, that means the shirts have to be black —" She broke off when she saw Shiro's face. "—white. The shirts have to be white."
"But how will people know we're Lions? What are we gonna do, wear cat ears?" Hunk asked.
Lance wore a guilty expression. Shiro snatched the book and skipped the page to see what the Cuban had drawn. There were designs of hoodies, looking fairly normal, but on the top of them, were cat ears. Images flashed in Shiro's mind, and he couldn't help but look across to Keith.
"Pfft!" He dropped the book on the table, covered his mouth and turned away in an attempt to stifle down his laughter.
"Shiro?" Keith asked, looking at his brother's shaking form and then looking in the book. Realizing, he glared at Shiro. "You bastard! You were totally imagining me in that thing!" Keith's face was red like a tomato.
"I couldn't help it, little brother." Shiro laughed. "It reminded me of the adult onesie that —"
"We will not speak of that!" Keith screamed. The high-pitched shriek sounded to them like it passed four octaves. Hunk whistled and mumbled something along the lines of 'Now you know who's learning in Mr. Harris' vocal course'. "You will keep that secret until the day you die! You will go down in your grave with it!"
"Damn Keith, easy on the volume. My eardrums are bleeding." Pidge grumbled, using her pinkie finger to rub her inner ear. "Shit man."
"You don't understand! That —" Keith broke off when he saw Lance and Shiro huddled at the other side of the table.
"Look at that face." Lance snickered. His blue eyes caught Keith's and the man made a teasing face. "Send that picture to me later."
Shiro smirked. "Already did."
Keith blanched, looking betrayed. "Takashi…how could you?"
Shiro shrugged, not at all affected with the use of his first name. He knew Keith's tactic to soften him up, address him by his given name in that cute, little brother voice of his. "We're a band now, we can't have any secrets, now, can we?" He then motioned to the rest of the group, "Come look at these."
Keith let out a shriek and dived face-first into his beanbag chair. His big brother was the best, he really was, but sometimes, Keith felt like he'd push Shiro off of a cliff.
"Can we just go back to sorting out our outfits?" Keith's muffled question didn't go unheard.
"Nope." The others said in unison.
"These pictures are gold." Pidge smirked. She looked at Shiro and said, "My Bluetooth is on, send that one right now."
Keith wanted the earth to swallow him right now.
…
…
The Battle of the Bands was an annual event hosted by the University of Music, West Coast. It invited many bands from all over Plaht and nearby cities, not just those within the university.
It was usually split between two sections —for the first section, each band was expected to perform a cover song of their choice, and after passing that section, the band would perform their original song and from there, the winner would be chosen. However, bands were also expected to submit the lyrics to the song they were to sing. Since chances are that attendees may be along little children, the organizers keep the music PG.
Voltron walked in through the front doors of the grand auditorium, looking at the people bustling about. It wasn't their first time being at The Battle of the Bands, but it was their first as performers. They too were being stared at, given their wardrobe.
They were dressed casually —Shiro's white shirt was a long-sleeved crew cut t-shirt that snuggly hugged his body with the black Voltron logo printed on the chest area, black jeans and purple sneakers.
Flanking Shiro on his left was Pidge, and she wore a white v neck t-shirt tucked into her high waisted, distressed black denim shorts and green sneakers. Like Shiro, she had her Green Voltron logo printed on her shirt.
Across from Pidge and on Shiro's right was Keith, who wore a white t-shirt with the front of the shirt tucked into distressed black skinny jeans, his open fingered gloves were a dark red. His sneakers were red, and finally, Keith had dyed his hair to the colour of Red Velvet, having done it to the perfect amount where it didn't seem distracting.
Behind Keith was Lance, whose white t-shirt was underneath a light blue jeans jacket and black jeans. His sneakers were light blue matching his jacket, and in his ears, there was a pair of blue diamond earrings.
Across from Lance was Hunk, who was decked out in yellow. His t-shirt was white, with his Voltron symbol printed on, but unlike everyone else, he had no sleeves. He wore a pair of black cargo capris shorts as according to him; drummers have to be free. His sneakers were high top yellow and white Converse sneakers.
But there were a few things that everyone had in common.
They wore glasses. However, these glasses were Space Cadet metal cut-out shield sunglasses, but they each had a different tint for the respective Lions. It was hard to see their faces even if one went up close, and the group had to thank Slav, an old friend of Krolia's who knew both Keith and Shiro personally. The eccentric man was a genius and was known to make a variety of things for bands especially, be it instruments or something wacky for their outfits.
The other similar accessory they wore were cat ears. They had still gone with the idea since they wanted people to know that they were Lions, even though Keith had suggested that they wore claws and tails instead. Lance had shot down the idea stating that he couldn't play the Bass with claws on.
