Disclaimer: If you asked a five-year-old boy to tell their favorite story, nine times out of ten they end up quoting, not fairy tales that no one owns, but Yu-Gi-Oh. Would you sue that five-year-old? No? 'Cuz he's just playing around. He doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh, he's just content chewing his gum and ruining his 500-card deck and wasting all his money on that piece of disappointing junk they call Yu-Gi-Oh the Movie. Same here. Don't sue me please, because I'm just a fangirl.
As the band Illusions hurried to set up their gear in the one-minute time limit, Atemu felt his stomach twist itself into a knot.
"Atemu, are you all right?"
"I-I'm fine."
"Is our Oh-So-Wonderful Ancient Pharaoh, what, nervous, maybe?" taunted Bakura.
"I- ... ARG!" Atemu leaned forward in his seat, clutching his stomach. "I'm just... dizzy..." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Isis put a calming hand on Atemu's shoulder. "It's just pre-performing nerves, leave him alone." She looked worried. "You're shaking."
"I- my stomach-" He stopped as he felt a cool hand on his forehead.
Isis took in a sharp breath. "No wonder Sogoroku didn't let you go. Feel his forehead, Bakura."
"Yikes! You baka! What did you do to Ra to make him burn within you! If you're carrying some curse-"
"It's a fever, you idiot," said Mai, seated on Isis's left. In a row from right to left, Bakura was in the aisle seat, then Atemu, Isis, Mai, Malik, and lastly, Rishid. They took up exactly one row of the left-most section of seats in the huge concert hall.
"Are you sure you're all right?" asked Isis in a soft tone.
"Well, seeing as I'm already registered to perform tonight, and they closed the doors to the outside, it doesn't really matter." She just looked him over worriedly.
"Isis, I'll be fine. Don't worry."
She nodded, but her eyes remained clouded.
"BAND NUMBER ONE, ILLUSIONS, IS NOW READY TO PERFORM."
The lead singer of the band, a short, cute guy, walked up to the microphone. "Before we begin, I'd like to dedicate this song to a special someone. So this is from me, Pippin, to my best, most loving, caring, wonderful fangirl ever, the amazing Elf." He blew a kiss to a pretty blond girl in the front row, and then the band revved up.
Atemu didn't hear them. He leaned back in his chair as the world spun around him in a tight circle. He was falling... falling...
"Atemu! Wake up! Wind is on and you need to know how to sing to compete with them!"
"Wha- huh? Where am I- oh. Did I... fall asleep? At a ROCK concert?"
"Yes, and Wind is on in just a second- Oh man, you look pale..."
But Malik's voice was drowned out by the first chords of a hardcore rock song pounding through the huge room. Atemu clutched his head as the 'music' made it ache and throb. "WHAT NUMBER ARE THEY?" he yelled in Bakura's ear.
"NINETEEN! WE'RE UP AFTER THE ONE UP AFTER THEM!"
Atemu nodded his understanding and listened. Wind was known for their electric guitar player, a tall high shcool senior with dark skin and cold, unfeeling eyes. Rishid's eyes never left the other instrumentalist's guitar through the whole song, and the sturdy Egyptian only relaxed when the twentieth band came up on the platform to perform a swingy song that had Mai snorting by the end.
"How did THEY get into THIS competition?" she asked, snickering.
"Well, they were good, just... not great."
"NUMBER TWENTY-ONE, CRIMSON LOVE, PREPARE TO PERFORM."
"That's us. Let's go." As band number twenty took their seats in front of them, the members of Crimson Love filed onto the huge, brightly lit stage. Atemu and Mai took the standing microphone in front and quickly positioned it the way they needed it to be while Malik helped Isis with another in front of her keyboard that both she and Bakura would use, as the two of them both sang and played. A mic was already set up in front of the drum set onstage, and Malik rushed to make sure everything was to his liking as Rishid scrambled to plug in his electric guitar and strum med a bit to make sure it was in tune. Atemu and Mai were front and center on the stage, flanked by Rishid a bit farther back and to the left, Isis and Bakura on the right, and Malik in the back with his drums. Mai took the microphone.
She nodded to Atemu and he looked back towards the rest of the band. They all nodded back to him and he began to sing as Rishid slowly crept in with his guitar.
I am alone,
All alone,
Wandering alone...