In addition, Pidge nor Keith wouldn't be caught dead in Lance's initial designs of hoodies with built in cat ears. So, for a temporary fix, the group decided to get some clip-on ears. But they did stick with the tails. And what is more, these tails had built in sensors that moved depending on the wearer's heart rate. Frankly speaking, Voltron were the guinea pigs with this product for Slav, but they all thought, what harm could it do?
"Is it just me, or are we being stared at?" Hunk whimpered out. "It feels uncomfortable."
"Nope, we're being stared at." Lance said with nonchalance. He looked around for pretty girls, hoping to try his luck. He wasn't the Loverboy for no reason. "Probably because your tail is wagging down the place. Look at it!"
It was true, Hunk's tail was moving too much in a second, but the taller male couldn't ease his nervousness. He's never performed in such a crowd before, only his cohort which didn't consist of an auditorium full of people.
"Hunk, do you need to get some fresh air?" Shiro asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Lance or whichever one of us could follow you." The reason Shiro used Lance's name was because he knew how close the two were.
Hunk shook his head. "I'll be fine, well, at least until this is over." He breathed out. "Plus, I have to get over this. What's gonna happen when we start taking over the world?"
"By then, you'll be fine." Keith reassured. "But for now, if you really can't stand being here, just let us know."
"Alright."
…
…
Allura and Coran sat in the front row on the second lower level to get a good view of the performances. Allura's eyes were glued to the stage, not wanting to miss a single thing. Coran, on the other hand, leaned back and watched the other bands in the waiting area closer to the stage. At Altea Entertainment, Alfor had always stated that a band is stronger when they have some sort of bond, and not just strictly for business. Just like how The Paladins were all friends before they became a band, Alfor believed that it was one of the reasons for their success.
So far, a few bands caught his eye, but there was one in particular that stood out above the rest. While they all wore black jeans and white t-shirts, there was some sort of logo printed on the front in a different colour per member. He saw the tall slender male in the blue denim jacket sit on the right side of the heavyset male in yellow, placing a hand on his back and gently rubbing it. There was a muscular male in black on the left side, seeming to be saying something, Coran couldn't see his lips clearly.
A small girl with the green logo and green tinted glasses knelt in front of the male in yellow, using a book to fan him, while the one in red said something and moved off from the group. Within a minute or two later, he came back with a plastic bag and a bottle of water. He handed it to the male in yellow, who downed it gluttonously.
Coran's heart was moved. He liked seeing when band members cared for each other like this. But he wondered what the problem could've been.
"Hello everyone!" A voice rang out from the stage. The MC was a tall young man dressed in semi-casual wear, befitting for the event. "Welcome to the 35th staging of Battle of the Bands!" The crowd roared, showing their enthusiasm. "Are you ready?!"
The crowd roared yet again.
"Our judges this year are none other than Professor Iverson, Professor Montgomery and lastly, the most serious guitarist in the world, from the Blades of Marmora, Thace!"
The crowd erupted into a fit of screams and cheers at the mention of Thace's name, the man simply smiled and waved.
"I expect this year's batch to be phenomenal." Thace said with a slight nod.
Coran just hoped that Allura would find what she's looking for. He tuned out all the formalities and introductions, but when the first band took the stage, the man fiddled with his moustache in anticipation.
…
…
Backstage, Voltron waited to go on.
Hunk sat and drummed on his thighs with his drumsticks, Lance sat next to him but hung his head low, breathing in deep breaths, Pidge was next, and she impatiently bounced her leg up and down while Shiro and Keith were at the wings watching the band before them perform.
"Their guitarist is good. That solo was well executed." Keith commented.
"Yeah, they have strong instrumentalists." Shiro added. "But the vocalist needs to make eye contact. If they don't make it, it's gonna be because of that."
"I know. I wonder if the vocalist has stage fright. Or lack confidence?" Keith said.
Shiro shrugged. "Whatever it is, he gotta get over it." But then he turned to look at Hunk. "Or maybe they don't have the bond that we do. Hunk has stage fright, but we tried to help him through it."
A round of applause snapped their focus back to the stage.
"Judges?" The MC asked.
Thace cleared his throat and started, "The set was very good, in terms of the instrumentals." His eyes then locked onto the vocalist, "but you didn't connect with the audience. As a vocalist, you need to make eye contact with the people before you. I recommend you try speaking in public first and then transition from there."
Iverson added, "Adding to what Thace said, for only three instrumentals, the sound you make is truly phenomenal. But your vocalist…surely, you don't think that you'll make an impact by singing to the floor, do you?"
The vocalist for the band shuffled and looked away, but the two guitarists placed a hand on the vocalist's shoulder.
"Well, let me be the nice one here." Montgomery smiled, pushing her blonde hair behind her ears. "You have a lovely voice, Mr. Vocalist. And the rest of you, you can work towards helping him overcome his issue."
After a few more, and a small talk with the MC, the band exited the stage, Shiro and Keith returning to the others for a pep talk.
"Alright team," Shiro started, they were gathered around in a circle and placed their hands on top of each other. "I know this seems a little daunting," he said as he looked over to Hunk, the male was already holding his free hand over his mouth to keep down the vomit. "But just remember what we've practiced and what we went through to be here. We are not the perfect band, but we are a band made up of strong individuals. And coming together, we'll be even stronger."
The other four nodded.
"So, let's do what we have to do, go Voltron!"
"Yeah!"
"Now our next band is a fierce Pride of Lions! Let's welcome, Voltron!" The MC announced, signalling to the band that this was their cue to enter the stage.
Hunk went on first, and started playing a simple drumbeat, Pidge shortly followed onto the stage, going over to her keyboard. She followed Hunk and played a combination of chords that went well with the drumming. This prompted Lance and Keith to emerge from the wings with their guitars, strumming fiercely. Shiro was the last to come onto the stage, and now that everyone was in place, they stopped playing, Pidge pressed a few keys, and out came the Lions' roars.
It was something that they had all agreed on, making their intro being the roar of Lions.
After a moment of silence from the roars, a soft piano tune rang out as Pidge started to play. The piano created a solemn atmosphere, giving the audience a feel of what the song would be about.
I was born in a Thunderstorm.
The guitars came in here, however, Keith and Lance only played low repetitive chords.
I grew up overnight.
I played alone,
I played on my own,
But I survived.
Allura and Coran sat at the edge of their seats at the sound of Shiro's voice. It was deep, melodious, and soothing. At the end of "survived" there was a lull, as if welcoming the storm to come.
Hey, Hey.
A scream erupted from a section of the crowd, Allura not even budging. She was interested in Voltron, their vocalist's voice, the best she's heard so far at this competition.
I wanted everything I never had
Like the love that comes with light
I wore envy and I hated that
But I survived.
At the beginning of this verse, in addition to the piano, the bass drum came in, building the tempo and tension as it got ready for the chorus. Hunk looked firm like an immovable rock, and with his eyes being hidden by the glasses, the audience thought him to be stoic. Lance and Keith switched from playing the repetitive chords to doing gentle of the same three notes.
I had a one-way ticket to
a place where all the demons go
Where the wind don't change
and nothing in the ground can never grow
No hope just lies, and you're taught to cry
in your pillow
But I survived.
Once again, at the ending of the chorus, there was a lull, where Shiro stopped singing, and the instruments stopped playing. Then, Shiro started up again, this time on a higher note than before.
I'm still breathing
I'm still breathing
I'm still breathing
I'm still breathing
Only Shiro sang this part, head up, chin out as he gripped the fabric at his chest. The instruments were silent, giving the crowd the perfect opportunity to hear Shiro's voice with no disturbance. However, at the end of the last "breathing", Hunk's drumming came in again.
I'm alive!
Hunk's muscles flexed underneath his skin; the young man glad that he wore the sleeveless. Pidge played her soft piano chords once again, Lance and Keith following suit and coming in with their bass and lead guitars. The two guitarists sprang into action, one darting to the left of the stage and the other to the right, seemingly lost in their own world. However, neither of the boys overshadowed Shiro too much.
I'm alive!
I'm alive!
I'm alive!
At the third "alive", Shiro used a variation of melody and pitch for emphasis; Allura and Coran in the audience were unable to take their eyes away from him. His vocals were powerful yet controlled and never once sounded like jarred screaming.
I found solace in the strangest place
way in the back of my mind
I saw my life in a stranger's face
and it was mine
For this verse, the drumming and guitars were present but were subdued. They weren't loud and upbeat like the chorus. Keith and Lance walked back to their spots and stood by their mic stand.
I had a one-way ticket to
a place where all the demons go
Where the wind don't change
and nothing in the ground can never grow
No hope just lies and you're taught to cry
in your pillow
But I survived.
Once again it was the chorus, but instead of Shiro singing alone, Keith provided the backing vocals, giving the song a much more solemn feeling than before.
I'm alive! (x4)
And the end of the last alive, there wasn't a pause like before, instead, Shiro was joined by the others when they sang:
Took it all but I'm still breathing
Took it all but I'm still breathing
Took it all but I'm still breathing
Took it all but I'm still breathing
Took it all but I'm still breathing
Took it all but I'm still breathing
Took it all but I'm still breathing
Took it all but I'm still breathing
The music stopped briefly, before Shiro's voice came in again. Pidge's piano from the opening came in again, followed by Keith's guitar. The boy played a constant, repetitive set of chords.