Wandering... a-lone-
Now he was joined by Mai, Isis, and Bakura, their three voices countering each others' perfectly, weaving masterfully through Atemu's lead. Mai started off with strength, Isis soared over it in a mysterious wave, and Bakura split downward, coupled with Malik, to plunge further down into the song's depths. The electric guitar backup swung into a crescendo and the acoustic followed, creating a great echoing feeling throughout the hall. Malik brought the beat to a solid rolling tempo as Isis's fingers spun out newly crafted tones.
Through hills of blackness,
Waves of sorrow,
No looking back now,
No to-mo-o-o-row-
I am a weakling of the night.
Take me away,
To rise again,
My time is up,
My heart is spent,
I search for something solid,
Only to realize,
It wasn't meant to be,
An illusion of my eyes-
They crescendoed again in perfect harmony, then slowly decrescendoed as Rishid and Malik ran off into an echo of the main vocalists' words, the song taking on a thrillingly mysterious, ocean-like quality.
Through hills of blackness (blackness),
Waves of sorrow (sor-sorrow),
No looking back (back) now,
No to-mo-o-o-o-row-
My wings are broken,
And I can't lift off,
As a black arrow shoots me,
The blood is not enough-
They faded out completely until Rishid came in-
You weakling of the-
Then he was cut off by Bakura and Isis alternating versus of a fast-paced rap.
I'm like a ghost,
Floating around,
No one to care for,
And horrors abound,
I am see-through,
Nonexistent,
Try to break my shell 'cuz,
I'm love-resistent,
My heart has been slaughtered,
My head chopped up,
I'm wandering down,
No lookin' up,
So venture near me fool,
If you dare,
For my presence comes with a warning:
The two came together in harsh tone-
Appraoch with care-
Then Rishid's deep voice stepped in:
The weakling of the-
And now Atemu:
Me, the weakling of the night...
Now Mai, Isis, and Bakura sang the melody, backed by Atemu, with Malik pounding his drums and Rishid knowing nothing other than his guitar.
No light shines through,
I'm covered up,
In a blanket,
All tied up,
My heart is pounding,
I shiver and sneeze,
And wait for the pain
To be released-
Oh-
WEAKLING of the... night...
Now Isis came in solo, fingers weaving themselves through measure after measure on the keys of her keyboard and mystic voice reverberating through the hall.
Feelingless I venture...
Into the dark of the night...
My eyes are rendered useless,
I'm swallowed by my plight,
No one hears me scream for help,
Miles and miles away,
So I keep on walkin (walkin) Malik echoed,
Through- this- night- of- day-
They all came together again,
Through hills of blackness,
Waves of sorrow,
No looking back now,
NO TO-MO-O-O-O-O-ROW...
FOR THIS WEAKLING- of the... night...
They ended, voices breaking off systematically from deepest to lightest each measure, Rishid... Atemu... Malik... Bakura... Mai... until only Isis remained, continuing the tone along with the last of the keyboard and guitars until the song came to a perfect halt.
The crowd went wild screaming, clapping, and whooping as the grinning members of Crimson Love gathered their equipment and quickly left the stage to tumultuous applause. The members of the band that had played before them only glared as the six took their seats. The rest of the concert seemed empty to the crowd compared to what they had just heard, but now it was up to the judges.
As the last performers took their seats, the five judges could be seen whispering and passing notes. After a few minutes, the head judge, a short, portly, balding man stood up, a piece of paper in his hands. The room went silent.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to announce to you all the three winners of tonight's performance, the three that will move on to the other stages of competition throughout all of Japan-" He broke off as screams erupted out of the seats, and waited for it to pass.
"After I have finished announcing the winning bands, will the three winners please locate me to recieve your passes for the regional tournament. In third place, Katag and the Katagers, from the town of Gokora!"
Shouts filled the hall as a tan highschooler, followed by his band of instrumentalists, stood up and bowed to the audience.
"In second place, Hopeless Wanderers, from Relaco!"
"What?" Mai hissed. "I thought it would be, like, Wind or something."
Isis nodded and Malik replied, "They're very good. I think both us and Wind got in the top four, by the way the judges whispered after we played."
They all realized what Malik meant. Both Crimson Love and Wind were in the top four. There were three winning spots. And the members of Wind were staring daggers at them.
The war was on.
"And the number one performance was-"
Oh yes, I am EVIL to do that to you all! Me is evil! But you can all probably figure out who it'll be, I mean, if they lost it wouldn't be much of a story... or WOULD it, tee hee hee hee...
I actually have an actual tune that goes to Weakling of the Night, and I timed it as well. It's three minutes and twenty-one seconds.