I have made every single mistake
that you could ever possibly make
I took, and I took and I took what you gave
But you never noticed that I was in pain
This verse, the tempo was a lot faster than the rest of the song, building the song towards something, the audience didn't know just yet.
I knew what I wanted; I went in and got it
Did all the things that you said that I wouldn't
I told you that I would never be forgotten
And all in spite of you
Shiro's voice rose as he kept the fast tempo, and by the time he reached the middle of the verse, his tone had increased, getting higher and higher. When Shiro sang "You", he descended into a breathy ending, pulling the instruments into another lull. The judges and the audience shivered at the sound of his voice, Allura slid further and further off her chair, seeming to Coran that she would get up and run to the stage at any moment.
I'm still breathing (x4)
Shiro sang in a lower note, following up from the "you" in the previous verse.
I'm alive! (x4)
Shiro blew the crowd away with the high notes here, however, at the third "alive", Allura —like the rest of the audience and judges—couldn't contain herself. She rose to her feet in sheer awe at the ease at which Shiro hit those high notes. Coran's jaws dropped through the floor, he gripped the seat before him and inched closer, even though he couldn't go any further.
The others provided backing vocals by continuing to sing "Took it all but I'm still breathing" when Shiro started singing "I'm alive".
I'm alive! (x4)
Once more, Hunk's drumming returned first, followed by the others. The instruments were explosive, matching Shiro's vocals. But all throughout, it was obvious that the quintet was having fun. Hunk wore a smile on his face each time he pounded the drums, Pidge's small smile was slightly less noticeable, but it was there, the crowd could feel Lance and Keith's joy when they played, if the grins were anything to go by.
Finally, the song culminated at the last "alive", the instruments fading out a less than a minute after Shiro stopped singing.
It was almost as though time stopped as the crowd was stunned into silence.
Pidge ran to Hunk and then the two quickly walked to Lance and Keith and then went to stand by Shiro. They huddled into a hug, wanting to jump and scream but they couldn't. Not yet.
"Wow! Voltron!" The MC said in excitement as he practically skipped back onto the stage. At this, the crowd erupted with cheers —hoots, whistles and screams echoed throughout the entire auditorium. "What a rendition!" He turned to Shiro, who stood beside him, and asked, "So, uh…"
"Black Lion," Shiro replied, seeing that the MC wanted to know what to address him by. "Or Black is good too."
"Okay, Black Lion it is." The MC decided to settle for that. "Is this your first time performing at the BotB?" He pushed the mic to Shiro's mouth.
"Yes, it is. But we have all attended BotB in the past as spectators."
"How did you choose this song? And why?"
Shiro shifted and pulled Keith closer. "I'll let Red answer that."
Keith growled, low and guttural, and thankfully, the MC hadn't heard, nor did it got caught in the mic. He liked to leave the talking to Shiro, since he was better at it and would always keep his calm. "I liked the song, and I felt it would showcase Shi—Black's voice better."
The others sucked in a breath the moment they heard Keith's slip but exhaled when he quickly recovered.
"And it did! Black Lion's voice was just to die for!" He then turned to the judges, "What say you, judges?"
Thace was on his feet, applauding. "That was outstanding! The vocalist's voice was well controlled throughout the entire song, he knew how to engage the audience, his facial expressions…everything was on point."
Before Thace could finish, Iverson chimed in, "I know the original song, and for you guys to turn a pop song with synthesizers into a rock song that uses instruments is a really amazing feat. If I didn't know it, I would've thought that this was an original piece. Well done."
Montgomery added her bits, "The intro was pretty cool as well. If the Lions' roars didn't make the audience take you guys seriously, your performance just did." She smiled. "I look forward to hearing your original song."
"Thank you Judges!" The MC said while Voltron quickly made their way to pack up their instruments.
Within no time Voltron was done, everyone aided each other. Hunk was the only one who didn't have an instrument to pack up because the drum set was provided by the organizers citing, a drum set takes a lot of time to set up, it's best to have one already on stage.
Allura watched as Voltron exited the stage, the guitarists and keyboardist pulling their instruments' cases behind them. To say she was intrigued by them would've been an understatement. She felt as though they could be what she was looking for.
With a smile, she looked to Coran and said, "I think I've found my gems."
The orange haired man spluttered, "But Princess," he started. He's called her that ever since she was born, not because she was Alfor's daughter, but because growing up she was so regal and poised, he was reminded of one. "You haven't even heard the other bands yet. And," He said for emphasis, "We've yet to hear their original song."
Allura didn't budge. "If they can perform a cover like that, imagine their original song." She said, eyes trained on them until she couldn't see them anymore. "It must be mind-blowing."
Coran couldn't refute that. "Well, we shall see."
Thank you for reading!